To think that those private school parents banging on about their fees

[Thegreatergoodgerald]

Seriously have misjudged how little anyone else gives a stuff??? NHS, social care, state education, public transport, bloody potholes everywhere - that’s what matters to everyone I know.
Not whether or not VAT is added to a business.

YANBU - it’s hardly the end of the world if Clemmie or Charles end up going to a state school. We have bigger things to worry about in the U.K. right now

YABU - of course everyone cares private school parents might have to pay more

If you want medication for your child's ADHD you definitely need a psychiatrist.

It was made very clear to us that only a psychiatrist's assessment would be accepted.

Unpredictable people cannot be handled. And neither should you try to. They are called unpredictable for a reason. I feel sorry for these children who may be forced to move from their school. I get it happens to many, but we generally don’t cheer it on like some sort of sport.

I think I would be more concerned about what is going to happen to state education and huge class sizes personally…..

Except not everywhere has grammar schools because the standard of education in this country is so bloody variable....

Birth rates have been falling since 2012 and there are many schools that have had numbers fall so much that they're closing.

So there are spaces - and the teachers who still want employment won't have any trouble finding it, especially if the cohorts are more balanced in terms of academic and socioeconomic advantage.

Medication isn’t relevant for all children with ADHD and ADHD is not all SEN. There are a whole host of SENs varying hugely in severity and psychiatrists rarely have anything to do with any of them.

They’re entitled to care about the things they care about. Everyone has different priorities. Eg, pensioners probably don’t give a stuff about education fullstop, and probably care more about NHS. Others who rent probably want to focus on policies re rents and housing. We are all different. And there’s nothing wrong with that, so what’s your point?

When you read threads on state schools, there are terrible stories from established teachers about violent behaviour, shitty parents, crumbling buildings, staff leaving and lack of resources. Go to a private school thread and state schools are heartwarming melting points of diversity where kids of all backgrounds mix happily together and thrive academically, with a varied programme of extracurricular activities. It’s fascinating.

Well obviously.

I have a child with multiple SEN so I am well aware of how to get a diagnosis for all of them and what provision is NOT available for SEN in the state system currently.

Locally to me is my city's best state school. Full of dr, accountant and lawyer children. Its only been open 15 years. The houses around it are double the cost of houses just outside of its catchment. Same house.

State schools have plenty of room. Birth rates are falling meaning there is going to be even more spaces in the future.
The number of children in private schools is very small. Those that will leave as a result of VAT is minuscule.
It will be no problem to spread the small number of extra students around state schools - they might not get their closest school but they will get a space somewhere.

I'm not in a state grammar school area, but I know that one of the private schools near us, which has 4 or 5 applicants for every place, has "meetings" in Year 4 to let pupils who will not get into the senior (independent grammar) school know that they need to start looking elsewhere. So they never sit the exam and usually move to another less competitive independent school in Year 5.

No spaces in Oxford or Cambridgeshire

Whilst what you say should be true, it is an unrealistic assessment and at state secondary school you are more likely to encounter this now as for expelling a pupil for violent behaviour doesn’t even happen. In my area a pupil referral unit has closed due to being marked as inadequate by Ofsted so these children have to stay put even if it is not the right environment for them. It may not impact many children but students do develop a sense of self preservation which transcends school life and is useful in the real world IMO.

The great irony here is that Labour love to penalise the "rich" to give to the "poor" However, it won't be the rich that are affected. It will be the potentially socially mobile, parents who can just about afford independent school with sacrifices that will struggle. Not the Benedicts of the world but those whose parents tried to do something to support their child.

My brother and his husband have adopted twin boys that had a hard start in life. They have their boys in a small private school as the quieter calmer atmosphere, structure and sports, as well as the smaller classes is perfect for them. They won't be able to cope with 20% fee increase twice over as they aren't landed gentry, just a couple of Dads that put every spare penny into their children's school fees.

ittakes2 · Today 19:23

“Utter bollocks - only physiatrists can diagnose SEN. The difference is private school kids have parents who can likely pay for private diagnoses and the state school kids are being missed.”

Well it’s clearly not obvious to some.

“But students do develop a sense of self preservation”

Some do. And I tell you this as a teacher of 25 years, who has worked in a deprived state school my whole career. For many, school is simply just hellish.

As a female staff member, I have been punched in the face, punched in the back. Shoved and called every name under the sun. I am used to it now, yes, but I long for the day I can afford to get out. That is how many children spend their 5 years in school, longing to get out.

I wonder how people would feel if the policy was VAT being put on private healthcare. That’s currently VAT free. Don’t hear many folks complaining that the people scrimping and saving to get a faster operation privately or see a private GP, get an vaccination for their kids are somehow tax avoiders or that the people going private are selfish. Careful what you wish for….

This is rubbish as well-you do not need a psychiatrist to be prescribed ADHD medication. I wish people wouldn’t state things as fact, which are not true and in fact, are easily checkable.

The whole issue with the proposal is that there are literally no winners so what’s the point of doing it?

Some private school parents have to move their children against their will.

Parents who no longer use PS will reduce earnings and pay less tax

Taxpayers have to fund additional state school places

Increased competition for grammars and the best state schools

Removal of bursaries for lower income families

Likely net cost to tax payer due to additional state pupils + ex PS parents paying less tax

Where are the winners? There are literally none. It takes an almost impossibly incompetent government to suggest the introduction of a policy which benefits not a single person.

Really? When was your workplace last evacuated because one of your colleagues flew into a rage and started throwing furniture around the room?

So please do tell me - and thousand of other parents of ADHD children where we can get ADHD meds prescribed if not via a psychiatrist. In my area it is the only route.

My siblings' children in different counties have the same situation.

Tiny violins for the squeezed middle 🎻

More nice kind lefties...

That’s Fenland which is one specific area of Cambridgeshire. There are plenty in nearby Peterborough and the rest of the county. There are no private schools in Fenland either.