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Sunday 5 July 2009

Status Anxiety

I can’t afford to send my children to private school — and I’m relishing the cachet

This morning I received a letter from Norland Place, a much sought-after private school on Holland Park Avenue, informing me that my son Ludo had been awarded a place in September 2009. There was a time when this would have been a cause of rejoicing in our household, but not any more. My wife and I applied to the school a couple of years ago, back when we only had one other child. Now that we have three and are about to have another, taking up the place is unthinkable. Sending two children to private school in London is just about affordable, but four is out of the question. Ludo will have to go to the local state primary, just like Sasha, who started there last September.

Needless to say, I have now totally come round to state education and tell myself that I wouldn’t send my children to private school even if I could afford it. For one thing, it seems a colossal waste of money. The fees at Norland Place start at £3,004 per term in reception, rising to £3,792 in year four. That’s £11,376 per year. And for what? Let’s not pretend it is about education. What you are buying is bragging rights at dinner parties. The reason rich people in London move heaven and earth to get their children into exclusive private schools is because their child’s school has become a key status-indicator, along with driving a Chelsea tractor and having a summer house in Cornwall.

Such competitiveness is inevitably passed on to the children and the ‘education’ they receive at these schools consists of a crash course in how to measure the status of each other’s parents according to which ski resort they take their children to during the Christmas holidays and whether they fly out their nannies in Business Class or Economy.

You think I’m exaggerating? A friend of mine recently told me that his daughter, who is a pupil at a London day school, asked him if she could have her own private account at the taxi firm Addison Lee. Apparently, all her friends have one and she is worried that they will think she’s ‘poor’. She pointed out that it would actually be to his benefit, too. Instead of summoning him to come and pick her up from parties, she can simply call Addison Lee on her BlackBerry and order a cab.

Frankly, even if I had the money to compete at this level — and I can’t afford my own Addison Lee account — I would prefer that my children weren’t exposed to these values.

More articles from: Toby Young | this section

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