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@Brommers
I went to my local state infant/junior school from the age of 5 to 11. What I remember most was being really, really bored. There was nothing that was a challenge, nothing to interest me, and with a few exceptions the teachers seemed jaded and about as motivated as I felt about being there.
When I was about 10, my parents told me there was money available for me to go to a private school. Turns out it was a trust fund, almost certainly set up using money made from mining diamonds in South Africa. Needless to say, I didn't know that at the time. I was told I had a choice - go to the local comprehensive school, and have money available for foreign holidays (I didn't go abroad until I was 15) and other fun stuff, or spend the money on a private education. I opted for the latter, and went to UCS in Hampstead.
I loved it there. Yes, the facilties were amazing, the grounds and buildings were exceptional, but what made it truly special were the teachers. They were motivated, committed, and encouraged an inquisitive mind and learning for the sake of learning.
My brother also went to UCS. The fincancial burden on my father (my mother was not working at the time) was astronomical as it turned out that the money in the trust fund didn't cover all our time at school. At one point he was spending over 2/3rds of his net income on school fees, and when he was made redundant in the late 80s/early 90s my brother and I ended up on a bursary, not that I knew this until many years later.
As a result, I feel deeply conflicted about private education. I abhor the inherited privilege that it represents (notwithstanding that I've benefited from it) and wish we lived in a state where state-funded education made it unnecessary. On the other hand, I feel it would be ungrateful to deny the fact that my eduction made me the person I am today, and even more ungrateful to despise the sacrifices my parents made for me to go to UCS, something I cannot regret.
I wish all schools were as good as UCS. I wish that all children had the chances I did. Personally, I'd be happy to pay more in taxes to fund better eduction across the board. But I can't blame my parents for wanting the best for their children, and to the extent that I was a willing participant in that decision, I don't regret my decision to go to UCS.
I can honestly say that I haven't benfited from the 'Old School Tie' network that old Etonians seem to inherit as of right. I'm still friends with a couple of people I met at school, but they haven't helped me at all in my career. As for the inate confidence that a public eduction is supposed to instill, that seems to have passed me by.
For all the guilt I feel over the source of the funding for most of my eduction, and for all the guilt I feel for having a private education unavailable to most of the population, I can't help but feel grateful that I had that chance. They weren't quite the best years of my life, but they were pretty damned close.
Fire away.