To not accept a private school bursary?

[CurlyTop1980]

So I've just started a new job (p/t 3 days a week) at a local private school. It's an international education. I started last Friday and was perplexed when everyone I met asked me what grade my kids were in and when I said they they're in the local primary they looked confused. Anyway, I found out yesterday that all permanent staff members are entitled to 100% bursay for up to 2 children.

Now I'm really torn. My kids are due to start Yr 7 in September. We applied for the local school. They are happy to go there and we know loads of people eith kids there already. But the private school has amazing provisions but a transient school population. Plus the bursary is only avaliable as long as I work there.

Wwyd??

I’d take the bursaries! Even if you were to leave in a couple of years or so’s time, the benefits of those years will stay with your DC. I’d definitely take the bursaries.

I wouldn’t wait until next year - I’d do it now (after checking the bursaries are as you’ve been told).

I'd be amazed if you actually get full bursaries as a pt staff member.

To me that would suggest possibly a school not getting enough applicants so bulking out intakes with staff kids, I'd also be rather worried about their finances.

I’d take the bursaries! Even if you were to leave in a couple of years or so’s time, the benefits of those years will stay with your DC. I’d definitely take the bursaries.

OPs children would start in year 7 / 8. If they had to leave a couple of years later that would have a huge impact on GCSE options. Moving during the middle of a child secondary school education is very rarely a good idea, and may even affect their results.

Also when you say it is an international education, is it an international school? As in the staff are not from the UK?
If so you may find benefits vary for local hire and international hire.

Which school do you actually prefer for them OP?

Assuming it is a good school ,I would jump at it, that would be an amazing opportunity. In fact l would commit to staying for the duration in the job to give them the continued opportunity.

My dcs changed schools several times, local catholic state school till 7, prep until 10, then senior but we moved 2 years in and they changed schools, now my DD has chosen to change again for A levels.

They have been fine every change, in fact (despite my worries) they have actually thrived, each school had different things to offer, they mixed with different groups of children from all nationalities and backgrounds, adjusted to new routines, and are very well rounded.
They settle quickly and know that change is normal and doesn't have to be scary. (We all have to learn how to do this in life)
I did carefully consider schools though and ensured l chose carefully to suit each of them from whatever was manageable. I also made a big effort to ferry to old friends and host sleepovers, every holiday to ensure the old friendships continued as much as possible.

I was painfully shy as a child and it was not helped by staying in one mediocre state school and never being pushed or having to challenge myself.
As you have seen op the facilities are very good and unless there is a VERY good reason for not moving them you would be daft to pass up such an opportunity.

Ok. So in answer to the P/T question. I've just looked at the bursary paper work again. There Re two types of bursaries. One a faculty one, and if your pt you get this pro rata'ed and the second is a universal bursary which anyone can apply for. However if you're p/t and jn a hard to fill post then you get priority for the universal 100% bursary. I'm in a hard to fill post.

I'mb ack in work tomorrow so will ask the bursar.

Yes that's right. I have actually worked with the school Iin my old job and I worked with a family that had to remove their child from there and they really struggled to fit into the UK education system.

This is what I'm worried about..... them changing schools in such a critical time....plus what if I leave then I lose the bursary!

Keep them at the local school. An international private school you describe in not the same as a traditional UK private tree school in terms of education, people and culture .

You wash wish this for your kids however

Private doesn't necessarily mean the best, most rounded education. Ultimately I'd talk to your child and see how they feel.

That’s a huge perk

Do the other staff must feel ok about staying? Any annoyed that they have to stick it out or appreciating the benefit

When do you need to decide?

I would keep your kids in state school. Perhaps in 2 years you could consider moving them once you know if you’re likely to stay in your job long term and if your kids want to move but for now I wouldn’t want to move them. If you need to ever move them back out from an international system to a uk system, it could be really difficult for them.

Oh god, definitely not if it's an international school.

Do they follow the same curriculum as the local school? Or are they doing International Baccalaureate? This would cause issues if you needed to swap schools.

I'd be concerned that the job may not be as permanent as you think. If the school has financial difficulties or wants to make cutbacks, there's a possibility you could be made redundant.

You might find you don't enjoy the working conditions or don't get on with your colleagues, or a myriad of other reasons which come up in teaching which mean you might want or need to change schools.
You really would be stuck there until your children leave and that could mean missing out on promotions or other job opportunities and therefore your career stagnates (if you're interested in progressing upwards that is). Or you'd have to uproot your own children.

Then there's the issue of friends and an international school having a more transient population. If the local school is good then I would stick with that. Your footballer will still have opportunities there and she's already in a football academy. Great facilities don't mean that drama is any better in the international school and again, you can seek out additional opportunities for her outside of school if you want.

No they follow the baccalaureate. Also their years are slightly different. I'm still really new so not sure how it all works!

I'm not in a teaching position- but from what I've seen most people stay there for a long time
The bursaries changed this yearm apparently before staff were only entitled to 5 years and then they had to pay full fees. But they struggled with recruitment so this why they now offer bursaries as long as you work there.

From your last post it sounds like it would be hard to assimilate back into a British school if you left. What if they started on the bac and then you needed to move them for year 10 etc? I’d want a really clear view of how easy it would be to get a good state school place out of normal entry periods and how similar or not curriculum would be. I’d also be wary of a transient group of peers. On the face of it, the offer sounds amazing but not sure if it actually is once you drill down to the risks if you were to leave.

If the state school is good or outstanding and that's where their friends are going I'd leave it, unless your kids are desperately keen to go the school where their mum works (not always a good idea).

My friend was in this situation and then the close shut it's secondary school due to lack of pupils on full paying fees. That was due to Brexit, hopefully that wouldn't happen now.

Thanks for all your comments. I am swaying to stay with the local secondary. Its good with outstanding elements and has a great footie team and drama department.

Continuity of education and school friends is of such great importance that mobile government employees receive subsidies for their children to attend boarding school. Whilst your children would have continuity of education in terms of the building, possibly the teachers and routine, they would not have continuity of school friends, by the sounds of it. Unless the state school they are attending is lower than "good", would it be worth it?

Or possibly their intake is not very able and they hope staff kids will improve the results.
Or staff retention is an issue and they've realised that having kids in the school is a useful handcuff.

I wonder if "two years service or at point of recruitment" means that it's two years service, but if they're really keen to recruit someone then they can override that as a golden hello on an individual basis - in which case it may not have been mentioned because it's not on offer to you. If it was "at point of recruitment" for everyone, then the two years service wouldn't make much sense.

Friends school offered free places to have native English speakers.

Yes, wait and see if you enjoy working there and then they could always move later.

You should also consider your children's classmates; a good friend of mine went to a prestigious school on a full scholarship. He thrived academically, but admitted that it could be hard sometimes to be mixing socially with other lads who very pleasant, but had assumptions about how they would spend their leisure hours which were based on comfortable parental income, and some very exciting (optional) school expeditions were completely out of the question for his widowed mother. There were expectations about uniform and equipment which she found difficult to fill as well. To be fair, he feels that it had many long-term benefits, but there were indeed times when he felt like an outsider.
You also mentioned the shifting international intake. Are your DC resilient types, who would take it in their stride if their bestie's DF was moved to a new posting?
There's also the consideration that it's an "international education"; I'm guessing that implies that, in the long term, the goal would be International Baccalaureate rather than GCSE/A-level. Both systems have their merits, but shifting from one to the other could be tricky.