So those of you in Northern Ireland who have children in Prep schools.....

[paulaplumpbottom]

Has your school had any meeting discuss this funding issue? Is there any sort of orginsation among the schools to try and stop it. We had a meeting and they told us who to contact but thats all.

Why are we not all picketing Stormont?

Hasn't this been made too easy for Katrina?

i think it is quite right that the funding should be stopped

Why?

why should they be funded? if you want private schools pay for it.

Well because we pay taxes like everyone else. Why shouldn't we be able to benefit from them.

I think Obama's against private schools going on a previous post on another thread so there's nothing you can say that will apease her/him.

I'm in England, they abolished the assisted places scheme years ago, there's no tax break for private school fees either so we have to pay full whack. It's just bringing your bit of the UK in-line with ours.

Thats such a pity. I'm still hoping there is a chance that they won't do it here. Sinn Fein is pushing really hard for it though.

It's good that you have all managed to get some help though, alot of children would have benefited from this. It's a pain though, I've always had to pay full whack, you get used to it.

we all pay taxes and we all have the opportunity to send our children to state schools. i don't think private schools should be subsidized to the extent they have been in n.i.

i can understand your annoyance at losing this perk but you must see it isn't fair to have these pseudo public schools in the belfast and n. down area for the elite.

belle you stalker! have i really been rabidly anti public school?

I'm a teacher (secondary) and not in favour of the prep schools; despite having friends who attended them, and being able to afford the fees, I'd never contemplate sending our children to one.

My main reason is that I can't think of a single area in N Ireland where a prep school is the only 'good' local school, and I don't like the social engineering they engender.

Having said that, I do understand why parents are annoyed at Ruane's decision, especially when she announced at the same time that she was removing residency in N Ireland as one of the criteria for admission. To me, this is actually a bigger scandal!

(re residency rule - Bellissima had sudden notion of children going to school on the Irish Sea ferry - then realised you could 'commute' from rather nearer...)

Now don't get me wrong, my children have been to both state and prep schools, so I'm not 'anti-private' - but why, historically have they been subsidised? Also, if Northern Ireland has the 11 plus (and now a rather modified form) - are preps seen as a way of getting children through the 11 plus, or are prep school children generally headed for private secondaries? Seems a teensy bit iffy to have subsidised places if the former is the case.

Can someone please explain in laymans terms what this is all about?

PercyPig, all the "good schools" are over subscribed as it is. Take my part of Belfast, the only "good" school is Stranmillis and people can hardly get their kids in as it is. What would they do if, Downey, Fulerton, Victoria and Inch Marlow close. Where are those kids going to go to school?

Falafel - I found this www.newsletter.co.uk/news/Fears-mount-over-prep-schools.6122823.jp

It seems that the preps are actually attached to (presumably State) grammar schools. So I suppose you pay a subsidised fee for the prep school and your child then goes free to the grammar school. Hmmm. I live in one of the few 'grammar school counties' in England and here private preps are often considered an 'easier route' to passing the 11 plus. I don't necessarily think that's the case (though having smaller classes probably helps a 'marginal' child) and I'm certainly not against private education, but I do think that if prep school places here were subsidised there would be a bit of an uproar.

I don't think that prep school pupils go free to grammar schools? If they fail the 11+ then they have to pay a subsidised fee to go to the grammar school - can someone let me know if I'm wrong?

I think one of the issues is that (certainly when I was in NI) prep schools are almost always protestant schools? So theres an inherent bias in the level of education being offered to protestant children?

Ah - thanks for the explanation lal. Have to reiterate that if you introduced either subsidised prep schools attached to the grammars here in Bucks, or indeed allowed 11 plus 'failures' (the word here is 'non-qualifiers') to pay a subsidised fee to go to the grammar schools, there would probably be uproar.

It sounds a bit like the 'direct grant' system we used to have in other counties here (and from which I benefitted), whereby some pupils at private secondary schools were on state paid free or subsidised places. The difference, however, was that we passed the exam.

Can't comment on the religious element though I can see that would be very sensitive.

My daughter's school is a mixture of Protestant and Catholic not to mention Atheist and Muslim children. Its one of the reasons we chose the school. If my DD had to go to the local state school it would either be a very protestant or very catholic school which is something I was not prepared to let happen. I would home school her first. Most of the prep schools are a mixture of religions.

Thanks for the explanation, had no idea that this was the system in NI.

My mum is from the ROI and she told me that there the indie schools are very subsidised by the taxpayer. The taxpayer pays for the teachers and the fees are more to cover other costs, eg. buildings. Is this true? Certainly the fees there seem much lower than in England.

Madsometimes - the indie schools in the south are subsidised, though I think there's currently a debate about removing the subsidy. The reason is that the vast majority of schools are run by the church (Catholic) and so the indie schools are seen as the only option for the minority of athiest, non-religious or protestant families.

Paula - I guess it depends on your perception of what makes a good school - I personally know of VERY good teachers working in schools in deprived areas in Belfast. Yes children will probably be exposed to worse behaviour than in the 'good' schools, but the quality of the teaching and learning may still be excellent. I understand not wanting your child to be exposed to bad behaviour, but personally I feel that is more of an issue at secondary level, the 'bad' schools often stay that way precisely because they're not socially mixed. Also, I don't think the situation you describe is the same all over N Ireland - it's certainly not here on the North Coast, or in North Down.