The councils need to find spaces for all children!!

[HooverIsAlwaysBroken]

https://bmmagazine.co.uk/news/surrey-runs-out-of-state-school-places-for-private-pupils-as-vat-raid-bites/?amp

I am relieved to see that the Surrey is also looking at options to expand class sizes and use transportation to take children to other areas. They really need to get their act together quickly.

all children has a right to state education.

Yeah right... Like NHS is not sending patients to private hospitals being unable to accommodate them.

If this is serious, then no. I like working. But going part time meant that we now get full child benefit (I was above the cap before).

I think if you want to spend a lot of time with your children, you can work out an ideal mix of salary and various tax credits. And ensure that both parent separately stays below certain thresholds.

If you want anything to change, you need to get a lot of people behind you. Nobody cares about SENDs kids except their parents. The child with ADHD just has parents that don’t discipline, and similar stereotypes.
However if neurotypical little Tommy suddenly doesn’t get an education either, parents start to wake up to the fact that many schools are diabolical. and maybe something will change in the future. Schools have no resources to do anything now. Its pointless to work either schools - its like working with a dried out lake to get water. They have nothing to give. Its not lack if willingness, there is just nothing left.

And saying you’re going to make sure no other kid gets an education too.

wow. What kind of parents would think like that?!

Totally disagree. My DC had an EHCP and is in mainstream school. Being firm about his needs being met, while being kind, professional and quick to thank and highlight everything good had been a very successful approach.
Kicking up a fuss and annoying everyone just gets people's backs up.

Nice people.

It's hardly the fault of the children and staff in state schools.

I do think it's a good thing. Nobody cares about the education for SEN kids in mainstream. If you can't afford private you are accepting poor education or home education. And you can't home educate and bring in a decent wage easily.

I have to home educate my SEN child as the LA cant find a school that will take him. Plunged my family into poverty. It's a common story. I the pulled my non Sen child out as class teacher had no time to teach and they were just reading from twinkl power points. All teacher time taken up with behaviour management and high numbers of sen.

Maybe if more of the people with money had a stake in improving the state education system improvements would be made. Our current system is just perpetuating inequality and a class system we pretend doesn't exist

Entirely different. You cannot squish an extra patient into an operating theatre already in use. You absolutely can squish a 31st student into a classroom already containing 30 👌👌

I started in education in the days of tony Blair and the ideas for a meritocracy. Every child matters. Huge initiatives to help vulnerable kids early because that being the best outcomes. There wasn't this stark class difference as much as I see it now. I've watched the Conservatives ruin all the progress made towards equality in early education, watched the early intervention and early help dry up so these kids are having more serious struggles that will impact them for longer.

Long term the cost to the tax payers will be worse when burdened with these children growing into adulthood with poor education or unmet Sen or in mental health crisis affecting their future.

@Saturdayssandwichsociety and that’s going to improve education how?

Those saying it’s going to sort out inequalities, it won’t in anyway

There will just be the very expensive Etons of this world and state schools. The smaller. less prestigious private schools are the ones that are going to suffer. And these schools are the ones that parents who have children with SEND who weren’t getting on in mainstream used. So now going to have more pressure in mainstream schools again . Not sure why people think that’s a good policy

A consultant as in a doctor? If so, have you considered working just a few hours per week in a private practice? I believe the hourly wage would be really good, you could keep your total hours down to a level you are happy with - and you could use the money for tutoring in topics you are less confident in?

I didn't say it would improve schools. But someone was likening the idea of councils send non-SEN private kids back to private schools and paying for it, to the way NHS patients are sometimes treated in the private sector. Its not the same. Councils do not pay private school fees for non SEND children unless there are exceptional circumstances and schools being 'full' is not an exceptional circumstance, they regularly simply inform schools they will be exceeding PAN.
People claiming on here that councils are paying private fees rather than doing this have inaccurate information

Correct. Plus the parents who were in the mid-range privates which close, or where parents feel too squeezed, will all just move to the catchment areas of the best schools. Currently, private school parents buy homes anywhere. This will
change. Going well over the asking price to secure a home is a drop in the ocean compared to years of fees.

So what would you do as the first step to try to reduce the massive and entrenched inequality that exists in the UK?
Genuine question. Studies show that societies that are very unequal are less safe than those with a smaller gap between the top and the bottom. How can we move towards that while we still have a system that perpetuates inequality in the way that private schools are designed to do?

Less safe how?

It’s not possible to eradicate inequality.

The solicitor upthread said it was happening, but you chose to ignore reality. It's fine, the only thing is reality will not change just because you ignore it. It will bite anyway.

Just popping on to back up your final paragraph . I have the same experience. All friends with yr11s in private are applying for state sixth form . I have a mix of private and state educated children but also intend DS 2 to move back into state for sixth form if he can get a place ( all his friends are planning the same )

@MrsSchrute but this policy is going to make the gap bigger because there won’t be the mid level private schools

What we need to do is improve state schools. Move standards up not down.This policy doesn’t do that

@MrsSchrute the way would have been to make improvements to state education. Looking at why parents choose private and solve the issue by making state funded desirable.

One paper I found explains it like this:

'individuals offend when their own absolute level of resources is desperately low, and the effect of increasing inequality is to make such desperation more prevalent. On the other hand, the model’s explanation for the inequality-trust association is more psychosocial: all individuals in high-inequality populations end up trusting less, regardless of their personal resource levels.'

www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-80897-8

Inequality is bad for everyone. Private schools perpetuate inequality.

Absolutely! We should absolutely be doing this too.

How will it make the gap bigger? Surely all it will do is move a handful of people from being part of the 6% who use private schools, to part of the 94% who don't?

Because it makes indy schools even more elite. Making something more expensive naturally makes it more exclusive. Schools are reducing bursaries/scholarships and fee support.
The wealthy won't feel VAT, this impacts the families of lower incomes who use indy schools.

But Labour aren't doing that