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.

I care. Like I said above, I will be hit by a very small amount for upper sixth for one child on heavily reduced fees so this isn't personal interest.

But I do care for those with much younger kids who will be facing major problems.

My heart bleeds for them 🙄 imagine having to be state educated because you aren't as rich as you thought you were.

Not really, I comment about things as banal as Tiktok memes. Caring is slightly different from taking a passing interest, or finding something laughable.

By "I think they overestimate their own impact", I meant:

1. Do they really think they're going to pull off some flooding coup in state schools? 😂 There aren't nearly enough of them, and besides, the countries with the best state education outcomes worldwide are those where virtually everyone attends state school – so state schools will be glad for the increase in capacity, funding and political prioritisation.

2. All the entitled pleas. The whole point of private school is exclusivity, my dear. Now that you don't make the cut, that hasn't changed.

Is there a financial amount that people have for u to give them sympathy? We all moan about food prices going up, perhaps none of us have the right to do that given we aren't starving?

I’ve done all that 😊 when state school said no to spelling tests in year 1, we started at home. I got all the books from year 4 onwards.

I agree it’s cultural in this country. There’s a laissez faire attitude to kids and education.

So many parents don’t want homework, don’t want to read to their kids, won’t support them in learning their times tables.

Only 50% of kids get read a bed time story now.

And I agree that it should be from the individual. I can’t understand how any private parent who comes to the state system will magically transform the school.

Thats la la land. For that you need billionaire status and no billionaire gonna be sending their kids to state school.

I don't think people need sympathy because they can't afford to pay school fees, no.

Not being able to afford food on the other hand? Absolutely.

It's hardly the same is it?

Do you honestly think that parents who use private education wouldn’t do everything to help their dc anyway?
Just as we all would.
If there were no private schools some parents would still find a way to improve their dc’s education and would find expensive elite clubs and societies for them to join.
It’s rare that a moneyed person marries a pleb, they don’t meet plebs, they mix in totally different circles.
Life is a two tier system in the UK.

Paul McCartney may have sent his dc to state school but the people they mixed with at home wouldn’t have been plebs like us.

Dancingonthemoonlight · Today 12:18
Let them come to state schools, let's see how long it takes for them to be knocked down a peg or 2 with their pretentiousness, let them see how normal people live, let them swallow that silver spoon they have sticking out their mouths.

I feel very sorry for any private school children who end up at the same school as your dc as no doubt you encourage them to say all this and more.
However they’re poshos so they deserve it, eh?

This might be a really fucking stupid question.

if they are charging vat, does that mean they can claim it back like a normal business?
All the supplies etc add up

WOW. Applied to a child. What a see you next Tuesday of a comment.

The parents will make some impact on state schools though.
They’ll join the board of governors, they’ll sponsor stuff.
It doesn’t take millions.

I will do jack shit. HTH.

Yes but the biggest spend for any school is staff - ie the teachers. So no VAT to claim back there.

Yes they can

However a school’s main expense is salaries so that doesn’t have VAT to claim back. But they will claim back any VAT paid on other supplies - including building work and some private schools spend a LOT on building work.

I couldn’t quite get at what you were trying to say for various reasons, but mainly the enormous chip on your shoulder 😆

I am quite worried about the impacts of this policy. I do believe a lot of smaller private schools will go bust and a lot of private school teachers will lose their jobs. I also believe some children with SEN will be very badly affected and I really hope they make sure all proper SEN schools, regardless of whether all the kids there have EHCPs, will be exempt. Otherwise it is just a really nasty policy.

Also, the type of private school parents I know personally happen to all be international and I highly doubt they will just pay up. They just do not get that this policy is about British class war and so they are very vocal because they do not understand the culture. As we are pretty broke as a nation, I don’t think losing even a few more higher rate tax payers is worth it, but let’s hope the Labour Party do know what they are doing. I have zero faith left in our Government post Tory 14 years. All of them a bunch of muppets that do not think stuff through and have far less control than they profess to have over whatever ideas/policies they implement.

😂

I won't join board of governors, I work full time as do most private parents.
My time and energy will go into providing the extra curricular activities that my child won't be getting at school. Because we are rural that means a lot of driving and time spent ferrying DD around

Yogablockz · Today 11:44
This is not a tax on private schools but the removal of the charitable exemption

This has been discussed endlessly on here and in the news - and you are completely wrong. I’m surprised you feel able to laid down the law on the subject of education when you are so ill-informed.

Starmer said ages ago he was going to remove charitable status but, despite being a so-called hotshot lawyer, failed to do his homework so they aren’t removing charitable status and are instead imposing VAT on private schools.

You're allowed to swear on the internet. It's okay.

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

If you really work/volunteer in Education. You should recognise that VAT raised is not going to touch many of the problems with it. They may as well burn that money, for all the good it is likely to do. It is this elections NHS bus.

Parents who have children are private school are not a monolith. you are no better than the smug ones you are calling out. My children were state education and cover a range of academic abilities.

You’ll be a target.
The head will definitely try to butter you up.

funny you say that, I live in an area with lots of private schools and you’re right there. They are always doing building work.

whilst (like most businesses) they can’t claim back salaries, there will be some savings trickling through from claiming the vat back.

They can try to get hold of me 😆 DH will syphon all the money into pensions too so there will be no spare cash lying around

A friend who is a teacher in a state school recently said "children at private school do get a subsidy from the council to the value of their state school place don't they?". So I think it is right to assume people aren't reading a lot about this issue OP.