Slightly annoyed at head of private school...

[chilligarlic]

...emailed request to 'take dd (4ys, reception) out of school for additional time before end of term (unexpexted trip to my family in oz) two days ago. No response, nor acknowledgment of email. We have reserved airline tickets and now have paid for them.

Private school, ffs should she not have a PA to deal with if too busy, failing that im being a moaning cow and my mail went into spam.

Even more pissed off as when dd started school her teacher was absent after a week leaving us to deal with 'where is my teacher' and no communication from school, she was absent for approx a week for personal reasons, no problem, but perhaps the school could have told parents, as opposed to girls going in every day not knowing if teacher would be there.

Grrrr....

troisgrarcons
^LOL Private schools - you are there by invitation - they can decline your place at any time.

And again 'LOL ' - the teachers dont have to be qualified either

Good luck.

Worst 40K I ever spunked for 2 children over 4 years. Might just as well have set fire to my wages^

Soooooooooooooooooooooo very true

OP, you will get real eventually that private schools are not the nirvana you appear to think.

I just hope your DC will be robust enough to deal with the issues they will face in a private school, ranging from rampant drug dealing to eating disorders, vicious bullying etc., all NOT dealt with by (often) totally unqualified and inadequte staff.

Good luck with all that, the hols are the least of your worries !

its a bit shit considering you are paying £15k for this!!!!

To those of you who have stated that private schools have more support staff than state schools, I would like to say that in my experience it is the opposite, certainly in the school where I now work. I have worked in loads of state schools and now am in a small private school - we have hardly any support staff.

albertcamus - why is that? I mean the drug dealing and the viscious bullying being so much worse in private schools?

It isn't. It's just a private school bashing myth.

The MN tried and tested bollocks that gets peddled on ever thread about independent schools.

• they are hot houses where the children slave away to nervous breakdown.
• they are for thick rich kids who are spoonfed their work and all fail at university.
• they are full of drugs, sex and violence.
• they are a little bubble where the DC have no idea about the real world.
• they are unfair because they give the DC in them an unfair advantage.
• they are a waste of money abddon't give anyone an advantage.

And every MNer knows someone very well indeed who went to the most exclusive school in the land as in now a crack addled terrorist.

Come on, keep up.

Is this unexpected trip yo Oz a jolly - or is it an emergency?

If it is a jolly why on earth did you pay for the tickets before receiving permission to take your child out of school?

If you don't need permission, why did you ask?

This is not an issue for the school to worry about, this is for you to look at your own sense of entitlement to do/go/say anything you want without taking responsibility for how it may affect other people

wordfactory: you forgot! Independent schools breed emotional retards who will become the next generation of spouse-beaters, unless they die in a tragic auto-erotic asphyxiation accident before they get taken up the aisle.

I guess its wrong that I am finding all the arseyness on this thread v funny indeed.

P.S. great to see you Swedey.

If you are moving to OZ, why are you going now?
If you are moving to OZ, the school won't be getting your fees for long.
You should have asked a lot sooner than you did for the time off.

bibbitybobbity - v lovely to see you too.

I always thought you didn't need to ask at private schools that was just a stick to beat the mc with (and find out who had more money )

Lots of interesting answers OP- I bet you'd have a different set of responses had you not mentioned 'private' education.

FWIW, I would expect a response about holiday from state or independent school, phone the school and ask what their response is.
As for teacher absent for a week, no, I wouldn't expect a report on her attendance. Your DC will have a replacement teacher.

Your OP does read as if you are feeling as if communication isn't up to scratch. I have to be honest, if I were paying £1000 a month for DC to attend independent school (I don't) I would expect things, including communication, to be absolutely spot on. These schools market themselves as being superior to state education. Therefore they should provide a superior service, whatever that may be. Interesting to hear that this isn't always the case.

Doesn't the school have a form you need to fill in to request absence? Ours does. Being private doesn't coem into it, I thought it was a general schools policy.

Kitty these schools market themselves as being superior to state education

• absolutely correct. However, they are very often inferior in all respects, of which the OP's experience is a clear indication.

I've worked in both and find it entertaining that the folks wasting their money on private education don't like their bubbles being prodded, let alone burst ... that comes much later !

albert the fact that the OP is spending thousands for this private education does, in my opinion, gives her the right to demand 5* communication (and everything else) from the place!
I teach in a really good state school and when I say good, I am talking about pastoral care not exam statistics (although these are good too).
I would feel very resentful if the private education I was paying for (dream on KittyFane!) fell short of an education at the local state school.

give not gives

kitty agreed, all parents deserve to be listened to & responded to, as I'm sure your place & mine both have as a priority.

I just feel that the way the OP's presented her issue, and even your response, indicate that people feel that they can 'buy' a certain standard of care & attention.

This is not the case, you can't buy quality in unquantifiable commodities such as care (eg care homes), health (eg private hospitals) or education, however much people wish to delude themselves, sadly ...

What do you expect anyone on Mumsnet to actually do about this OP??

More of a fait accompli than a request now.

What will you do if they say no?