Posts Tagged ‘state schools’

State school + private tutor?

Thursday, April 14th, 2011

We are looking to create case studies regarding families who have decided to move their children from the private school sector to the state school sector and have decided to use the service of a private tutor to boost their child’s academic performance in general or to help with certain subjects.

There maybe many different reasons for choosing this option. Perhaps you prefer the more mixed social atmosphere of a state school? Did you feel the local state school was just as good? Or have you been hit by the recession and decided you need to find a more affordable way to educate your family?

We believe there are more and more families selecting the state school plus private tutor route, so we would be interested to hear your reasons for taking this decision. If you have a secret desire to be famous and would also like to be featured in the newspapers, please let us know as we often receive enquiries from journalists.

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Debate of the week: Children denied their first choice of school

Monday, March 8th, 2010

It’s a tough time for thousands of Year Six pupils and their families. Last Monday was “national offer day”, when local councils send out letters to around 540,000 families across the country to let them know whether they had been given a place at their preferred choice of secondary school.

Sadly, around 100,000 children were left disappointed as they were told that they would be unable to attend their first choice school.

That’s even more children left out in the cold than last year, when around 91,000 children and their families were forced to reconsider their secondary school options.

Experts say that this increase has happened because many parents who may have opted for an independent school have applied to state schools because of their changed financial circumstances.

The admissions criteria for state schools have changed in recent times and certainly seem to be quite complicated. However, they don’t appear to be working. If we invite children to apply for places at their preferred schools, then these preferred schools should have places for them. Otherwise, what’s the point? We may as well go back to the old days when everyone lumped in together and simply went to the school that was nearest to them.

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Debate of the week: All work and no play

Monday, December 21st, 2009

Teachers, tutors and educational campaigners have expressed alarm at today’s announcement that a state school with a 10 hour working day is to be piloted in the UK.

Based on a charter school programme in America, the new academy will open at 7.30am and run until 5pm or 5.30pm to “maximise opportunities for learning”. The philosophy behind the programme, which is being piloted by the Sutton Trust, is honourable: the idea is to give children from deprived areas the same educational opportunities as those whose parents can afford to send them to private schools or pay for private tutors.

However, our view at First Tutors is that quality, rather than quantity, is the key issue. Independent and public schools have smaller class sizes, more 1-to-1 attention and pay top dollar for the best teachers; furthermore parents are often in a position to pay for home tuition if a child needs extra help with a particular subject.

Many state schools are over-populated and under-funded and the pupils get little – if any – individual attention. We do not believe children simply need longer working days; rather, they need the same quality of education that is available in the independent sector.

We also believe that children benefit from a well-rounded education, rich with extra-curricular activities. If they’re at school for 10 hours a day, what opportunities will they have to learn instruments, join the Scouts or simply play with their friends?

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