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.

Wowee OP, aren’t you a peach?! Such spite.

There is none of this at our school. Some people aren’t impressed, but no organised “protests”. This has been on the table for a long time so anyone who has done their research will have known that it was a potential outcome at the next GE. This is not a new policy.

You are very much being swayed by a noisy few.

Unfortunately, many parents do project these views onto their children which could explain why it’s not unusual for private school children to be walking down the street and have obscenities shouted at them by pupils from other schools, purely because of their school uniform. This Labour policy has created even more division and is stirring up hatred.

First they came for the private school parents, and I did not speak out...

I'm sorry but presenting the wealthiest people in the country as some sort of threatened minority is tasteless at best. The country is being asked whether it would like a government which prioritises improving services for everyone over allowing the wealthy to buy their way out of the slow and steady decline our society has seen over the past 14 years. That's it. It's not an attack on you, it's a proposal to change the way we do things.

Oh piss off im sick to death of curtain twitchers having a go at private schoolers. Honestly we don’t give a flying fuck what you do with you kids or how they are getting on. Seriously I don’t sit at home thinking about your kids - at all. Why the fuck would I?

Why are you sat at home thinking about mine and their schooling. It’s obsessive and the only reason I can honestly think of now after the relentless post and post about private schools from non private schoolers is jealousy.

You just do just you hun - honestly it’s embarrassing

Schooling is a stressful issue for families at the moment. People are trying to make the best choices for their children while dealing with the cost of living. There’s no need to turn it into a fake them against us fight.

Yes, as I said before though - I am in Education and therefore have some skin in the game.

I don’t believe that having a 2 tiered system with 6/7% of kids having extreme privilege is good for the U.K. however people are free to choose to pay for that privilege if they so wish.
Just don’t whine about it.
Or pretend you suddenly care about state schools.
Or be so dense/privileged/ entitled that you think ‘tricking’ everyone else into thinking you might opt to send your child to normal schools While discussing it on open forums is somehow going to work.

How about if you had an ID card when you went to an NHS hospital and could only use it (in an emergency as obvs you use private otherwise) if you had a code 'green' tax symbol on your ID proving you were not a tax dodger.

Sorry but I can't get over the sense of entitlement in the minds of the rich.

That’s the point though. It’s not going to make any difference to the state provision. Even the IFS have admitted that. They’ve said “But don't be fooled into thinking this is going to make any real difference to the amount of money available for public services.” If it was going to make a difference, perhaps people would be more accepting of it.

I'm no expert but I'd think people will be put on a waiting list and then if a private child doesn't actually attend, or only attends state for a short while, it'll be offered to the next person and so on. For it to cause problems they'd all need to attend long term. In which case more schools would be built. They'd still need to pay school fees while attending state long term though, or the private schools would go out of business.
I usually hide the private VAT threads so it's probably already been gone over.

No you haven't got ‘skin in the game’ 😂😂

You’re either a troll looking to start a bun fight or some one so chewed up with rage and jealousy because you think some people have more money than you.

Just move on..

This.

If any should apply for a state school place when have no intention of using it is incredibly selfish. Disgraceful behaviour. Lost any respect for the entitled group of parents that act in that way.

But surely you realise this is a tiny minority and not representative at all?

I think it might be slightly more complicated than that. Many private school parents have left the state system because it’s failed them. Some of those having to move into the state system are likely to appeal for a school place at the best state school they can find. There’s also the issue now that many parents of children with SEN are looking at applying for an ECHP because they will apparently be exempt from the VAT charge.

AND OP - if you’d like to count the number of threads that private parents actually make it falls in to significance compared to the post people like you post in glee at the thought we might struggle …

Were just cracking on with it 😁

I think they should remove VAT subsidy for kids clothes for any parent who is in top income tax band.
why should we subsidise cheap clothes for rich kids?

It shouldn’t impact anyone anyway, because the Labour Party have already said there is plenty of space in the state system for anyone moving. If that’s true, why would it impact anyone?

I think a lot of people are going to be very disappointed when the VAT doesn’t kick in on election night 😂😂

I don’t believe you. And if you go onto Facebook you will find several huge groups and no doubt recognise a name or two. That being said, if you and everyone you know are genuinely okay with this, then that is FANTASTIC- and I mean that sincerely.

As you said, it’s been a long time coming, expected, schools will or should have planned accordingly and many private school parents have been under pressure for years because their schools are hiking up fees way above inflation each each year.

"esp.if you’re used to getting your own way."

Beyond petty.

😂😂😂😂

Where was this kind of outrage, dissent and mobilisation when the whole country’s energy bills went up? Affecting EVERYONE. Some people are so privileged that they think inconvenience like tightening belts to afford a chosen luxury is an attack on their liberties.

You seem as invested in the debate as the parents directly affected by the policy.

People negatively affected by a tax change will have strong opinions about it. This has always been so.

A small percentage of such people would try to organise against such a policy. This is perfectly normal and how politics should ideally work; policies should be scrutinised, challenged and debated.

For most people outside the policy impact zone, these debates are tedious, but thankfully they are easy to avoid. Just don't read the threads, don't engage.

You seem to be doing the opposite.

It’s just childish. However there ARE lots of places - in our city 4 good secondary are full/ over subscribed but 3 others are not at all.

I really think this debate is only happening on Mumsnet and it's very boring so I generally just scroll past. The vast majority of parents in this country (93%) use state schools and Labour's policy on VAT polls very well. This will all blow over once the election happens hopefully.

I’d be really surprised if anyone cba to apply for a school place they don’t expect to use - esp since all the private school parents I know are all working pretty demanding jobs to pay for it. I can imagine parents applying for a place at the next obvious break point, because Labour haven’t been clear about exactly what/when they plan to introduce, and nobody knows how it will affect particular schools. It makes sense for people to keep their options open. As pp’s have said, that behaviour may well reduce catchment areas, especially in areas with lots of privately educated kids