Wibu to consider private school due to wrap around care costs?end

[Yeahthatthing]

School application time for DC1. We have good local state primary schools and I always assumed that he'd go to one of them. But I've been looking in to the wrap around care and it's going to be a £14.50 a day for the cheapest option. So around £2700 per year. Which is the same price as the prep school attached to his current nursery.

The prep school has the breakfast and after school club onsite and run by the teaching assistants and lunch time supervisor where as the local wrap around care is off site with a 'walking bus' arrangement.

We will absolutely need wrap around care.

Also the local holiday club is school hours at £25 per day and wrap around care needed before/ after that as well (so £39 per day) where as the prep school has onsite holiday provision at £25 per day, full hours.

Seems ludicrous that a private school will be a cheaper option?!? What am I missing?

So WiBU to send him to private primaryfor financial reasons?

But why wouldn’t you send your child to a state school which will invest more in their education, have better facilities and a more diverse peer group? The local state school will probably spend about £3500 on your dc in a year, and have qualified teachers

My dc have been to state and private schools and the private education was considerably better in many ways. I would never choose a state school if I could afford a very good private school (which OP’s school is).
My dc have never been taught by non qualified teachers (and as a teacher myself I have thoroughly checked this!)

I think you should go for it @Yeahthatthing and when reading the comments on this thread remember a lot of posters will be against private schools generally so their views are skewed (as of course are mine as someone with dc at private school and working in one too!)

We chose a specific private prep for our 3 younger DCs because a) they hated the highly rated village primary and b) it offered free wrap around care 8-6. They loved it there and had no issue moving on to state secondaries.

She is looking for wrap around care.

Our local state secondary chucks them out at 3.30. If you work, this means no out of school sports clubs etc are possible unless they start at 7 and are very local. Dds private school offers 7am to 9pm care.

If the class sizes are smaller, the Maths gets even stranger.

@cantkeepawayforever OP says it has about 60 kids. I think i've found the school and I just can't understand how the figures work.

How the fuck is it just £2700?
Totally not feasible.

Totally not feasible
I know a few children who’ve been to this school including my friends dc and it is feasible and am absolutely delightful school according to my friend and the ISI report!

So how do they finance it?

Usually at private schools you have to pay for wrap around care on top of the fees. Think you've misunderstood somewhere or got your maths wrong.

OP says it has about 60 kids. I think i've found the school and I just can't understand how the figures work.

How many classes has it got? I assumed 3, because I really couldn't possibly believe that they managed with fees so low but more teaching staff - but if, for example, they have 4 classes of 15 it gets even worse.

Is there a long-standing charitable foundation that is being slowly wound down or something? A previously owned asset (e.g. land) that was sold off and the money used to subsidise current running costs?

Local privates are about that much per term, even the one which is rumoured to be in difficult financial straits because of a mismatch between expenses and fees income...

@cantkeepawayforever Its tricky to work out the exact number of classes. However, if it's the correct school they have 5 teaching staff for different prep groups, a head teacher, 10 other staff members and 7 peripatetic staff.

I would love the OP to come back with more details, as right now the figures aren't making any sense.

We went private prep to grammar. No problem at all.

“ We went private prep to grammar. No problem at all”

Why would there have been any problems? Prep to secondary modern or prep to comprehensive- yes, possibly tricky But prep to grammar?

I am in London and our fees are £5k per term.

To those saying state schools get £X, it varies according to county funding. Ours get less than 2500 per pupil. For £4700pp they could have a gold plated teacher.

I’d beware mixed age classes too Op. they are teaching the very youngest in one year group with the very oldest in another - potentially a two year span. It’s hard to teach and even harder to learn if you’re very young in the year.

There's 4 classes plus pre-school. Then the nursery as well, which is 4 classes but that's sort of separate.

I will give more info when I get it. You lot have got me intrigued!

Surely in a grammar area shedloads of kids must go from private preps to grammar? Although some preps won't tutor for the 11 plus and encourage to stay for years 7 and 8.

Is it 4 classes for reception up until year 6? That’s not ideal, especially for younger children where the age gap is much more vast.

I am so nosey, but a rubbish sleuth...what should my search terms be?!

A divorced friend went for a prep school because with the wraparound options and the custody arrangements it was much the easiest arrangement for all three of them and relatively cost-effective.

Echobelly I can well believe that.

I'm really surprised I'm considering it (I'm actually reasonably anti private primary) but I know I won't be able to take my kids to sports clubs/ music lessons/hobby clubs due to my work and feel that this school will allow those things to happen, inclusive of the fees so would factor in those costs too (they offer ballet, football, rugby, la cross, modern mixed dance, various music, basketball and netball, various interest clubs such as debate, coding, creative writing, in the fees).

I'm beginning to understand why people chose them! The alternative I guess is a nanny who does the ferrying around to various things or giving up work.

I'm getting more and more surprised at each update - they offer all those clubs, including the more specialist ones, at no extra cost?! I do hope it's all true for you OP but am just stunned at how low the fees are, and how they can possibly offer all of that at that price. And not even on the usual shorter independent school terms either!

snowballer when I find out more re fees I'll put it on here. Regarding the extra activities, we've just been sent out a timetable with the newsletter which is how I e found out. It appears that some of the teachers are providing some of the club's from their own time from personal interest, which is lovely.

I'm currently on the pta (DS I'd technically is the first year of the prep, though as far as I'm concerned it's last year of nursery) and the teachers and auxiliary staff are just lovely, it's like a little family. DS was poorly the other day and when I arrived at school he was asleep on the teachers knee being hugged by her whilst she read the class a story. Really made me appreciate them.

It’s standard in most schools, state or primary, for teachers to offer clubs for no extra pay after school. In some it’s voluntary, in others it’s an expectation, at mine (private) it’s written in to my contract that I must do one club per week.

My small school offers all sorts of sports and hobby clubs, as well as homework (‘prep’) after school, all free. All done by about 4.30/5 though, if you want care later it is an additional cost.

One thing to be aware of is, whilst they may offer football, competitions may be few and far between. With less than 10 kids per year group it will be hard to form a team, especially if it’s a coed school (so only 5 boys), unless kids are playing up a year group, in which case they are highly unlikely to be competitive. This may or may not matter to you and your child. Less of an issue with ballet, coding or whatever.