a terms fees payable

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I have been asked to pay a full term's fees after letting the school know i will be taking my kid out. Any advice

I know you normally have to give a full term's notice or pay a terms fees in lieu - there's likely to be something in the paperwork when you accepted the place about what the requirements are for leaving.

what advice do you want? Those are pretty standard terms - ones that you would have agreed to by accepting the place.

if you don't pay, they might take you to court.

only way i know people have got out of this is if they are moving house - if the school don't know where you are it's difficult for them to make you pay.

Yeap pretty standard to give a term's notice.

They may accept monthly payments if you ask.

I think this is fairly standard practise.

You need to double check your paperwork.

i got confused with a letter that the school wrote to us in January asking us to indicate whether in September the kid will stay, leave or not decided. in that letter, they also stated that though you indicated she will leave we need to let them know a month earlier. we indicated not decided.

One term's fees or one term's notice is the standard contract. It was clearly stated in our school contract, have you got a copy of yours.

Check the contract, a term's fees is normal as everyone has said. I can't really see that any letter could override the contract but if you would like further advice post the letter VERBATIM and I'll see if I can come up with an argument for you.

if you indicated she might leave, then you would still need to have confirmed this with a definite decision giving at least a term's notice?

if the school's communications have been confusing/contradictory you might have a case for not paying the full term - but suspect the school is pretty clued up on this.

Thanks a great deal for all your advice.

The letter had no mention of giving a term's notice. it did say for us to indicate by tick boxes, YES, NO & DONT KNOW/NOT DECIDED. then it went on to say, 'you still need to let us know a month earlier even if you have indicated your child will leave'

Naively, i got it in my mind that letting them know a month earlier is what was required.

Sunnydelight, I will get the signed letter and post to you

You will find that you signed up to T&Cs when your child started, the term's notice will be in there.

The term's notice will be in your original terms and conditions, which I assume you will have signed when your child first started there.

If you have ticked No in the letter originally, that would have been your notice (actually two terms), and no porblmes.

However, you said Undecided. Therefore they left you on their books and it was up to you to tell them No. You needed to give themthis answer around Easter time to to enable a term's notice.

A term's notice is common place in independent schools and nurseries.

I heard of someone who complained so regularly about a school that the Head wrote to her saying she was welcome to withdraw her children and she would not be required to give a term's notice. My mother who spent some time teaching in the private sector says this can happen.

And the moral....