To wonder if Private School parents think we can’t read?

[Captainmycaptains]

Work/volunteer in Education so following the whole VAT debate.

SM is full of private parent groups ‘organising’ to get the proposed VAT on fees cancelled - fine you would, wouldn’t you esp.if you’re used to getting your own way.

They’re advocating hassling local schools, councils, demanding stats and figures that don’t exist, wiring to MPs - telling people to ‘claim’ their state place to ‘disrupt’ the ‘system’ while also saying ‘ Obvs we won’t be taking Charlotte and Hugo out of school, we’ll find the money’ etc strive harder, getting granny to chip in’ but this might make the council ‘panic’.

Do they think that people in support of the VAT aren’t seeing/hearing/reading all of these plans???

the funniest one yet is the poster who said ‘ well going to claim our state school places then! See how they like that! We’ll going holiday, pay the mortgage down, shop at Waitrose and save £700k in the process, ha!’
I. no you aren’t 2. Okay - go for it! Who on earth would think £700k is worth it?? Behave like a normal person then…

YANBU - yeah, they’re noisy as expected but the rest of us are as think/ concerned as they seem to think. Also - it’s too late for Sept - waiting lists only…

YABU - applying for school places you have no intention of using is daft, and of course everyone can see what they’re trying to do.

PS sorry for another Private thread but these outraged parents are driving me mad! Might have to have a break…

It's just the most boring debate. Send your kids to state or pay the private school fees!
Beyond me why it warrants a tantrum and so so much online debate

@Captainmycaptains

Many of those parents now applying to state schools are doing so to keep their options open. No one knows what’s going to happen so parents are increasingly keeping their options open. The uncertainty that the Labour Party has caused is dreadful.

Obvs we won’t be taking Charlotte and Hugo out of school

I understand that you obviously feel strongly about this, but resorting to name calling and laughing at parents’ choice of names somewhat undermines your argument. There are ways to put your point of view forward without resorting to petty and childish insults.

yes, thats exactly what we think 🙄
I have one at Private school and while I would rather my fees didn't go up I don't expect anyone else to care and if the extra money goes to help struggling State schools then great
The glee from some quarters is a bit unpleasant though and I really dislike the message it sends about The Labour Party and the new Govt we will be no doubt getting soon.
There are no doubt some Private School parents being real Dicks about this and the drama they are creating is ridiculous and does the rest of us a real dis service but the reverse snobbery is quite bad too

I do agree with you here. I don't like the glee and reverse snobbery.

It will push houses prices up again (in certain areas) which won't be a good thing

I imagine it’s an extremely small minority of private school parents - and it’s not difficult to avoid them. You remind me of that meme with someone getting irate staring at a screen saying “but someone is wrong on the internet!” Why on earth are you letting them drive you mad?

There’s always online groups of people upset about something and campaigning (ours locally seems to revolve around protesting an absolutely inevitable and already half built new railway line), and so long as they aren’t inciting hatred or breaking laws then if they want to protest then that’s entirely their right. My suspicion is it’s mostly just venting and very few will actually do anything, but even if they do applying for school places, writing to their MP and making FOI requests is hardly the next Just Stop Oil!

Get a grip and maybe spend some time away from social media.

No, I think you can read. Well, I can read, and I didn’t go to a private school, so assume this is still a basic.

PS - I’m not used to getting my own way, I generally think if you work hard and are nice to people it’s a big help. There are some idiots at my child’s independent school, and lots nice. Pretty true of everywhere, I find.

I have one at private , two are or were completely and successfully state educated . My DS is at private because he was struggling in a Good rated huge comp . He was one of those Keyworker kids in the pandemic and lost his innocence far too early due to dads job and the 24/7 new coverage - I know he’s not the only one . The last straw was the appalling maths teaching ( the irony is not lost on me ) .

The Worry for me is that Labour are foisting the responsibility for improving State Schools on a tiny minority that don’t use them . That is in no way just - the responsibility lies on all our shoulders and should be funded by all through the tax system .

If Labour are unjust to private school parents which small unvalued minority will be next . Private school parents votes obviously aren’t needed . Which group is next ? It might be you OP or someone you care about .

One lot want to make ‘sad face’ video of children talking to the camera to say how awful it would be if they had to go to state school… any marketeers want to help?
Although a few have said, let’s not have them in their school uniforms in case the uniform makes them look ‘anachronistic’…

Talk about not reading the room.

‘Obvs we won’t be taking Charlotte and Hugo out of school

I understand that you obviously feel strongly about this, but resorting to name calling and laughing at parents’ choice of names’

er, so someone we know have 4 kids at private - Harriet, Charlotte, Hugo and Louis. So it’s less ‘laughing’ at the names and more using names that many private school parents choose.

Yep, the glee is grim.

My children went to private school initially because I couldn't afford to buy a house near the schools I wanted and the one we would have got was in special measures with some serious bullying issues. l could have rented a flat near the better school as was common in my area, but I preferred to play with a straight bat and not commit fraud.

lI think that in areas of high competition for school places the proposed change will likely shrink catchments and there will be some quite disappointed people who can't afford private and whose children don't get the schools they wanted. But I guess that's ok?

Or, you know, get out of the room that they’re using and go somewhere else?

The internet is a big place with room for everyone. You don’t have to go and ferret out groups of people having conversations you don’t like and wind yourself up over it.

I’m confused as to why you’re so invested and bothered about this. You don’t have to read the posts; it’s not compulsory. Plenty of parents are bothered about this and are perfectly entitled to air their views, even if you disagree with them.

You're spotting posts from the loudest and least reasonable ones. I think many more will see a tax rise which will hurt a bit, but have a more rounded view on. Most people do not vote or form their views based on narrow self-interest, but equally they don't shout about it on social media either.

Nothing to do with your post but your user name is almost the same as mine which I've had for years. Might be confusing.

I think there is a crazy delusional idea that life should be 'fair' in terms dictated by individuals who also want to preserve all their own privileges regardless of the fairness in gaining those privileges.

It's mad. Life is massively unfair.

Education and Tax are the most powerful interventions a country can make in order to make life more fair for all the people.

The data demonstrates we are a far less equitable society than we were & that the present Tory regime has done everything it can to retrench this ongoing division.

Taxing school fees and closing all the countless tax dodging loopholes that the rich exploit is obviously the first thing a decent government should do given the state of our state schools and our NHS - now there's an institution everyone uses in an emergency - there are no private ambulances yet. And when the plastic surgery goes wrong or the Portland hospital has a crisis they go straight to the NHS paid for by those of us who can't afford to avoid paying our taxes.

I'm not sure anyone is happy to pay extra thousands of pounds a year in tax so I can understand why private school parents might be annoyed.

I'm pretty sure if the government introduced a school tax that was paid by working people with kids who sent their kids to state schools that would cost them £2-£3k a year then they would be pretty annoyed too.

And note that the private school taxes are only the start under Labour.There are also going to be additional tax rises on working people, so they are going to see a significant increase in tax burden.

And I know plenty of Charlottes, Hugos and Louis' at state schools.

It's a very small minority of parents posting on SM. Someone posted it my year group chat- 170 kids in the year. Not one person responded to it at all. Nothing on the other DCs school chat at all.

It’s spiteful, childish and stereotypical. There are plenty of children at state school with those names. There are many different types of families and both private and state schools.

I don't understand why people read the treads or look at the posts if the topic of private school feels bothers them so much.

OP I agree with you

My worry is that these calls to make fake enquiries to flood the system will lead to genuine enquiries (from people who really do need to move to state) being dismissed because they’re assumed to be fake.

If a local council/admissions authority receives 100s of late applications, how will it know which are genuine?

I think there is a crazy delusional idea that life should be 'fair' in terms dictated by individuals who also want to preserve all their own privileges regardless of the fairness in gaining those privileges.

Yep, lots of these threads have had parents bemoaning the fact that only the ‘elite’ will be able to afford private now & how unequal it is. It was less of an issue when they were on the right side of the fence though.

The bitter resentment in the OP’s post is palpable. You know, there are lots of really balanced, hardworking kids in private school who are taught to take people at face value. I hope you don’t project to your children your dislike for parents of Hugos and Emilys (or whatever) and I hope even more you’re kind to all children.

It’s spiteful, childish and stereotypical.

I agree.
Op do you refer to state school educated children as Jayden and Mercedes-Chardonnay?

the funniest one yet is the poster who said ‘ well going to claim our state school places then! See how they like that! We’ll going holiday, pay the mortgage down, shop at Waitrose and save £700k in the process, ha!’

I would argue that if that person is saving the money and spending it on different shops/restaurants/holidays etc they'll actually be helping the economy even more!