To think instead of paying for DD's schooling we could give her 250K cash for her 18th birthday?

[LondonMan]

DD is about to turn 3. I have looked at on-line info for local state schools and don't like what I see. For three of the nearest primary schools where I've managed to locate statistics, two have over 90% of children with English as an additional language, and one over 80%. The schools all have bottom or (rarely) second-from-bottom quintile performance in all subjects, in Ofsted reports. All local state schools are likely to be similar, because they are teaching the same demographic, children of local social-housing tenants, mostly Bangladeshi. (From long experience living in the area, virtually all non-social-housing parents leave the area once they have children.)

We don't want to move because we are near DW's job.

DW is hoping to get DD into the 14th nearest state school (which is only 0.7miles away) using their religious criteria. That school has excellent Ofsted results, "only" two-thirds of pupils have English as an additional language, though apparently one third arrive speaking no English at all.

There is also a just-opened foundation secondary which might be an OK option later.

I suspect we won't get into the good state primary school and will end up private all the way, which we can afford. There is a top girl's school nearby, and the fees are actually slightly less than the 15K a year we spend on nursery care at the moment.

I've calculated that if we don't send DD to private schools for 13 years, and invest the money instead, with average luck (5% return) we'd be able to give her about £250K cash instead.

The title question is mostly rhetorical. I expect that DD will not end up in the sub-par schools, whatever we decide. I'm just a bit bemused by the situation and thought I'd give you all something to comment on.

[Back2Two]

[Dawndonna]

[SusanneLinder]

Are you serioulsy expecting us to comment on this?

[Miggsie]

I wouldn't give an 18 year old £250k.
My friend inherited a million on their 18th Birthday by age 30 they had a tiny flat and were broke - they blew the cash on parties, cars, drugs and drink. And didn't bother with education after age 18 as they had £1m.

Basically, you are wondering if education is worth a £250k investment?

Only by looking at your daughter's personality in respect to these schools can you make that decision.

[OHforDUCKScake]

[StealthOfficialCrispTester]

So shed be rich and uneducated (by your standards anyway). But as a bonus she might be reallh good at languages!

[DaveDeeDozyBeakyMickAndTitch]

arse

[HoppinMad]

My first ever jammie dodger

Why dont you 'home-school?' Then them non-English speaking kids wont cast their evil shadows anywhere near your precious English speaking child.

[DaveDeeDozyBeakyMickAndTitch]

Also, good luck with finding any safe investment plan with a 5% return these days. You'll be lucky to get 2.

[BrianCoxandTheTempleofDOOM]

gussets

[mrsrupertpenryjones]

here - take my virginity

[CloudsAndTrees]

Assuming you are serious, it would be a huge mistake to give an 18yo that much money.

Pay for her to get through uni without debt, give her driving lessons and maybe a deposit on a house, but FFS don't just hand over that much in cash!

[KentishWine]

How about you do alternate days between the bad school with the foreign children and the good school with the wonderfully English little girls? Then you could give your daughter £125k and she'd be able to speak Bengali.

Tough choices indeed.

[Wouldntyouliketoknow]

If you can afford 250K to go to private school, you can afford to move (even if it's a bit further from DW's work). If you dislike the local state schools so much why not just go?

[ChazsBrilliantAttitude]

My children speak English and Arabic at home so they might well be classed as EAL. A lot of their friends speak other other European or "community" languages e.g. Indian subcontinent or sub saharan African.
They are all in the same prep school.

EAL is a fact of life in a diverse city like London but the vast majority of children will speak fluent English.

My DH's immigrant friends (from his country) who live in social housing all speak at least 2 and often 4 languages and many of them have degree level education in their home country. They are educationally ambitious for their children.

[ReallyTired]

I assume you must be in London to have so many primary schools near you. London has some of the best state schools in the county and its naivity to assume that all private schools are good.

I think its wise to save the money, but not wise to give it to her all on her 18 birthday. Prehaps you can spend some of the money saved on tutoring if your daughter is not making the progress you want.

I don't think the OP is silly to consider an investment plan. It means that her daughter will have the option of going to university and being debt free. If I was the OP I would give her daughter the money in amounts that she could cope with.

Ie. 18 years old pay for driving lessons, 1st year uni fees and a living allowance if she goes to uni. This could be repeated for each year her uni course lasts.

I think the OP could invest the money saved from school fees in a buy to let. It would ensure that her daughter has somewhere to live when she is 18. A buy to let definately gives at least a 5% return.

[Doubledare]

Well, that's what my husband and I decided to do for our daughters (but will give the money in installments). We went to mediocre schools but still went to uni and are high income earners. Our school friends are all doctors, dentists etc. So as long as our girls are academic they will be fine. If they aren't academic then they can use the money to set themselves up in business.

[currentbuns]

It strikes me that the only reason you wish you go private is because the local schools are dire. It seems odd - nay, unfathomable - to prioritise your current proximity to dw's work over moving to a perhaps nicer area with good schools nearby. This would enable dd to go to a good local school and have friends living nearby. She could always go private in secondary. All very odd. I assume the £250k 18th B'day bit is a joke.

[lljkk]

pmsl

[Decoy]

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

Yes..they are likely to perform badly because the children live in social housing?

May I say...WTAF?

[xylem8]

wouldn't you be better off using £250k to move to a nice area near a good state school

[ShadeofViolet]

Its like MN Bingo.

You would have got a full house but you didnt mention benefits.

Its very odd round here just lately.

[Decoy]

thought I'd give you all something to comment on.

Aren't you going to make any more comments yourself? Don't you think we're quite capable of creating our own topics to comment on?