An experience that will last a lifetime

INDEPENDENT education is one of the most important decisions you will make for your family. Where and what kind of home you buy and choosing your career path are the only family decisions you will make which will be bigger than whether to take your child out of main stream public education and into the fee-paying independent sector. There are as many reasons for independent education as there are children; perhaps it is a family tradition. It could be that you know your career is going to lead to relocation after relocation and boarding is the best way to provide the stability needed during vital times in your children’s education. No matter how excellent a state school might be, it will always have a ‘one-sizefits-all’ approach towards some aspects of school life. This is fine for most of the time but if, for some reason, your son or daughter is the one who is finding it hard to make that fit you cannot help but wonder if they would be better off in the independent sector. Is your child just not thriving? Are there areas where they need extra help or is it that they are not being stretched enough to realise their full potential. Would they benefit from the smaller class sizes that the independents offer? This can often be a key point for children from remote or rural areas like the West Highlands who have attended state primary schools with small class sizes who find themselves overwhelmed by the size of secondary schools. With state school budgets being ever tightened do the extra-curricular activities and enhanced pastoral care of the independent sector look like money well spent in proving for you child’s future? The last 50 years have seen an unprecedented rise in consumer culture with families near brain-washed into believing that buying bigger, better, faster, newer is best. We are moving away from this mindset and a realisation is dawning that experience, not possessions, is what binds us and creates stronger, happier families. Would your children benefit from experiencing independent education?