Public school

go where ? public school? no just plain old ordainary school

What a silly, chip-on-shoulder article.

I went to a girls’ public school, but it was a day school and I don’t suppose that counts.

I boarded at a C of E Convent! Wouldn't think this counts either?!!!!!

Went to girls' public day school, then boarding at top public school. Can't say it ever helped me; the best reaction I had was in a Turkish restaurant when I mentioned I had been to a college (very famous) in Istanbul and was showered with free food and drink!!

No, grammar, however two of my AC went to public schools, on scholarships.

I went to the local grammar.

When my friend refused to send his son to Harrow his father threatened to disinherit him. My friend was at Harrow himself and was thoroughly miserable the during the whole of his schooldays.

One of my sons went (part-time) to a private school because it gave me the opportunity to also home-school him. He has a very high IQ (though don't get me started on how flawed that measurement is), but has a specific learning difficulty and state schools just couldn't give him what he needed.

One of my grandchildren is currently at public school and I've just been informed he is contemplating applying for a place at Eton. Eeek! He's spending Easter with me so I can have a chat with him and see what that's about.

I should say that as a little girl who valued education above all things I longed to be sent away to boarding school when I was a child. Reading about the Four Mary's evoked school envy in me.

If I lived in Midsomer Norton or Radstock I would stuff the whole of that Guardian newspaper into the slobbish-looking John Harris's mouth.
fading former pit towns

ps I am not normally a violent person

I never could figure out why they call it public school when it isn't.Where I live state schools built in the 19th century usually have engraved over the door " Public School " along with the name of the street or area its in.This showed they weren't Catholic schools.Schools that are paid fees are Private schools in the West of Scotland .I too went to a convent school that had boarders , pupils didn't pay fees it was state run only the boarders paid for their keep .

I can't honestly say that I liked or disliked boarding school and remember my time there fairly fondly. The school I went to aged 11 was deep in the Berkshire countryside, run by a mixture of nuns and lay staff, some of whom were kind and some less kind!!! It was, I suppose ok!! although aged 17 it had become a bit of an irritation, particularly all that praying and I was glad to leave and move on!!

My brother went to a minor public school and hated it. They were vicious places in those days, but much better now.

Eton is actually quite academic and not at all easy to get into, so my son tells me. (He has work colleagues who went there.) Of course, it’s quite easy to get in if you happen to be a prince.

Well going to Public School certainly gives you the advantage when applying for Oxford and Cambridge which in turn opens the doors to many top jobs without having the necessary skills!
Money certainly talks in this country!

Not sure it's necessarily the money per se dragonfly46 - I think it's a confidence and sense of entitlement personally.
BTW I was a Grammar School girl but my husband went to public school. He says they make you or break you.
Maybe there are less breakages these days but he still talks about some of the poor out-of-place boys at his and wishes he'd been stronger and able to help them more.

I went to a grammar but both my children went to a public school.

paddyann it is confusing, but Encyclopaedia Britannica has this to say:
The term public school emerged in the 18th century when the reputation of certain grammar schools spread beyond their immediate environs. They began taking students whose parents could afford residential fees and thus became known as public, in contrast to local, schools. By the late 20th century the term independent school was increasingly preferred by the institutions themselves.

They were originally formed as charitable institutions to educate boys from humble backgrounds.
www.britannica.com/topic/public-school

A former school near us has 'Board School' carved into the front - presumably a school run by an elected Board of trustees or governors.
It was a school for local pupils, not a boarding school as might be thought.

I went to three different schools between the ages of 11 and 16. An all girls school, a comprehensive and a grammar school, all in different towns. The worst by far was the grammar school. Not a happy experience and I couldn't wait to leave.

Notspaghetti what I meant was that if you can afford to pay for public school you have many advantages the rest of the population do not have even without merit.
My DH went to public school and he would not have sent our children there. Fortunately we brought them up in the Netherlands so did not have that decision to make.

money,confidence, knowing the right people, sense of entitlement, an unshakeable amount of self belief/arrogance.

Cameron, Boris, RM et al.

One of my granddaughters is at a Public School (and believe me I'm not boasting, I loathe the concept).

She wants to be an actress but said (age 13) the system is against her because she is, "White, middle class and will have a private school education".

What’s this thread for, good oldfashioned sour grapes or modern virtue signalling?

The top ( well known) public schools, Eton, Westminster etc
Still tend to be called public schools but the real name for them all is Independent Schools.

The writer of the article cannot speak, I have stuffed the whole of the Guardian into his mouth lemongrove.

Haha! Good for you Jalima

paddyann, this is an England/Scotland divide. In Scotland the public schools, such as the one some of my DGC attend, which has XX Public School on the stonework is, in fact, a school open to the public, and a fee-paying school is a private school.

There is also a difference in secondary schools - when comprehensive education came in, schools in Scotland kept their old names - X Grammar School, X Academy, X High School, etc. This didn't happen so much in England. Our DC went to a local comprehensive which was called X Grammar School as that had always been its name.