Whitehall “braced for private schools collapse” 5

[ICouldBeVioletSky]

Starting a continuation thread in anticipation of the fourth one filling up…

www.mumsnet.com/talk/education/5301690-whitehall-braced-for-private-schools-collapse-4?page=39

Our state grammar schools also do reading and eg teaching French volunteer schemes with primary schools. I am not sure when this started, whether once they were in Academy Trusts with private schools or way before that. Some of the primaries say they like the grammar school children coming in to inspire the kids. I am not sure why it would be a waste of time @CurlewKate - surely it depends entirely on the volunteer. If Year 6s can be role models, surely so can secondary school children and judging them on which type of school they went to, when they are sacrificing their time, is distasteful. Some years back one of the Year 6s who was my youngest child’s mentor in Reception came back to do reading and helping with cooking in KS1 and my child loved seeing them again.

DD sings and plays 2 instruments to Diploma level. She teaches younger kids instruments and singing and she tutors Maths and English. By word of mouth, she has been recommended to many families and she regularly has to turn children away now. She has friends at a same level on music scholarships at private schools some of whom are expected to do similar for free. Not only are their parents paying fees, the children are expected to do this and we are all a similar social economic background, except they typically have 1-2 kids not 4 like we do.

Meanwhile SEN in crisis (which we knew from the NAO report that Labour tried to suppress) yet BP happy to push more SEND kids into state as yet more indy schools close down:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14674051/amp/Special-needs-crisis-98-cent-primary-schools.html

Would love @CurlewKate to try and justify why this state boarding school is VAT exempt and doesn't confer any privilege yet our local NE indy school which serves many military families in Catterick + local farming families, and certainly doesn't have horses, is??

Bit sickening that they are advertising VAT exempt as a selling point!

Fancy horse! But it won't get pointed at because it's not a squirrel 🐿

I agree it is pretty rich to be boasting about being VAT exempt, but I guess we're in the world of irregular everything now.

Why on earth should private schools now have any kind of obligation?

They already provide the education which should be costing the government £8k per year per student - subsidising the state - and get no financial benefits worth having (unless they are an elite Eton type school who gets bequests).

I certainly feel absolutely no obligation, and feel like a complete mug that I ever thought it was reasonable. We were always contributing more to the country (by educating our children at our own cost) than we got back.

It was a values thing - but with the vilification against us in the past year, I feel pretty sickened at how much was taken from us whilst wishing us harm.

Our school did quite a lot. They haven't spoken about it as much recently- perhaps because they suspect many parents feel the same way about it as I do. I very much hope they pull back on what they do.

The criticism was of Labour extending the powers to sell off fields, plus their cutting of funding of various subjects. I don’t think you’ll find many on here defending the Conservative track record in education. After all, the majority using the private sector are only doing so because the state provision is poor, and has been getting worse in recent years. The point is that Labour promised a transformation of the state system. They are making a bad situation even worse with their ridiculous policies. Let’s be honest though, they’re not interested in improving a sector which the majority use, they’re more interested in focussing their efforts on attacking the sector which only 7% use and which, on the whole, performs very effectively and where children thrive.

They’re not the only state boarding school doing that. I’ve seen other schools using “sponsored” Facebook posts advertising this fact. Not only are they using this policy as a selling feature, they are using taxpayer funds to pay Facebook for marketing that fact.

“Our school did quite a lot. They haven't spoken about it as much recently- perhaps because they suspect many parents feel the same way about it as I do. I very much hope they pull back on what they do.”

@strawberrybubblegum - a lot of the private schools that were spending up to 2 million in the community have to cut back, by necessity. And rent out their stuff at commercial value now, rather than heavily subsidised. They have to do this to keep fees in check for parents or they will lose students. Some will be paying millions in business rates so they have to now start doing commercial stuff like renting their site out for weddings and the like. Labour have commercialised private education.

@araminta1003 DD's school have managed to reduce fees so that the VAT doesn't hit parents so hard - so they will have had to cut costs somewhere.

They haven't told us where, but I certainly hope that they have cut external community work - and charge full market rate for our facilities (no wedding venue here, but they did give the use of sports facilities) - rather than cutting back /reducing pay for the incredible teachers, which is the other possibility.

The media are not sleeping on this, they are deliberately under reporting. Those outlets that support this government.

These cuts in funding for ‘elite’ subjects in state schools and the imposition of VAT on private school fees are not just cost cutting exercises they are ideological implementations as is the stopping of the academy roll out for underperforming schools. Take notice of what Kathleen Birbalsingh head of the Michaela Community School is saying!

Labour will impose standardisation across state schools and put them back into the control of cash strapped local authorities. All to the delight of education unions.

I hear so often, that state education is good enough for the vast majority of children so why do a minority of people feel ok with paying for an elite education for their children. And how making such choices creates inequality.

But what does the standardisation of education sound and look like? One size fits all!

Children have different learning capabilities. Children in state schools are being denied the right to excel and this is going to get worse. But who cares all children need is a standard education.

No wonder aspiration is looked down upon in this country. As long as children are able to read and count to 10, they will be kept in their place by the ideological thinking of this government and its supporters, just Incase they get ideas above their station and decide to become lawyers and doctors instead of influencers.

But their life chances will be improved because primary school children will be given breakfast at school. I see this initiative as such an insult to parents.

This government has set this ridiculous policy because a minority of parents, and it must be a minority, come on this isn’t a national crisis, not providing breakfast for their children.

They are not only VAT exempt, but students there also receive the £8k per year state subsidy towards their education.

It clearly has absolutely nothing to do with conferring privilege @twistyizzy , given that we have established that many state schools do exactly that: but they get state handouts rather than handing over tax.

It's all to do with populist vilification and othering. Pure 1984.

I expect you’ll be told it’s not true because it’s in the Mail.

Honestly it’s the dreadful state of SEN provision which has been truly horrific for my family and many others. The Tories denied my son a basic state education. Labour still, it seems, refuses to acknowledge that not every child’s needs can be provided for by state education in its current form. Where is their plan to improve provision? Instead they are making further cuts and want to place even more children with SEN in mainstream.

DS1 has now finished his compulsory education. Instead we now have to deal with social care cuts. Yay.

Don't worry I have lots of other media outlets saying the same as back up 🤣🤣 including The Grauniad and the NAO report that Labour tried to supress! That should keep them happy

Private schools have an obligation if they are charities. Obviously if they aren’t, they don’t.

Because it’s a state school.

Sorry that doesn't wash!

This isn't your average state school is it? Parents have to pay for a start. They pay a pretty similar amount to our yearly fee for day school. There is no way on God's earth that the boarding element costs that much per year.
In addition to the parental fees the school then gets the same per pupil funding from taxpayer as any other state school. So they are getting double funding and that's why they can afford horses!!

There is no justification to this school being exempt from VAT if you are using the "privilege" argument, which you have and do.

<Adds "privilege" to list of irregular words> ✍️

They are charging almost £22k a year. So parents who can afford £22k per year at a school which is technically state but which has better facilities than a lot of private schools can avoid VAT, but parents paying, for example £15k per year, scrimping and saving to send their SEN child to a private school having being failed by state, are clobbered with a 20% tax. Utterly ridiculous.

None of us is hateful. We all care about education deeply and it’s the bedrock of a democratic society. So we debate educational matters. On the education board. Nobody has to read it!
Western democracies are disintegrating before our very eyes so none of this is petty.

Don’t give them oxygen - reported as a personal attack.

I am really looking forward to more of your insightful, informed and balanced postings on this thread. You have much to offer!

Oh! @Ohwowohwow, is gone! Such a shame! Not!

Did I miss a brilliantly insightful analysis of the cost-benefit ratio of this policy, with impact assessments and links to evidence, from a fervent supporter? 🧐

"260 acre parkland NEAR LONDON"
That is your answer - the right kind of rich. Y'all are just jealous some people live in the capital and get these kind of state schools...