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Original poster

To wonder where these kids are meant to go?!

279 replies

Wonderberry · 31/03/2025 19:06

Unfortunately, my child's school is closing due to the VAT imposition on private school fees. She has special needs, and her fees are paid for by her EHCP, as it is a cheaper alternative to a special school. I am not rich. She cannot attend a state mainstream due to her special needs, and the council agrees with this.

I now have no school placement for her. The special schools are hugely oversubscribed (over 10 applications per place). Even if she could go to a state mainstream, there is no space in any of them, due to lots of schools closing locally. I have called dozens of them in desperation, as I need for her to go somewhere.

I have been frantically contacting the council to get her a new school place. They won't even respond. I'm faced with her being without any school place shortly. I cannot home school as I need to work.

My DD is far from alone in this. Unfortunately, the government has paid no thought into the wellbeing of SEND children, when imposing the VAT.

OP posts:
Original poster
Wonderberry · 01/04/2025 22:52

VeryNiceDay · 01/04/2025 22:50

I have my DC at home with an EOTAS package. There are no suitable schools here, even including the many very expensive private schools. It's not great doing EOTAS either. He's lonely at home and misses his peers.

Sometimes it is just so hard for kids with SEND.

Sorry your situation is so hard OP. It really sounds very difficult. FlowersCakeBrew

Hugs. Thank you for understanding. Sadly there are some who don't and seem resentful.

OP posts:
BustopherPonsonbyJones · 01/04/2025 22:52

Cannaeberught · 01/04/2025 22:00

It’s hard to feel sorry for a privileged minority - these famously small classes are clearly too small.

But the argument is that the falling birth rate has led to small classes in state schools, so it can’t be a privilege, can it?

This is a dreadful policy which is hurting lots of people and not just the ‘privileged minority’. Have the decency to admit it and own the fact that your desire to hurt the toffs isn’t bothering the Etonians very much, but it will affect Jane, who can’t find another job in her local area, and people like the OP’s child, who are going to struggle on a number of levels. Ideology is great but some people need to grow up and look at the impact in real life. The Labour Party needs to do this quickly if they want to stand a chance for re-election.

Original poster
Wonderberry · 01/04/2025 22:51

Fioratourer · 01/04/2025 22:48

I’m not sure if this has already been said but I found for a tutor funded by the la a parent needed to be present at home. Have you considered schools further away that the la will cover a taxi too?

I would take anything. I have asked for 2 local schools to be consulted. This is to minimise cost as well, as we wouldn't ask for transport which is very costly. I have asked the LA to suggest other options, if these are not viable. They have not responded, nor consulted the schools I asked for.

OP posts:
VeryNiceDay · 01/04/2025 22:50

I have my DC at home with an EOTAS package. There are no suitable schools here, even including the many very expensive private schools. It's not great doing EOTAS either. He's lonely at home and misses his peers.

Sometimes it is just so hard for kids with SEND.

Sorry your situation is so hard OP. It really sounds very difficult. FlowersCakeBrew

Fioratourer · 01/04/2025 22:48

I’m not sure if this has already been said but I found for a tutor funded by the la a parent needed to be present at home. Have you considered schools further away that the la will cover a taxi too?

Grammarnut · 01/04/2025 22:48

BustopherPonsonbyJones · 01/04/2025 22:44

But the schools could have continued running without the government deliberately targeting them with one hit after another, after another. The schools have dealt with the pandemic and CoL and remained open.There was absolutely no need to do this at a low point, Imagine the same happening to another (suitably left-wing) industry of your choice - steel, cars, haulage - and imagine the outcry about the impact on communities and workers.

Don't worry though. The train drivers are doing very nicely out of Labour. That was a good use of our money.

Show quote history

There was an attack on those industries in the 80s. There was an outcry. It did nothing - which is why we are now paying inflated energy costs, for one. Ideology is poisonous in a government, whether of right or left, or centre (this lot are centre right IMO).

Grammarnut · 01/04/2025 22:46

This was a spiteful policy and many are suffering. I am so sorry for you and your DD - none of this was thought of by this pack of ideologues.

BustopherPonsonbyJones · 01/04/2025 22:44

CloudPop · 01/04/2025 21:46

Do you genuinely think they were absolutely fine financially until VAT came in ?

Show quote history

But the schools could have continued running without the government deliberately targeting them with one hit after another, after another. The schools have dealt with the pandemic and CoL and remained open.There was absolutely no need to do this at a low point, Imagine the same happening to another (suitably left-wing) industry of your choice - steel, cars, haulage - and imagine the outcry about the impact on communities and workers.

Don't worry though. The train drivers are doing very nicely out of Labour. That was a good use of our money.

Original poster
Wonderberry · 01/04/2025 22:42

Sadly there is a sizeable minority who seem to have ill will to someone in my situation. I would far rather that my child was in state mainstream, with her siblings. Unfortunately, it is not possible. The state mainstream could not cope with her.

We spent many years there trying,but they eventually asked her to leave. Her dysregulation also meant that it wasn't fair on her peers in the mainstream environment. It wasn't fair on her teachers and TAs either.

No one is best served by keeping children in state mainstream who cannot be educated there. She also learnt absolutely nothing, as she was never able to manage the classroom.

Having a disabled child is hinders life in all aspects. Everything has to be planned around her, and the logistics of her going to a different school to her siblings has been complicated and costly (we do not get transport). As has the therapy and weekly appointments she has required.

Right now, I am really stressed out trying to get her a school place, while trying to parent her and my other children, and work in a really stressful job, as a single parent. I cannot work from home,and would be forced out of work if I cannot secure her a school place.

OP posts:
EasternStandard · 01/04/2025 22:25

Cannaeberught · 01/04/2025 22:00

It’s hard to feel sorry for a privileged minority - these famously small classes are clearly too small.

Including the op who can’t get a school place for her dc with SEN?

Cannaeberught · 01/04/2025 22:23

Wolfpa · 01/04/2025 22:22

VAT has only just been bought in, your school will have been dead in the water before the change.

Exactly. These threads are starting to get really boring now.

Wolfpa · 01/04/2025 22:22

VAT has only just been bought in, your school will have been dead in the water before the change.

Original poster
Wonderberry · 01/04/2025 22:19

Cannaeberught · 01/04/2025 22:00

It’s hard to feel sorry for a privileged minority - these famously small classes are clearly too small.

We are hardly the 'privileged minority'. I work hard but cannot afford private school. My children go to state school but my daughter couldn't learn there due to her disability. Her EHCP pays for her school fees, as like all children, she is entitled to a suitable education.

Honestly, having a disabled child is so hard, it is about as far from being 'privileged' as is possible. I may soon be forced to give up work and go on benefits if no school placement is found for her, all through lack of choice.

OP posts:
Original poster
Wonderberry · 01/04/2025 22:15

Tiredalwaystired · 01/04/2025 21:36

Where are you in the country?

It seems crazy to shut down whole state primaries if all the private options are closing.

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I'm in London. Clearly there is a lack of holistic planning here.

OP posts:
Hwi · 01/04/2025 22:06

Politics of envy is just that - it is about envy, not about where those children will have to go.

mindutopia · 01/04/2025 22:06

The problem is not VAT (this school was certainly in trouble before and there’s probably a reason you could get dd a place there but not other potentially suitable places).

The problem is insufficient provision for children by the government. This isn’t a new problem. It’s a longstanding one. And we need to fund better and more provision for children who need support in mainstream schools and who need support outside of them. That funding comes from taxes, not from thin air.

Booboobagins · 01/04/2025 22:01

You dont say where yiu are in the UK.

If you're in the SE or Cambridge, Dukes Education has just started a fabulous programme which may help. Give them a call and see if they have a suitable school.

Good luck.

Cannaeberught · 01/04/2025 22:00

It’s hard to feel sorry for a privileged minority - these famously small classes are clearly too small.

MyToasterCanLiveAgain · 01/04/2025 21:58

Merryoldgoat · 31/03/2025 19:29

A school closing now is not closing because of VAT - it’s because it was already in trouble and the VAT is just the push that a school barely hanging on needs to call it a day.

As a sector the variability in financial acumen is quite astonishing. Many are run responsibility with care and attention. MANY are compete basket cases.

I’m sorry for you - genuinely - but I guarantee if you looked at the past accounts of the school there is a long history of poor performance which hasn’t been addressed.

A lot of schools are just about managing and the massive increase in utilities and other expenses have hit schools really badly. Even well managed schools are struggling and it won't take much for them to fold. Maybe that was always the aim but I do feel sorry for the kids who are suddenly uprooted. Changing schools is usually stressful and if you struggle to find a sensible place even more so

EasternStandard · 01/04/2025 21:51

CloudPop · 01/04/2025 21:46

Do you genuinely think they were absolutely fine financially until VAT came in ?

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What sector do you work in that a 20% tax and extra costs wouldn’t damage it and cause closures and job losses?

CloudPop · 01/04/2025 21:46

twistyizzy · 01/04/2025 20:57

It really isn't

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Do you genuinely think they were absolutely fine financially until VAT came in ?

CloudPop · 01/04/2025 21:44

twistyizzy · 01/04/2025 20:57

It really isn't

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It really is

Stopsnowing · 01/04/2025 21:36

Merryoldgoat · 31/03/2025 19:29

A school closing now is not closing because of VAT - it’s because it was already in trouble and the VAT is just the push that a school barely hanging on needs to call it a day.

As a sector the variability in financial acumen is quite astonishing. Many are run responsibility with care and attention. MANY are compete basket cases.

I’m sorry for you - genuinely - but I guarantee if you looked at the past accounts of the school there is a long history of poor performance which hasn’t been addressed.

Upping costs to parents by 20 per cent is enough to tip any school over the edge.

Tiredalwaystired · 01/04/2025 21:36

Wonderberry · 31/03/2025 19:39

A lot of schools have closed since the VAT. Some may have closed anyway, but it has accelerated the closure rate. It has also meant parents moving kids to state as understandably they cannot afford fees anymore, but there is no space left in the state sector. Lots of state schools are closing too locally.

Show quote history

Where are you in the country?

It seems crazy to shut down whole state primaries if all the private options are closing.

StrivingForSleep · 01/04/2025 21:27

@Sotired222 if you don’t want to EHE, you could pursue EOTAS/EOTIS via the EHCP and, if DC is CSA, in the meantime pursue s19 provision.