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.

‘Cos Facebook said ‘ 😂😂

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

Yes - I work and volunteer is Education so absolutely am.

There was outrage, which was partly the reason the government stepped in and gave every household government support.

OP your posts are a prime example of the ideological spite driving this policy. It may not even make money if some children move from private school. It’s old fashioned class war politics which has never served the Labour Party well in the longer term

Lovely to hear that you don’t believe my experience from my child’s school 🤪

I don’t believe independents should be charities and tax exempt. And I’m happy to pay more.

You have a very skewed idea of what is really going on.

Exactly!!

The only way it’s going to affect you is if you work in private education.

If you work in state education, you won’t be impacted according to the Labour Party. If VAT is brought in, it won’t raise a meaningful amount of money (the IFS have confirmed this), and there are plenty of spaces, apparently, for anyone choosing to switch to state. If it’s not brought in, or delayed, you’re still not impacted.

It's a disruption protest tho if every private parent with a kid going into year 7 applied for the place that would be 400 extra places in our area alone which the council then has to find which in our area would be hard. If they don't turn up in September it will then be all the moves it has to manage as the parents paying fees can also afford to live in reasonable areas that have schools others want to attend vs the sink comp.

If every kid at our local schools applied for an in year admission they would be looking at finding over 5k space replicate that across the country and the policy would soon be dropped without the kids having to take up the places.

We have moved for an outstanding state place in year 7 so I no longer have any skin in the game but I still oppose the policy. Education should always be tax free. If the state wants more money they should look to the parents using the school to give a donation.

No they know more than we do. It’s not like our schools haven't been sending out info since last year. It’s not like we’ve not already planned what to do. It’s a shock I tell you!

Just means I can’t drive my Lamborghini as much….makes a dreadful racket anyways..

‘Lovely to hear that you don’t believe my experience from my child’s school 🤪

I don’t believe independents should be charities and tax exempt. And I’m happy to pay more.’

Brilliant. And you have my utmost respect on that. Well done, Wish there were more of you.

I'm not voting either way, @Captainmycaptains . Some private school parents need to read the room. Some state parents need to stop generalising about private school parents.

My kids went to state as will my grandkids. I hate that we have two tier education and money buys better. But I have friends who used private for their kids, and I don't judge. Fortunately they did have the ability to read the room, as I imagine most do.

Fingers crossed they don’t charge VAT on private education. We live near one of the top 10 secondaries in the country, I’m worried my son won’t get a place if the VAT is charged. We live in Surrey, tons of private schools around. Some friends do send their children private, they haven’t made much noise about it (or not that I’ve heard) but some are eyeing the state secondary that we want to use. It does worry me that he might not get a place if there is an influx of children from nearby privates schools.

so someone we know have 4 kids at private - Harriet, Charlotte, Hugo and Louis.

I know families with children with each of those names, all state school educated. But yes let’s mock a family on MN and make them identifiable by stating the names of all their children. 😡

Can anyone who has posted on this thread who agrees with the proposed VAT on private school fees (and is probably a remain voter) give their views on why it's ok for the UK but illegal in the EU to charge VAT on education (on any education at all, including private)?

This has so far not been part of the debate that I've seen and I think it's a really interesting point given how much more alignment KS wants with Europe.

Unfortunately, you’re correct. Our prep school have had more switching into state for secondary than previous years, because of the threat of the VAT.

mocking how exactly? Stating fact more like.

We have a two tier education system because the government are so shit at getting on top of what’s needed.

It really isn’t the fault of private schoolers.

Do state schoolers really think the very small minority dropping out of private school will have a positive impact on their children’s education?

It’s just a class war thing peddled by Labour it won’t even offset the supposed extra VAT

I’d have thought the point is that they want people to see their objections. It would be quite pointless if they really thought that no one would read/see what they’re doing.

Your reverse snobbery doesn’t look good.

Why are you even discussing other people’s children on here in an identifiable way?

I’ve raised this on previous threads. Starmer has categorically said that he doesn’t want to diverge from EU law. Taxing private schools does exactly this. Anyone who voted Remain should not, logically, be in favour on VAT on school fees. Or are we just picking and choosing the bits of Brexit we like now?

A lot of private parents apply for state anyway and then don't take it. So the number of excess applications won't be equal to the number of Year 7 private parents.

While I think that the VAT plan is flawed in myriad respects - I can’t complain about the use of Charlotte and Hugo.

After all, DD is about to enter private secondary and when we were sent the name list for her class we did laugh/roll eyes at how stereotypical ‘private school’ it was. It was very funny. We are equally guilty, of course.

If in my job, I proposed a big change but didn't assess the impact, then I would be failing at my job.

The private schools are certainly going to be assessing their financial viability if the change comes in, and budgetting/projecting accordingly.

The government and councils need to be doing similarly. If a local private primary closes down, then the state schools around it are going to need to find places for those pupils, as school is obligatory, and the state is required to provide it. It's just normal to ask if these plans are in place, and to use direct action (ie. applying for places) to emphasise the depth of the problem.

If you’re stating “fact”, it’s a disgrace that you’re posting insults aimed at an identifiable family, by using specific children’s names. Working in education, as you apparently do, should mean that you understand the importance of not making these kind of identifiable comments on social media. Let’s hope you’re not posting other things on social media about the pupils you work with.

Did you post the names of all the children in a family there on the internet too?