Education of Lady Louise and the Earl of Wessex

[Molly2101]

I can't see Edward and Sophie sending Louise and James to boarding school, but I could be wrong in thinking this. I do believe they will no doubt send them to private secondary schools, no doubt grammar schools, but I don't see the Wessex children at boarding school.

Louise's current school is a mixed primary school, but I wonder if she will attend a single sex school for her secondary education. I attended a single sex school and I must admit, I hated it. It was a grammar school so it was well behaved, but at the same time the competition levels were so high because we were all girls, therefore we all wanted to do better than each other. I don't think the school Louise would attend would be like that though.

James is turning 4 in December so he must be attending nursery at the minute. Does anyone know if St George's School in Windsor has a nursery?

On a side note, do Edward and Sophie pay for their children's education or is there a seperate fund from the Queen for that?

[Lumutqueen]

George's is for children between 3 and 13, so he could be there already. And it would be safe to assume that Louise will stay at Georges until Year 8 at 13 and then to either Marlborough or St Georges in Ascot. I believe it will be up to Louise and James if the option to board at their school is open, personally I see no reason for it when they schools are so close. St Georges Ascot which Louise could attend from 13+ is an all girls school, Marlborough is not. Fees for St Georges in Windsor are between £2,000 and £4,000 per term (which by the way is the current university fees to do a degree in England per year), so i'm going to go with getting some help on that front.

[Molly2101]

(That is the fee for university for now, until Cameron gets his way next year, but that is a whole other ballgame!)

I imagine Edward and Sophie will want to keep their children close by, so I think Marlborough is probably a best bet, or the school Eugenie went to. It was lovely to see Louise with her school friends at The Garter Service in June of this year, she looked like she was getting along so well with them. Lovely to see the interaction, particularly the images if her picking her nose! I did think the fees for private school would be pretty steep so assistance in that department was likely. I suppose they have no way around it as they couldn't realistically send Louise or James to the local school as they would attract a lot of attention, mainly because of their titles. I don't know about you, but I didn't have many Lady's or Viscounts in my primary school!

[Lumutqueen]

Originally Posted by Molly2101

(That is the fee for university for now, until Cameron gets his way next year, but that is a whole other ballgame!)

Hence the use of the word "current". Fees will go up next year for university to between £8,000 to £9,000 and that is every university in England.

Originally Posted by Molly2101

I imagine Edward and Sophie will want to keep their children close by, so I think Marlborough is probably a best bet, or the school Eugenie went to.

That is the school Eugenie went to, she went from George's, Windsor to Marlborough.

Originally Posted by Molly2101

I suppose they have no way around it as they couldn't realistically send Louise or James to the local school as they would attract a lot of attention, mainly because of their titles.

Actually they could send Louise and James to a normal school, they've just chosen not to. I believe, although different country different press, the Danish royal children Isabella and Christian go to an ordinary school. If it were 'safe' for James and Louise to attend a 'normal' school (I guess we're talking about one that doesn't have £4,000 a term fees) then I don't see why they aren't. I guess there's the tradition element.

[NGalitzine]

I tend to believe the quality of education is better at public school when compared to your local grammar school. 2000 to 4000 pounds a term really isnt that expensive for a quality education. I doubt if the Wessex's would need assistance in paying the fees.

[Lumutqueen]

Originally Posted by NGalitzine

I tend to believe the quality of education is better at public school when compared to your local grammar school. 2000 to 4000 pounds a term really isnt that expensive for a quality education. I doubt if the Wessex's would need assistance in paying the fees.

How does the quality of education differ between public and private schools when you see public and pray students doing the exact same courses in life and getting the exact if not better results? This is not probably a matter for this thread. But paying for the same level of education you would recieve for free, is silly. But of you've got the money to 'spend' away, then why no in the case of the royals.

[NGalitzine]

We will have to agree to disagree on the merits of being privately educated as opposed to going to a state school. I believe that smaller class sizes, sports, exposure to the arts have value and that generally these are more available to students who are privately educated. I also believe going to universities such as Oxford or Cambridge will get you farther than getting a degree from Hull or Kent, but again that is just my personal opinon or prejudice if you will.

[Al_bina]

One might argue that a fair number of individuals, who are privately educated and go onto the Oxbridge, tend to go farther due to nepotism. It is like some private club the one has to be born into. Such situation applies to Lady Louise.

[Mirabel]

Originally Posted by NGalitzine

We will have to agree to disagree on the merits of being privately educated as opposed to going to a state school. I believe that smaller class sizes, sports, exposure to the arts have value and that generally these are more available to students who are privately educated. I also believe going to universities such as Oxford or Cambridge will get you farther than getting a degree from Hull or Kent, but again that is just my personal opinon or prejudice if you will.

I agree with you.
But it's more than that, imo.
A Harvard student once made the comment: We are paying for each other's company.

I think this might have something to do with choosing a private (public) rather than a state school.

[muriel]

Originally Posted by TLLK

Question for our UK posters. At what age do children leave primary or elementary school and move on to middle/high school?

If the children are at public schools (private, fee paying schools), boys will typically leave at 13 and girls at 11.

[Lumutqueen]

Originally Posted by muriel

If the children are at public schools (private, fee paying schools), boys will typically leave at 13 and girls at 11.

I'm confused by your post - at public schools boys and girls both leave at 11. At private fee paying schools it's entirely dependent upon the child and their parents. Such as St George's in Windsor goes up to age 13 but Louise could leave at 11 and go to a school up until she is 18. You seem to be mixing the two together?

[muriel]

Originally Posted by Lumutqueen

I'm confused by your post - at public schools boys and girls both leave at 11. At private fee paying schools it's entirely dependent upon the child and their parents. Such as St George's in Windsor goes up to age 13 but Louise could leave at 11 and go to a school up until she is 18. You seem to be mixing the two together?

Typically, at privately funded, fee paying, "independent" schools (also referred to as "public schools"), girls leave at 11 and boys at 13 after sitting entrance tests for secondary schools. Some schools operate on a 7+ entry system whereby 6 year olds sit tests and are interviewed to enter schools that will take them up to the A level or IB exams.

[Lumutqueen]

Strange - public schools to me have always been the ones the 'public' attended. And fee paying schools are known as private/independent schools.

[muriel]

Originally Posted by Lumutqueen

Strange - public schools to me have always been the ones the 'public' attended. And fee paying schools are known as private/independent schools.

Originally Posted by Diarist

Lady Helen Taylor attended St Mary's Wantage, a Girls' Public School [i.e. private school!!] which was popular with 'smart set Society parents'.

Perhaps they use different terms in the north of England!

[Lumutqueen]

Originally Posted by muriel

Perhaps they use different terms in the north of England!

Well surely the words used in the names would indicate who attended which. Public school.....public.
Public and Private are too very different things in the world mixing them is silly IMO. I shall continue to call a non fee paying school a public school and a fee paying one private. We have 7 fee paying schools in Yorkshire and they're all referred to as private schools.

[Iluvbertie]

Some history behind the terms here - when most of the more famous 'private' schools were founded they were called 'public' if they took in bright boys from the local population. e.g. Eton, Harrow, Westminster, Rugby, etc are the Great Public Schools - but they are private in that people have to pay fees, unless they are able to win a scholarship.

Here in NSW we have a set of boys schools which have been modelled on these schools from England (I don't know if there are any in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland hence the use of the term England) and they are called 'Greater Public Schools' or GPS for short.

A description of the terms for your benefit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_School_(UK)

This makes it clear that in the UK public funded schools are state schools while privately funded schools can and do call themselves public schools - based on the history behind the term.

[Meadow]

I have never heard of GPS schools in NSW and I worked for the Department of Education for over 20 years dealing in both public and the private schools. Over here even the private schools actually get a great deal of public monies which causes some problems with the public schools. The private schools tend to have better surroundings and choices in subjects. The teachers have a higher standard then the public school system as they can actually get fired for not performing whereas a public school teachers don't. We have selective high schools in NSW which are hard to get into and are similar to the private sector as they have goals to reach and it takes an exam etc to even get in. I think the education systems in Denmark and England are different. Could be they feel their kids are just as safe and will be just as well taught at this time. The High School they go to could be a different thing. I would think they would choose somewhere that gave the children the best chance to get the education they needed. I think Sophie and Edward will keep their children close to home while giving them the education and opportunities for a bright future. I doubt they would have any problems paying the school fees.

[Iluvbertie]

Kings, Sydney Boys High, Sydney Grammar, Newington, St Ignatius, St Joseph's, Scots, Shore and TAS (in Armidale) are the GPS schools in NSW. With the exception of Sydney Boys High the others are all independent, private schools but they are also Greater Public Schools. One of the best reported events of these schools is the Head of the River along with their Rugby games - where they get crowds of 10,000 plus. This is an historica term going back into the 19th C when these schools were forming.

I am surprised that someone who works in the Department of Education hasn't heard of the GPS schools seeing as the term is used so commonly in relation to these schools. e.g. Early start to curb drunken old boys in wake of latest rugby brawl | thetelegraph.com.au

I first heard of GPS schools in NSW in the 1960s (probably because my brother went to one) and I know a number of teachers who teach in them today.

I teach in an independent school - private etc. I wouldn't agree that teachers are better in private schools - as many of them started in the state system and simply left for a number of reasons - mainly due to the pay, conditions and atrocious behaviour of students. Not all private schools have the faciltiies of a Kings or a Shore. Many are like mine - lacking facilities e.g. no playing space for kids, demountable buildings (our new buildings are demountables replacing the old demountables - we are starting to build some brick ones but it will be another 30 years before they are done). We offer a limited number of subjects and are ranked in the HSC about 600 or lower.

From working with people who have also taught in schools in the UK I gather the conditions in state run schools in the UK are much the same so would expect that Louise and James would go to a fee-paying school - simply to ensure that they are at schools were the students are expected to behave.

[muriel]

Originally Posted by Lumutqueen

Well surely the words used in the names would indicate who attended which. Public school.....public.
Public and Private are too very different things in the world mixing them is silly IMO. I shall continue to call a non fee paying school a public school and a fee paying one private. We have 7 fee paying schools in Yorkshire and they're all referred to as private schools.

The consistent willingness of some to smugly flaunt ignorance is always refreshing.

[roseroyal]

I seem way behind- did James start school?