Why investing in your child's education is one of the most important things you can do.

Part 1/5 - My education

Not all education is equal.

Of course we all come from different economic backgrounds and not all of us can afford to send our children to private schools.

But investing in your child’s education is one of the most important things that you can do for your child.

The best quality education can help to shape your child’s future in ways you probably can’t even imagine.

As a child, I did not have the best education possible.

I remember my primary education not being good enough. There were so many behavioural problems that I remember just being ignored for the most part. All the attention would go to the ‘naughty boys’ in my class. I remember huge chunks of time being dedicated to just resolving issues that they were having. A lot of time was wasted and what I learnt during my 6 years at this primary school was simply not good enough.

I wanted to go to Henrietta Barnet but I was told there was ‘no point trying’ and ‘you wouldn’t get in anyway’. Wow, what damaging messages to put onto a young, ambitious 10 year old girl. So I was put into a Convent school. It was awful. But I was too little to know any different. Every day I went and every day I didn’t learn much at all. The quality of teaching was low. I think I had one teacher that I liked - my Italian teacher. That was all. Again, the focus was on behaviour which only got worse as the years passed.

I remember the year 7 classes were in the basement. We would go down these long flights of stairs into an old brown door that led to the 7 year 7 classes. Each class had 30 girls. The classrooms were very small and the tables were close together. It was very claustrophobic. Because the classes were in the basement, there were obviously no windows! We would move around to our different classes obviously but no classroom should be in a basement in my opinion anyway.

Because I had nothing to compare it to and because I was a child, when I was asked the famous questions that we ask our children every single day, ‘How was your day?’, I would simply reply ‘fine’. I guess this is why I don’t accept this answer from any child I teach when I ask them this question. I always need more information.

There was a lot of bullying in my school. A lot. I was bullied and most girls were bullied. The teachers ignored the bullying. It just ‘never happened’ or ‘It just happened once so it’s not considered bullying.’ I guess this is why I have zero tolerance for bullying and why bullying was simply a no in any of my classrooms as a teacher.

I could go on but I think you get the point.

My primary and secondary education were simply not good enough and I deserved better. All children deserve better.

Not all of us are in the financial position to choose ‘better’ - I get that. But it’s about not just settling and actually doing your research. Taking your time to go and actually see the schools you plan to send your children to. Going on a tour of the schools and seeing if the school would be right for your child. Or perhaps looking at alternatives. Because although we’re not quite in the position to have hundreds of alternatives, we do have some. You have home schooling and you also have online schooling which can be an option.

It’s just about investing what you can and what is reasonable to you and your family.

We all choose what we want to invest in. We all choose what we spend our money on.

I will always invest in my child’s education and I know it is one of the most important things that I will ever do for him.