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As a parent, you will face many choices that are likely to influence your child’s future, but choosing the correct primary school has to be up there as one of the most significant decisions that you will need to make in those early years.
For some families, there is no question that an independent prep school is the only consideration, but for others, who perhaps have not personally trodden the independent route to education, it might not seem quite so straightforward. However, there are a number of distinct advantages to a prep school education, which combine to offer your child access to excellent resources and teaching, whilst at the same time offering parents a flexible approach to enable them to continue working normal hours. Read on for some more benefits of private education.
Reduced class size
For many parents, one of the most important factors that sets a prep school apart from the local state school is the number of children in each class, with prep schools typically averaging a maximum of 20 in a classroom, compared with the 30+ seen in the state sector.
Smaller class sizes represent the opportunity for the teacher to really get to know each child’s academic abilities and allows them more time to focus on each individual. Indeed, research from Durham University claims that children who attend private school benefit from the equivalent of two years’ extra education by the time they are 16. However, equally important to this is the fact that a teacher will be able genuinely follow through their pastoral responsibilities in a smaller group and it is far less likely that a child’s specific emotional needs may be overlooked in this environment.
More sports opportunities
There is lots of evidence to support the proven benefits of sports, from encouraging a healthy, fitter lifestyle to the obvious advantages of learning to become a team player. In a prep school you can expect your child to enjoy up to five hours per week including team games/matches and dedicated match afternoons.
As well as developing their physical sporting abilities the child is exposed to the whole match experience, travelling, the all important match tea and the hearty ‘three cheers’ at the end of the game – these are all fond memories that will stay with them for life.
A prep school is also more likely to be able to field a broader variety of sports offering including less mainstream activities such as judo, fencing, golf and rowing.
Impressive facilities
Whilst it would be inappropriate to suggest that the facilities on offer should be the over-riding decision maker, it is only natural to accept that they will influence those all important first impressions and have a part to play in the overall package and the School’s ‘feel good’ factor.
Some prep schools (mostly rural) will be able to offer impressive sports halls, enviable swimming pools and tennis courts, as well as climbing walls, extensive games fields and even access to natural woodland. For the majority of parents, the idyllic setting would be one where their children are living out their early academic years in a learning environment that also offers the chance for them to climb trees, kick up leaves, explore the natural world and generally have plenty of fresh air / open space to let off steam. Town based prep schools may have access to the same facilities, but children will need to be transported to the relevant site(s).
These are just a few of the many benefits of independent education. If you’re concerned about the fees involved, there are usually scholarships and bursaries that you can look into to help support the financial aspect of private schooling.
