Allow a play date where mum unapologetically supports children’s education tax

[GigglyOrange]

Just this really, our local independent prep school closed due to the education tax earlier this year and has caused absolute chaos for lots of families, including my own. My dd (6) has been invited for a play date with a girl she seems very friendly with and who seems very sweet, but I’ve since found out from another parent that the mum is an ‘unapologetic education taxer’. My instinct is to cancel the play date, AIBU?

Love. Respectfully. This is not all children is it..
It’s all affluent children. (Of parents who believe in independent education)
It’s not ever going to apply to Jayden from the sink estate with a schizophrenic mum who can’t work and a dad who hasn’t seen him for four years.
Stop trying to make your elitist views inclusive.

It’s not a ‘particular subject’ this is something that really affected my dd. I agree on the whole, but there are somethings that are too much.

Is it?

Or is it what people write when they have the interests of wider society in mind rather than that of just themselves?

Why DONT you want equality?

Sorry but what have the political views of the parents of your daughter's friend got to do with whether she can go on the play date?

“Will somebody please think of the children!”

Well the daughter is going to be told she has strategic hay fever to avoid the play date. I'm not sure if she'll understand that.

I don’t think OP does realise that. Which is quite sad.

Yet you want to sabotage her budding friendship because you don't like her friends mums political viewpoint?

My son has a pal whose mum reportedly is probably trump, I'm not holding it against an 8 yr old that her mum is bonkers

How’s the vote working out for you ? Doesn’t bode well for your daughter’s friendships going forward does it ?

@GigglyOrange regardless of anyone's opinion on the VAT on private schools, the fact that you will not let your child be friends with someone who holds different opinions to you is shocking. We all have different opinions on different things but we can all still get along. If you are for real then you need to have a long hard look at yourself and realise your opinion isn't the only one that matters. What happens if your child grows up and has a different opinion to yours, or becomes a Labour supporter what are you going to do, kick her out? You honestly come across like a spoilt, entitled brat

But only ALL the children... ALL the children who might ever have had a private schooling option ALL those children....

If Jayden excelled at drama and received a 75% scholarship it would apply to him. There are no exemptions. Of course there will be no scholarships for Jayden as costs are kept low to ease the burden of the education tax.

Don't get me wrong I understand why private schools work well for some children. But I also think that if the amount of money that goes into private schools each year went into public schools instead then there would be better resources to help all pupils maintain public education, including all of the children like your dd who are not in any education because they can't sustain public school and parents can't afford private.

Again, it’s not different opinions. This woman is well aware up close of what this policy has done, it’s not just my family that have had to move.

If you earn £75k+, I’m baffled that you can’t afford private school for your daughter. You don’t sound like you have your daughter’s best interests at heart.

The policy hasn’t done anything. You could not afford private education and didn’t prepare properly. You bought a luxury good you couldn’t afford. The onus is completely on you.

I moved schools and counties age 6, I’m fine….your DD will be too, with parental support. Not if you are going to behave like you have on this thread, she will just grow a chip of entitlement on each shoulder.

You think Jayden whose mum is schizophrenic, dad doesn't work and loves on a sink estate has the opportunity to excel at drama and the support required to make that known to a private school? Not to mention lives within commutable distance and has someone in his life who can pay not only for these drama lessons, the transport and the uniform etc for the school but also the other 25% of the fees? Do you? Really? Gosh dyou know you've convinced me, what a great leveller private school is, how wonderful for ALL the children...

Didn’t OP say the household income was £220k plus a stingy bonus?

But it is different opinions op. I can see that was difficult and stressful for your family. Your opinion is it should never have changed, my opinion is that you shouldn't have been able to access private education in the first place and that these changes need to happen. That is absolutely a difference in opinion!! And shouldn't be stopping your child from being able to make friends.

Charming. What was I "on about" before?

For the hard of reading and totally ignorant of any education issues outside their own narrow obsession, the pupil population is in rapid decline and is having massive impacts across the school sector. I've seen no evidence that the private school attending demographic is not affected by this shift.

Key impacts:

• Half a million fewer children in the state sector between 2020-2030
• Nurseries and primaries already seeing big impacts - with school closures and shrinkage already happening and much more to come.
• Even previously heavily oversubscribed schools are seeing catchments rapidly expand and their waiting lists disappear.
• Secondary school impacts already being seen in inner and outer London and the national secondary population having now peaked.
• The impact of children moving in from/not starting in the private sector is absolutely dwarfed by the negative budgetary pressure caused by the population decline.

They need to bring back the laughing reaction.

Can you honestly not see how tone deaf you are and why no one GAF about your issues on this subject?

Yes I’m also baffled.

And exactly this. Private education siphons resources away from public schools making it even harder for the most vulnerable children to have the chance to 'excel'. The ones that get those scholarships are unicorns! It's absolute insanity to even say that as if its a level playing field.

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