Private school - what fee reduction have you been given for the summer term?

[BunsyGirl]

I would just like to get an idea of what (if any) fee reductions people are being offered for the summer term. We have been offered £150 discount per child to cover lunches. I am not particularly happy as our fees cover 8-6 wrap around care. I have been told that another local private school is offering a 10% reduction and their hours are shorter as after school care is an optional extra. I don’t want to get into a debate about whether we should get a fee reduction or not. I just want to get an idea of what fee reductions are being offered.

At no point am I criticising the teachers.

Our private school is part of a larger corporation. Who is there to make a profit. I am immense empathy for all. But that empathy goes two ways. I won’t be able to work if my child is not in school. If I was in the privileged position of not worrying about school fees, I would quietly pay. I’m not in that position. School fees are my biggest expenditure and we give up a lot (holidays etc) in order to make that choice. If I don’t work, I cannot afford to pay. It really is that simple.

I thought all private schools had charitable status?

Therefore should not be profit-making?

Nothing for our school unless parents are struggling financially.

Honestly, there’s a real risk that the school won’t be there come September. So we’ll pay but I’m deeply unhappy with the school for other reasons which are starting to cloud my judgement somewhat.

Interesting the difference in home teaching. We’ve had tasks set in various maths apps and it’s grating now. We’re getting no feedback and there is no structure or guidance. I can’t do three months of this so they need to come back with a plan after Easter.

Our school is offering a range of reductions depending on the year group, and no fees for extras like lunch. Full time lessons are being run on-line. The range of reductions is 20 - 50%.

They have also asked if you can afford to keep paying full fees, the difference will go into a pot to help parents in difficulty.

There's a massive difference in what schools are offering both in terms of engagement and fee reduction, as you can see from reading the thread. It's also a bit of an odd assumption that nothing was online and everything had to be put in place. Our school has had an online platform for years. No-one is disagreeing that these are challenging times. OPs criticism is that these are challenging times and the school isn't appreciating the impact that has on parents or DCs. Purely from a pastoral care pov that raises questions.

@Pegase well said

I don't think anyone is complaining about the teachers. The decision about fees isn't made by teaching staff and the decision on level of interaction won't have been made by them either.

Talk here of a private school being part of a larger corporation.
Eh?
I'm confused.
I thought private schools had some kind of charitable status.
In which case will they be able to get government help?
Waiting to see if these institutions will be able to have their cake and eat it!

I ask the questions because surely the answers will impact the outcome for posters' fees.

Pegase, nothing to add but solidarity. I'm a parent and a teacher at my dc school and have removed myself from the parent WhatsApp groups this week. The reaction has been (understandably) more angry in the primary division than the secondary division, but it was upsetting - we are trying our best. The online platforms crashed under the load earlier in the week, but thankfully have stabilised since Wednesday.

I'm sure my son is at a school managed by the same trust as sassbott's. We received a fluffy letter late on Thursday that told us they would only collect core fees, but no clarity on anything else really. In theory, online learning has been set up, but in reality, we've just been given a bunch of Twinkl sheets (which I can download myself, thanks...) and a few brief assignments that are uploaded in the mornings. They typically take half an hour or so to complete. The school is not replying to my questions, and I am really unhappy with their position.

I am happy to pay some fees - but it needs to be fair and proportional to the amount of support I receive with home teaching. Right now, I have to spend hours preparing for 'lessons' every night and am left to my own devices. I'm really not rich enough to pay for a service that I don't receive.

Just a couple of points.

Regarding exam fees. The schools and exam boards are going to be working even harder to get the coursework, predictions, NEA, all combined to give firm grades by July. So the exam fees are paying towards that grade. So highly unlikely any refunds.

Independent Schools are closing. A leading small special needs school has just closed permanently. Devastating for those children who cant just move to a local state school (no matter how good that school). My child is at an independent school - I would do anything to keep their future secure. Rather than coming on here and trying to decide whose job isnt important enough for them to continue to be employed and paid.

I'm really impressed with DD's school. They're doing a pretty full timetable, using MS Teams for teacher-led classes and various online apps. Yes, there have been a few teething problems and parental support has definitely been needed (DD is only 7 and sometimes doesn't quite understand the tasks, or doesn't maintain focus). But they're keeping in touch, keeping as much normality as possible, and adapting as we all learn more.

It's not the full school experience, and it's not easy as working parents, but I'm super-grateful that they're doing so much and don't at all resent that they are asking for full fees minus extra expenses like lunches. They've said they'll refund anything else they can recoup, and that's fine.

I want the school to bounce back when this is over. I want all their amazing teachers to still be there, and to have been supported through this. I worry for parents who are losing businesses and jobs: the school have said for those parents to get in touch, and I'm happy for any extra savings they can make to go towards keeping kids at the school.

I think it's the same as with everything else right now: keep going as well as we can, and try to preserve as much as possible for when this is all over.

I think there may be a big difference between primary and secondary as well. Our school has both, and is supporting both, but the reductions are more on the primary side. On the secondary side, particular the upper years the reductions are less, but we really are getting fantastic support. Full lessons, assignments, individual tutor support, pastoral. They even ran assembly on Friday! I have no problem with supporting the school and as Nordicwanabe so rightly says, ensuring that the school is still there in the Autumn.

I can’t imagine anything worse than schools closing and kids being stranded. I don’t think it’s about value for money right now, it’s about staying open

I think a lot of the teachers have missed the point on this thread. They are clearly expecting to be paid their full salary and carry on as normal while the parents are having salary reductions, being furloughed or seeing their businesses fail. They are also ignoring the fact that other schools are offering fee reductions and the fact that many private schools are offer more than just academic teaching. Parents cannot be expected to pay for wrap around care when that’s not what they are getting.

For those going on about schools failing, I am sure that some, sadly, will. This particular school has reserves of over £3 million in the last financial year. Fee income is roughly £8 million per term. If it offered a 10% reduction, it would have £2.2 million left! That’s still a comfortable amount. In any event, it should be able to reduce its costs.

@TheoneandObi

Some are run as businesses and some have charitable status. This particular school has charitable status with a decent reserve as I have indicated above.

We have been told there will be a reduction but haven't been told what that will be. My child is in Preschool.

We've had nothing so far. Apart from extra curricular activities and boarding fees (which we don't use) our school lunches are included in the price. Eldest dd is doing A levels she is having a fair amount of communication from teachers and a sports quiz from the sports department
Youngest dd has had some online work set and a video message from the head but nothing else, and the website they are using for her work is accessible to the public, so essentially I'm paying for something my next door neighbour can access for free.
A lot of emails have been sent in so I guess we will wait to see if there is a response?

OP, where do you get this from?

They are clearly expecting to be paid their full salary and carry on as normal

I've read the thread (albeit quickly) and I can't see that coming from the teachers. As pp mentioned, for us to be furloughed, we need to be unable to work. I would imagine that's a conversation higher powers than individual schools, whether teachers are able or unable to work.

Bunsy girls - is 3 mio reserves a lot? Both our current schools have a full year’s income in reserve and aren’t considered rich schools. The school one of my kids is going to in September has over 30 million in reserve but spends close to that per year. So if income is 8 mio but reserve 3 million that doesn’t sound like a lot. One of our schools sent a very long detailed email explaining the situation and stating very clearly that they do not intend to profit from this situation and will return any surplus (but that they really are not expecting any). Many schools are locked into long term contracts they can’t just terminate and the force majeure clauses don’t always work in this situation. Hopefully you will get a thorough and detailed explanation back from your school. If however you don’t want your kids to stay then of course you might contractually speaking subject to the terms be able to get out of paying next term and withdrawing your children. Just be careful if you ever want to use independent education again and cover yourself legally speaking in some sort of way. New schools might look for references from your old school.

We pay a single all-in fee (so includes lunches and some extra-curricular - just not those clubs provided by external companies) - then wrap around care separately as we need it. We're being given a 50% discount on next term's fee - which seems really generous having read this thread! DD is Year 2 and is getting lesson time via teams meetings, demo videos from the sports department and work sent in and marked via One Note - so pretty comprehensive.

Youngest dd has had some online work set and a video message from the head but nothing else, and the website they are using for her work is accessible to the public, so essentially I'm paying for something my next door neighbour can access for free.

I suspect that's always been true, it's just now you can see it. Lots of teachers use resource banks, and I don't think there's any evidence that private school teachers use them differently or use different ones to state ones - so you've probably always been paying for lessons you could get for free. The main advantage gained from private schools is that all the children come from homes where they can afford and want to pay for education, and it's hard to see how they could either provide that or refund that at the moment.

A third reduction in fees
Full boarding
She still has marked homework along with internet lessons on zoom or work set
They had a house meeting the other day online
It's the Easter holidays now for her