I am looking to relocate from the South East, and I am open to applying to independent schools.

Has anyone made this move from state to independent? what have been the pros and cons of this move for you?

Better school trips & even more holiday based on one of my friends that does it.

Comes with kids that have a sense of entitlement & a shed load of disposable income for drugs too (I’m near one famous for having famous kids)

Gone the other way.

Positives of independent, behaviour is better but bad behaviour is more sophisticated, work ethic tends to be higher, ability higher usually due to ability to select, Holidays longer, trips better but usually in holiday time.

Downside: the trips are more stressful (20 kids diving in Egypt has a massive risk assessment) there is a sense of entitlement, parents are more forceful, longer hours, expectation of extra curricular, if boarding then probably some time doing that, a longer working week, homework clubs detentions etc take away time.

18 weeks holiday a year, less paperwork, more trust to teach. Longer hours and possibly Saturdays- 7.30 to 6 five days a week and 7.30 to 4.30 Saturdays.
Expectation of involvement in sport/DofE/CCF/Music/Drama/Trips. Often smaller schools so you get to know the students really well. Allowed off site during the school day to go running etc if you’ve got a free. As much free food as you can eat 3 times a day.
tbh it’s pretty mint, I can’t understand why I was the only one on my PGCE to consider private as well as state.

From the parent of a child at private primary school, commenting on the school my son goes to.

Pay is apparently lower than state. Internal politics is more rife.
You have to ‘sell’ the school ie come in for events at weekends and evenings. Do evening events with parents.

Classes are smaller, and as I understand it you do actually get to teach the kids.

Kids still have problems like they do at any school, including neglect.

Talking to someone who was high up in private school education a few years ago, he stated the stationery cupboard had a ready supply of pre printed resignation letters for failing/poorly performing/not fitting in with the ethos of the school and pupils/parents teachers, they couldnt sack teachers as it looked bad if they went to a tribunal, but a good reference and a pre printed resignation letter helped to get rid of errant staff.

I already work a huge number of hours (another thread I think) as a head of humanities, so the hours do no worry me, and I quite like the attraction of the extra-curricular activities.

but a good reference and a pre printed resignation letter helped to get rid of errant staff.

I think you’d find that happening in state schools too.

Mrs Dubs has been in state schools all her career (Head of PE now). She has friends who are in the private sector, some of whom enjoy it, some don’t – I guess the key is finding a school you’re going to like.

The one thing that put her off was the Saturday working, which would have stuffed her hockey playing.

Saturdays definitely put a cosh on team sports, as you are usually on the sidelines coaching kids rather than playing yourself. But there are lots of day schools that don’t do Saturdays, the pay off being slightly shorter holidays. I agree, it’s the fit of the school that’s key, rather than the sector.

Have friend who did it.

More money
Better quality of life – less troublesome kids (badly behaved are kicked out), more engaged pupils
Longer holidays
Heavily discounted fees / free school places for their own children

Biggest downside they quoted was a feeling of “guilt” at having sold out. Grumpy and interfering parents with overly high expectations

None if my kids ever had private school on a Saturday. Sports where played midweek and my kids did mostly out of school sports at a higher level than schools provided

Why not go international? What do you teach?

our local independent (private) school has just shed shedloads of staff. Many royals have attended it..

Expectations of very long hours worked, school trips a given, holiday may be a bit longer, I don’t think the pay is that good either.

I went from TA at a state primary school to TA at an independent prep school, same year group (year 2s), around 1999.

Pros:
– better money
– longer holidays
– smaller classes (20-25 kids), so fewer behaviour problems & more engagement
– better resources and facilities (PC suite, well stocked library, swimming pool, nice gym equipment, playing fields, attached to secondary school with great facilities)

Cons:
– that “guilt” at selling out
– fussy helicopter parents / over-medicated children who are “allergic” to everything

At the state school I’d be on playground duty and regularly break up fights between kids, watch out for groups of kids bullying traveller kids (and vice versa), make sure the kids stealing food out of bins got “left over” lunch tickets, try and moderate the overly sexualised mocking / groping among the year 5&6s and find coats out of the lost property for the kids who had “left their coats at home” on cold days – often the same ones who only owned school uniform and played out in it at weekends and came in un-washed on a Monday morning. It was a rough school but a lovely one.

On my first day on playground duty at the independent school a 9-year-old boy ran up to me in floods of tears, almost incoherent. I immediately assumed some other kids had given him a kicking… it was only after a minute that he blubbed “it was Ralph, sir! He… he… he hurt my feelings!”

I had to literally try not to laugh at him. The independent school was fab in different ways – the smaller class sizes meant so much more learning was done, that kids with educational or behavioural problems got more attention (there was a dedicated SEN suite) and class time was much more about learning and playing and less about crowd control. The extra-curricular activities they could do were fantastic, from swimming to art to learning instruments to drama to many sports. The food was amazing.

But, as others have said, the neglect some kids faced took a different form. Plenty of children were either at school or with nannies or shipped from one class to another and rarely saw busy parents who bundled them into the backs of 4x4s without ever making eye contact or taking the mobile phones away from their ears. Interesting, charismatic kids were prescribed ritalin to make them calmer. Kids were bought ever more expensive toys to be part of a parental arms race to have the latest bling (although that’s true everywhere, just the independent school parents had seemingly limitless disposable income), parents bought their kids stuff instead of interacting with them… but then at the state school parents sat their kids down in front of the TV instead of interacting with them, kids would turn up in reception not knowing how to spell their own name or knowing the names of the primary colours, but could tell you which Teletubby was that colour.

Anyway, there are plenty of stories I could tell from those years. Looking back, it was an interesting time and I’m glad I did it.

Not a teacher, but a parent who has moved their child from a state school to a small (ish -200 pupils) independent school.
My observation is that the teachers have a lot more time to teach, as opposed to managing the behaviour of the class. Having said that, there is a lot more expectation of them. Detailed individual reports every term with data and examples to back up their views are required. Prep ( homework) has to be set individually for each child and marked promptly.
The school is a business so expect to have to negotiate hard to get the wage you deserve, a friend of ours who teaches at my sons school said she was astonished at the salary she was initially offered.
The teachers work hard but seem genuinely satisfied with the job.
The comments about unlimited disposable income are not necessarily true – at some schools certainly but at my sons school there are plenty of parents who are making financial sacrifices to afford to send their kids there. Sure, there is one guy who does the school run in his Maserati, but he is heavily outnumbered by tatty Golfs and Corollas.

Just read that back, thought I’d better clarify – when I say my friend was “astonished” by the pay, I don’t mean in a good way – it was considerably less than she was earning at the state school. She negotiated up to parity, but if you’re expecting a pay rise then you’re likely to be disappointed.

My Mrs works in a private school I work in a state school. She is unqualified and pro rata earns more than me. Its a day school so no saturdays.

Currently deputy head in a private school. Have done private for 11 years after 2 in state. I don’t think I’d ever go back.

It’s horses for courses. Whilst I know many teachers who love teaching kids to read and/or speak english, I’ve always preferred teaching a classful of higher ability students. I like the intellectual challenge and debate. You can get that in the state sector, of course, but I prefer the private “ethos”. Just a personal thing really. As above, all schools have students with horrid personal lives who need care and support. That part is no different. Not everyone is super-rich; about 1/3 of students at HMC schools get fee assistance.

ISI are more reasonable than ofsted. Although the amount of documentation they require is vast and the head of ISI just resigned, so who knows now…?

You are free to teach whichever qualifications the school deems best suit its students. You can also do what you want in KS3 as there is no national curriculum to follow.

Classes are smaller, so reports etc can be more detailed and you can spend longer with each student helping them. There is an excpectation of extra curricular activities and giving of your time to help students who find things harder (which, depending on the school, can be very much a relative term).

Pay can be better, it depends on the school.

Selling the school is a big part of the job – marketing is a key department.

The training is excellent – particularly HMC – and there is often a good budget for it.

Read the last few yeara’ worth of school reports and accounts on the charity commission website to get an idea of financial security. Ask about annual pay increases, investment in IT, recent redundancies etc. Some schools are on the edge and so you don’t want to be going to places like that.

I also like not having to buy my own glue sticks and scissors any more.

OP – happy to chat it through if you want; my email is in my profile.

We moved Jnr to an independent school part way through last year. As a teacher I’m astonished at the number of extra curricular clubs at his school, all managed by teachers. Every subject he sits has a lunchtime club once a week and an after school club once a week.

The poor lad (year 11) is being run ragged with all the work he’s having to do, but loving it at the same time. The smaller class sizes have made a massive difference, he was getting lost at his old school and everything was starting to decline rapidly.

There seems to be a huge amount of pros that I can see, with smaller class sizes a real bonus along with the opportunities available. Plus I do love my food!

I have got the their last report, which seems very positive. Some of the things they have picked up on are consistency with T&L, which in my current role is a massive focus, so hopefully that helps with the application.

Thank you for the offer Gee, I’ll ping you an email later as I start filling out the application!

You may well end up working even longer hours if you are expected to supervise evening prep and work on Saturdays. It can end up as a totally immersive experience, especially for staff living on site.

On the plus side you might get to run the school cycling club

Gee- I have looked for email, but cannot see it when I click on your name?