Am considering moving 2 children back into state school ?

[Heswall]

I moved my three children to private school for two reasons, first the eldest was being bullied and the school were in complete denial and basically blamed her saying she had mental health issues. The second was her maths was absolutely awful and they expected me to get her a tutor or deal with it, they were not going to put in any additional effort at all. That child has now gone on to state senior school and is doing brilliantly - level 5H in maths in year 7, everyone is pleased with her.
Now the jist is literally 2 months after three of them started private school my husband was made redundant. For 2.5 years we have struggled and got ourselves into debt to pay these fees. The private school knows we are on the bones of our arses but when the fees were one day late in January we got 7 phone calls chasing us and told not to bring the children in until the fees were up to date.
This was simply a cash flow issue, a cheque was clearing, they knew this.

So I've had enough. The school they came from is around the corner, this will save £40 a week in petrol alone.
Whilst I will no doubt be feeling embarrassed I doubt the children will mind at all, they've made some friends at the private school and we'll keep in touch with them.
It's the maths that worries me, how do I keep the good work up and in other areas they've come on leaps and bounds, reading, handwriting I am terrified of all the good work going to waste, how do I maintain the standards ?
Has anyone had any experience in the same situation, please tell me it worked out ?

An opportunist, well I can live with that. I didn't ask to be hit my somebody else whilst I was minding my own business and as for the figures offered to other people, I'd suggest you had bad legal advice or weren't as injured as I believe I am, I am in a neck brace.

You can pull all the faces you like we've been very unlucky over the past 3 years and if this will solve any of my current dilemas then brilliant, it's not like i'm heading off on holiday with ill gotten gains.

Very sorry about the accident, OP.

However, I too would be cautious in banking on a significant payout, having watched my collegue go through something similiar.

Just don't put yourself in an even more difficult position.

even if it's a significant payout, you won't it quickly. minimum a year. honest.

I got £5k about 15 years ago for whiplash and a scar/cut to my face (as a young woman that was seen as quite a valuable injury apparently!). but it took ages to come through - you have to wait to see what the long term prognosis is and that takes a while.

Is it a proper neck brace or a padded neck warmer? To be honest, that will give you some sort of indicator of how serious the injury is deemed to be by any compensation board. Seriously. My feeling would be that you will have been detained in hospital if you were in a rigid brace, but I might be wrong?

I'm inclined to think that at this moment in time, you need to cut your 'losses' and re-examine the state sector and what's on offer. The stress you're under might be causing you to not think straight!

Heswall, i don't think you have understood what I am trying to tell you.

I am NOT commenting on the morality of getting a windfall by claiming and winning a large sum of money over and above the amount of money you have lost from losing earnings. Honestly, i wish that the compensation rules applied by the courts would give you this, i can't think of anyone who would deserve it more TBH. The sad fact is, compensation is calculated to reimburse you for ACTUAL money you have lost, which you will have to prove. At best you will only be able to get a small token payment (probably in the hundreds not thousands) for distress and inconvenience. If your solicitor is advising you differently you may wish to question their motives - perhaps the substantial fees they could earn from you in pursuing such a claim could figure in this?

I would agree it is very unfair, but that is the way it is. I have been involved in a long drawn out case to claim back losses from a serious house fire caused by a negligent electrician, which almost killed the whole family and made us homeless for weeks. How much did we receive for stress and inconvenience? The princely sum of £200. Advice from several solicitors my DH has professional dealings with indicated that we should count ourselves luck to have got that. The claim for compensation for our financial losses had to be substantiated with receipts etc for costs incurred.

I'm really sorry but you really cannot count on this accident being your salvation from your financial crisis. Please think long and hard about how the stress of funding school fees has brought you to such desperate thinking. You can't cary on like this.

For the sake of the whole family, move your DCs to state now.

If you do live in heswall I'm not surprised you had problems at the local state school! Put them in a different state school, they will be fine
Re compensation - i got a couple of grand once and was a student so it really can't just be for loss of earnings!

Mercibucket which one would you recommend ? The trouble with being at private is 90% of the pupils come in having had issues with the local states schools I literally cannot think of one that hasn't been mentioned in the playground. We weren't at St P's if that's the one you are thinking of but again one of our very good friends we met moved from their, the brown uniform has three ex pupils and the lovely village being with W has at least 2 I can think of.

Jajas, they are clamping down on the solicitors taking the piss sending two letters for £25 when one would do, not the actually claiments, you cannot reduce the number of whiplash injuries without reducing the number of accidents which I'm sure everyone would like to see.

State school is the best option for you and your family at this time,I think you and your DH will feel so much better having the pressure taken off you,do you know of any 6th formers who are staying on school for maths at the local Secondary School they may want to earn some extra pocket money helping your DCs with their subjects that they are having problems with.Good luck.

A little update. The old school doesn't have places so that's that. Other schools in the area have room for one but not the other so quite a dilemma.

Once one is in a state school the other will go to the top of the waiting list as a sibling, so a place could come up quite quickly, if there is a fair amount of movement in your area?

2002 seems to have been a boom year locally so there are places for the little one but not the older child. By the time she could get a place it would all be over pretty much.
I am still tempted to put the younger one in on the basis that might secure my 18 month olds position in 3 years time.
Or of course we may be in a totally different financial position by then and wished we'd stay private.
When is this recession due to finish ?

Could you keep the year 5 one in for another year? Then on to the grammar which is as good/ better than the local private ones anyway? Move the year 2 child to the state school and pay for a tutor if you're not happy - there's a big market for tutors round there!

The UK has not been in recession since the middle of 2009 - though that's about to change.

There's no where to move them to together Merci. All gone a bit pear shaped so I shall be going back to the bursar with my tail between my legs I imagine, either that or giving up work and home educating with the help of tutors which I don't relish.

Move the younger one, and then appeal for the older one? As a sibling she will have moved up the waiting list, and you can argue for such a little time she needs to be with established friends and so on.

Not sure I am adding anything really, but if you have been constantly struggling to pay the fees in the school's eyes you are a persistant bad payer, regardless of the reasons, and they cannot just let it go on. I doubt you have been treated like this from the first instance of paying late and your terms and conditions will make clear the possibility of suspension for non payment which in no way lets you off the fees for the term you are in. Did your debt in the current term include a balance from the previous term that the school made clear would have to be paid? If this is the case then this is the reason for the harsh stance. The school already supports you to a great degree with the (extremely generous) bursary you receive. I personally think you are being a little unfair for considering the school as the baddies in this. It is sad, but sometimes parents have to accept that they realistically cannot afford an on-going commitment to private education. If you just go down the route of re-mortgaging/borrowing more you will have another debt that you must keep paying and may end up STILL not able to pay the fees if anything unforeseen happens. There are education trusts out there - I will try and start a thread with the details of the more useful ones - BUT they will not help in cases of financial hardship alone. Usually the child will have severe emotional needs or failings in their home environment meaning they cannot be catered for in a state school.

All that aside, I applaud you for making the difficult decision that must be right for you and your family. Previous posts are quite correct however - you have not given a term's notice and will be liable for a full term's fees for the summer term for both children whether they leave or not. Also, check your terms and conditions - there is sometimes a clause stating that where fees in lieu apply, bursaries do not apply - i.e. it would be the headline fee you will pay, not the reduced fee you currently enjoy. You may need to struggle on to the end of the year - you will end up paying even more if you don't! Speak to the bursar explaining that you will be removing your children at the end of the academic year and the reasons why - be completely honest about it. Look at what you believe you can realistically pay each month and ask whether the school could consider allowing you to make monthly payments for the remainder of the year's fees less any deposits you paid when entering the school. There is no garauntee, but some schools might consider extending the payment term for a period after the children have left (within reason). Of course if you are asked to remove your children for non payment of fees then the likelihood is you will only be eligible for the fees for the term you are in, not the term's fees in lieu as the school will have effectively removed your children.

As to the maths - if you and you OH are reasonably confident there are an awful lot of reasonably inexpensive books available at WH Smiths (other bookshops are available ;O) which can really help - excercises and practice pieces. Also advocate 6th form students as mentioned above - or asking around and finding any student teachers.

Heswell, there is nothing to feel humiliated about. You have a right to do as you choose, whether that is sending your children to the local state school, switching them to a private school or switching them back. Nobody's business but yours and a completely rational thing to do in the circumstances. Save yourself the travel, save the fees and stress and relax a bit. If your children have done well at their private school then the odds are they will continue to do well at the state primary.