Whitehall “braced for private schools collapse”

[ICouldBeVioletSky]

Whitehall ‘braced for private schools collapse’ due to fee rises

Worth reading the whole article, it’s not quite as alarmist as the headline suggests. But as you’d expect, gov sources are talking it all down while the ISC is ringing the alarm bell.

https://www.thetimes.com/article/e6465c9e-d462-48cb-a73e-74480059a1f3?shareToken=05bf599cd4a2376fe3ce83cdce607100

I’d be quite surprised if some of the schools near us don't fold tbh. There will definitely be a contraction in the sector, I just hope those that hold on can remain a viable concern.

So on one hand you’ve got teachers “I’m free to teach to the highest level”
and “I’m not a therapist “

to all these kids with issues with learning

It's the SEN kids that are going to bear the brunt of this though.

They're often children of parents who are working hard, with support from grandparents etc in smaller schools and just about affording it, after sacrifices all round..

They will be pushed into an underfunded, under equipped school that is already over capacity...

Ding ding!
hard working parents klaxon

Same. My brother also, he had his nose broken by a y9 student at his last school. No way in hell either of us would return to the state sector given the disciplinary issues.

Why did he leave? The victim?
sounds like you didn’t push this

Every year in admissions we’d get kids from prep schools getting places at ours

they’d hold onto them right through July. Hoping for a discount at the private school.

get it and leave. Thereby totally wasting the space for another kid

There is no way through this morally, unless all go into state system and fight for excellent provision - as long as there is a richer person buyout, this pressure will never build. To make out you are doing state educated children a service by keeping your SEN children out is stinking bulllshit and makes me sick. You compound the problems and I despise you.

On what basis are you making this assumption?

Face it. It’s just the inequality of opportunity that is repulsive here.

snd the exploitation of SEN to justify this is poor form

In my area, I don’t think the private schools will withdraw the use of playing fields, sports pitches or pools from the community.

If they fold, then these resources would be likely lost to the community, along with local jobs. I think the residual land and property would be turned over to Sadique’s housing targets. So much needed housing would be gained, but there would be less green space, fewer amenities and more cars on the local roads.

It’s not normally about “hoping for a discount”. Fees/scholarships/bursaries are more often than not decided at the time of offer. Many families hold places whilst they decide what to do, working out finances (especially in this climate), and doing post-offer visits to finalise their choices. Many families apply and receive offers from more than one school.

They are perfectly entitled to apply for a state place along with every other child. This is what the government wants - for every child to apply for and attend a state school. They can’t then moan that those children are affecting others.

Where they went is not the point -where so their kids go? Private or ‘faith’

That isn't true for the whole of the UK though. Areas with high levels of immigration are experiencing shortages of school places.

Many send their children to outstanding state schools, living in catchment which many families could not afford, and then preach to the rest of us.

This is an interesting article from a few years ago. A current Cabinet member.

www.standard.co.uk/news/london/david-lammy-private-schools-are-an-essential-part-of-education-mix-9855198.html

Indeed -hilarious that people ostensibly supporting the quality of state education are happy to characterise them as anarchy.
I prefer teaching a class of 20 because more learning can happen -much more focussed learning feedback to 20 than 30. ‘Coping’ with a class is a very low bar if that’s all you expect from a teacher…

It’s also entirely ridiculous and irrelevant to say “it won’t be a problem in a few years”. We need to think about those already in the system. There simply aren’t any spaces in many years in many parts of the country. My own MP admitted this. He knows there are no spaces. With my children, I think there is 1 space around 40 minutes away in a failing school. That’s the only option if we chose to remove them from private.

Yep and look at the mess they are making of state education. No one seems to be noticing the latest knock to education with the removal of master level apprenticeships...no more apprenticeships for architecture students, medics, legals etc but of course they are trying to level out the playing fields.

The fact that Ampleforth is still in existence, for starters….

The decisions made by the previous Labour administration didn’t exactly help the higher education sector either.

I also think that many private school parents are deluded about the quality of the school. A private prep in Yorkshire stated in its annual report recently that it had now instigated annual evaluation cycle for staff, and had bought an Atom subscription for its 11+/13+ prep. Fabulous value for thousands of pounds a term…

There will still be inequality within education regardless of the existence of private education. If my daughters schools were to fold I would immediately find them tutors, home schooling groups re-engage nannys and take the 5 of them out of the system. We have looked into procedures ready for this nuclear option.

Fortunately it's highly unlikely our daughters schools will fold / we wouldn't find another.

Precisely. Some posters in here really want to believe that teachers in indies are there because they cannot ‘cope’ with state. In fact they are excellent teachers who can get job with better conditions and the opportunity to actually -teach- those who want to
kearn, rather than wasting effort policing unrelenting poor behaviour, and do that’s why they choose to. Those state school teachers you revere may tread the water with crowd control and endlessly bicker on here about how hard done by they are and how poorly paid ( numerous threads started by the usual suspects) but if you actually want to teach, then yes smaller class sizes facilitate that.

I don’t know a single private school parent who says that every private school is great. There are definitely private schools I wouldn’t pay for. Having said that, different parents look for different things. Many parents are happy to pay if their child is happy, settled and valued, even if the academic outcomes aren’t great. That’s the benefit of a private education. You can choose a school which suits your child. A school which suits my child might be awful for another. One size does not fit all.

This is an interesting point. At our local indies there are a LOT of SEN who currently get good provision. And their diagnoses were obtained privately. So yes /in they go to the state system that will now need to fund their provision.
Not that the govt will care -even if they are aware of SEN - their own children will not have to wait for a diagnosis.

Exactly this. Parents with money won’t just settle for a poorly performing catchment school. They’ll probably move house (or rent temporarily in a decent catchment), pay for tutors, extra curriculars or go to church for a few years. Getting rid of the private sector wouldn’t improve inequality.