State schools can be as good as some Private schools. Private schools can be as bad as some State schools. It's a lottery. If local schools are anything to go by, Sydenham Girls seems to have a devil-may-care attitude to anthing but themselves, Forest Hill Boys is excellent because the Head and his staff care. Dulwich College is full of scruffy, rude boys and Jags and Alleyns seem to have a real lack of uniform discipline - try using the P4 bus at school in or out time. Spare the rod and spoil the child is just as true today as it was many years ago, albeit in a different way.