If providing a proper education for my children because the state has
demonstrated itself to be incompetent at doing so, then I am happy to be
thought of as strange. Far better that than to be considered to be
part of a muddled thinking crowd for the sake of expediency. This is
something that I have never done and never will do. It's not the easy
way, for a multitude of reasons, but it works well. I really don't
care what other people think about that - they can make their own
decisions to the degree to whcih they are capable of independent thought.

I was almost happy with that till the last bit. Get over the fact that
it's possible to disagree with you and still be capable of independent
thought.

I had lunch with a friend from primary school this week whose general
views are not dissimilar to yours. He scraped his fingers to the bone,
said he did it all for the children blah blah, but of course it's a lie.
He's just competitive by nature, he can't help it. He was like it in the
playground 50 years ago, and he still is.

We all take a gamble with our kids. My two went to their first choice
unis from the local comprehensive, so I can afford to be smug about it.
Given that there would have been no sacrifice on my part, I'd have
looked very silly had it all gone wrong, but I have a strong conviction
that you're who you are long before you set foot in school.

Borrrring!