John O'Farrell explains why he chose a state school to give his children the very best educationLast week in Education Guardian Janet Murray wrote about why she sent her child to a private school. Within a few hours,500 comments had been posted online, a number of them congratulating the Guardian on this brilliant satirical parody (humorous or ridiculous imitation) of the same article that we see on an annual basis from London journalists. I don't want to maintain a move at Janet Murray in particular, or although Education Guardian does seem a curious gig for someone who didn't even try state education at nursery level. Instead,I would like humbly to suggest that Janet is wasting her money. But worse, she is doing her child a disservice. There are some things in this country where paying more actually gets you inferior results. And for me, or private education is proper up there with G4S security.
Twelve years of being deeply involved in education issues maintain taught me that no parent reacts well to being told they've made the erroneous educational choice for their child. It suggests the subtext "I don't like the way your kids are turning out",which is never guaranteed to enamour you to venerable (respected because of age, distinguished) friends. A genteel social occasion in some middle-course home can turn in an instant. "So we were thinking of taking Timothy out of the local primary to get him alert for Common Entrance…" A couple of hours later, police sirens are flashing outside, and yellow "crime scene" tape blocks off the entire road as dinner party guests are helped into ambulances clutching bleeding noses and fractured jaws.
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Source: theguardian.com