Has anybody got their kids in private school considering taking them out?

[cba]

I have three children, two of which are school age. I am seriously considering taking them out. The fees have gone up yet again and a recession looks certain.

I am not looking for an argument but just wondered if anyone is in the same position, or have already done so and what was your experience?

Thanks

i've got the price lists at desk

this is per annum junior 1-3 i've got 2 so i would need to double
£8322
£7875
£8640

so wait. i thought you were paying £2000 a term for all of your. it's much the same.

do you get books,food and trips included?

elmo i am paying £4500 a term for two. That includes lunch and day trips not residentials. Just seems a big jump for secondary and it will be even more expensive by the time they get there.

OOh Elmo where are you looking?

actually i'm probably getting better deal.

it's between 8-9.5k for secondary. and both primary and secondary include abroad holidays and after school activities if they're on the premises.

elmo you do seem to be getting a better deal. I think i might have to do bit of shopping around by the time secondary comes.

i've got the prospectus for all private school in central scotland.

but i live in a new housing estate. they buit a primary school and you can only go to the school if you stay in the estate. so technically it will be like going to going to private except the government pays. all houses are privately owned in the cheapest house aint cheap .lol

so we're thinking about just sending them private for secondary.

but it just seem such a mine field to get them accepted if they don't already go private. entrance exams and all that crud.

yes elmo you are right, we have excellent state schools but wanted private secondary but that was the problem here to. Mind you fees rising so sharpluy might have to rethink anyway

We're staying put and going to ride it out. Being self employed it is a worry.

Ds is sue to join dd at her school in September.

However for the last few years we have put aside the same amount of money that we would need to pay each month in an ISA meaning we have 2 years of fees saved to fall back on. We could also re-mortgage if we needed to. We bought a house 6 years ago and have a mortgage of £65k, the house is worth around £140k now.

ah yes, we could remortgage if we wanted to. we will also ride it out, reassuring that we are not the only ones in the same situation

I think we're going to see loads of parents deserting private over the next few years. Fortunately where I live (Hants) our local state schools are good enough for my DCs- just as well as the cheapest of the 'local' privates start at 6K a year and they all rise to 12-15K at GCSE. Per child, mind. The upside of this is our local schools are 'graced' by the presence of those well behaved, 'middle class value'd' DCs who would be private if the fees were as low as some quoted here!

I think that unless you can keep DCs private for their entire schooling, especially if you have a DC who is rather sensitive, you'd be better off getting them into state sooner rather than later. It's just my opinion, obviously but I feel the leap from small, nurturing, one on one private prep to the knowing no-one, rough and tumble, 'get on with it' of many comprehensives could be a shock too far for some DCs- who might well have been able to happily adapt IF they'd been IN it from 5.

I have a friend who is finally about to throw in the towel on their 11.5K p.a. per child prep in East Anglia (Father's banking bonus has disappeared). She recognises she has a problem in that her younger DS will have just finished Y4, and he's the one who really NEEDS the more structured, supportive- well, spoon feeding of the prep whereas DS1 will have had the benefit of 4 years at the prep AND will be fine in a state comp. She fears her DS2 will resent what's happened.

Hi, old thread but.....removed DD2 from prep school last summer at end of year 6, would have left her if we could have afforded it but now nearly £4k a term. She was distraught at leaving (bit of a worrier) but has had a very happy year at local comp. Huge difference in standard of behaviour and (don't hit me) education, but she seems to be coping well. If we had the money, we'd move her back but she says she'd refuse to go! Good luck, whatever you decide.

If you're going to take them out, take them out sooner rather than later. I saw a nice year 10 boy start at our state comp after 9 years of private schooling, and he got shredded. If he's been chucked in at 11 with all the other 11 year olds (who are nice than 14 year olds) he'd have been fine.

PS our state comp was dire though.

cba - if your local state schools are excellent, as you say, then I honestly would go for state rather than cling to private in the belief that it 'must' be better, especially if it's going to mean the next few years you're worried sick about money. We are fortunate to be in the same situation - our local state school is a very high achieving one. I have a number of friends with kids in private, and frankly, some of their situations scare me: borrowing money for school fees, when the bank could call the loan in any time, re-mortgaging etc. Even if they see their kids through school, some of these families will then spend the remainder of their lives in poverty trying to repay loans etc. The problem is, once you are in private, it's really hard to think objectively and ask yourself if it's really worth the money. Because you are paying so much, it becomes a self justifying thing - you HAVE to believe it's making a huge difference because otherwise you're wasting your money. One thing to remember - most state schools set by abililty at secondary level, so you don't need to worry about a bright child being held back. The top sets in a good comprehensive won't be hugely different from a selective private school class - except that it will be bigger. Most children cope fine with this. A few children may need the more 'cosy' environment of smaller classes, particularly if they lack confidence and maybe find it hard to speak up in a larger group, but really, most children are fine. My ds has just finished Year 9 in our local state school and achieved a Level 8 and two Level 7s in SATS - I know that's not the only yardstick to measure by, but it's certainly an indicator that a decent state school is not going to impede a child in any way. He certainly wouldnt have achieved anything in private that he hasnt got from state, so we would have wasted our money had we paid.