Private school fees - act now for SEND!

[BellesAndGraces]

The King’s Speech is scheduled for this Wednesday (17th July) and it will be followed by 4 days of debating Labour’s proposed legislation in Parliament, including the introduction of VAT on private school fees.

If you have a child with special educational needs or a disability and send them to a private school because your local state school was unable to meet their needs but do not have an EHCP I would strongly suggest that you write to your MP and tell them why you send your child to a private school and how the charging of VAT on private school fees will affect you. Ask your MP to stand up in Parliament and ask the government whether it is willing to expand the exception they have agreed to make for children with EHCPs to cover all children who attend private school in order to meet their SEND. If you share your story and circumstances with your MP you will be providing them with a case study they can refer to in Parliament about how charging VAT on private school fees will affect those of their constituents who are already dealing with the challenges that having a child with SEND can bring.

You can find out who your MP is and their email address here: https://members.parliament.uk/FindYourMP

So a child needing a full time strict 121 with no fluidity in state even when in small groups of 5 or less in separate intervention rooms doesn’t need that in the private sector even though that often just differs by having classes of 15 as opposed to 30.

Doesn’t make sense.

It does make sense in some situations. Just because you can’t understand that doesn’t mean it is never the case.

Yes, my dd is in a class of 12 in private vs 33 for her age in state. Of course it means much more attention, less noise, fewer children to navigate interactions with. Added to that there's more structure and more feedback on where she needs support.

Why would a state school, which is set up on a specific model to offer a standardised curriculum designed to cater to the average child, be best placed to meet the needs of children with specific needs or difficulties which fall outside that norm? There’s no inherent reason that the private sector, which is mostly not for profit, shouldn’t provide an education which is better tailored to those children cost effectively. It opens up options for children who need something different to the average.

It simply isn’t true that the state sector currently caters well to all children with SEN (or certainly not across the board). 1 to 1 support is helpful to a lot of children with SEN but not necessarily a magic bullet to a state school being able to meet their needs. For example, I know a boy with ASD who had a breakdown and stopped attending mainstream school after years of struggling with it. He’s very bright but can’t tolerate the noise level and rules in mainstream - lots of episodes of him hurting other children or himself etc despite having an EHCP and 1 to 1 support. State special schools aren’t really suitable. He’s now attending an independent forest school- not necessarily ideal or what his parents would have chosen but it’s the only school it’s actually possible to get him to attend right now without incident and he is learning something there, It’s not particularly expensive, certainly nothing like the cost of a special school place.

How does it?

We can’t provide a bespoke model for all. Money shouldn’t be diverted into private but into making the state generic model cater for all and differentiate better.

Because the environment of a large state MS is vastly different to some small, nurturing independent MS.

Sometimes in state MS a child’s ‘bucket’ is constantly overflowing, leading to them needing full time 1:1. If a child’s needs are better met in an independent MS because it meets their needs, their ‘bucket’ no longer overflows and they are no longer overwhelmed by things they previously were, thus sometimes they no longer need 1:1.

As I posted, just because you don’t understand doesn’t mean it is never the case. It is sometimes the case.

By you can meet needs in MS. Very few children can’t have their needs met with the right support in MS.

By you can meet needs in MS.

Not for all pupils you can’t.

State schools, or any schools for that matter, will never be able to cater to all. That’s why EOTAS/EOTIS exists.

State mainstream schools, or even any mainstream schools, will never be suitable for all, even with all the support in the world.

A few can’t have their needs met int the state sector and need special schools but the vast majority can with the right support.

It is not only a ‘few’ whose needs cannot be met in the state mainstream sector. Even if they had all the support in the world.

The LA on the other hand would like everyone to think all DC can have their needs met in state MS whether they actually can be or not.

@DarkM3l0n It depends what you mean by “needs met”. If you mean watched sufficiently carefully by a 1 to 1 that everyone is physically safe maybe. If you mean, happy and thriving at school and achieving their potential, not so much. The average mainstream state school just isn’t designed to meet the needs of children with ASD or ADHD so whatever support is bolted onto that model may never be sufficient. So what you get is a lot of (but still not enough) resources thrown at trying to shoehorn children into a model which they find inherently stressful and difficult to cope with. Some children might thrive in mainstream with support but many won’t.

If the private sector can meet the needs of those children better in specific and fairly rare cases, that should be what happens. A general fondness for big state is just a political view which has nothing to do with the practicalities of making sure every child gets an education which is appropriate for them.

So do share what private schools offer that state schools can’t as regards children with ASC and adhd. I have a child with both and an EHCP.

Unfortunately we absolutely can not afford every kid who doesn’t have their needs met in the state system having a bespoke private education. We need to make the state system work better.

Thankfully, the law disagrees with you.

The SEN system needs improving, yes, but not at the expense of DC whose needs cannot be met in state MS. Not providing what disabled DC reasonably require costs more in the longer term.

Some are also in independent MS because they have shown it isn’t unreasonable public expenditure and being in state MS would cost more.

Independent MS can offer SEP state MS can’t. Starting with, but not limited to, smaller class sizes.

Won't be asking MP's to do anything for Private school students before they do things for state school students first.

For the many, not the few.

No one needs a lawyer for this plenty of parents win such cases without one. It's about the evidence not the representation.

Not entirely sure why private smaller class sizes are so important as many MS state schools can and do provide good quality small group provision alongside a working environment that suits ND which doesn’t hinge on class size. You can have larger classes that meet ND need better than some smaller classes. Teaching style, atmosphere and provision across a whole setting will vary in all schools state or private.

It is scandalous.

@BellesAndGraces I completely agree and have emailed my MP.
Single parent with autistic child who has been damaged and let down by mainstream education.
I sold my house and work 60 hours a week to pay for my child to get the education she deserves and needs in a small private school that specialises in ASD.

Luckily you don’t have to understand or ‘entirely sure’. You aren’t the one making the decisions.

Small group provision is not the same as a small class size.

For some DC, (quantified) small class sizes are important. That can be on top of teaching style, atmosphere and provision. Not instead of. Some win tribunals on the basis of small class sizes so it has been deemed to be reasonably required legally.

Of course not all independent schools are the same. No-one has said otherwise.

Sadly plenty of families end up in the position of needing legal assistance in order to get the right provision for their child. It shouldn’t be the case but it very much is in many many cases.

If you find it scandalous the state funds wholly independent MS via EHCPs where it has been deemed to be necessary &/or not unreasonable public expenditure, you would be aghast at the cost of some SS (state, NMSS, independent) and comprehensive EOTAS/EOTIS packages.

Paying for legal advice really isn’t essential. It is evidence that wins appeals. If parents needed independent assessment but can’t afford them and aren’t eligible for legal aid which can fund necessary assessments, there are charities who can help.

No but I can ask questions plenty of other people who make decisions and those who don’t will be asking.

Pretty sure there isn’t a parent in the land who couldn’t argue that their child would be better off with smaller classes.

The fact is the SEN budget has to provide for all children not a few who are lucky enough to have parents arguing that they need a private education. It isn’t sustainable and actually we have no choice but to make the state system work better.