Nursery Fees Vs Private School Fees!

[Toothache]

My friend was educated at a Private School. I was chatting to her last night and she was talking to an old school Teacher the other day about Nursery fees.

Its actually costs MORE to put your child into Nursery than it does to have your child Privately educated when they are older!!!!!

How shocking is that???? So basically anyone that can afford a Nursery fulltime should technically be able to afford Private Education easily!!!

I'm not planning on sending my kids to a private school, but I just thought that was scandalous that Private Education is something that is viewed as a privelege for those in the wealthier bracket..... yet childcare is something that most average working parents are expected to afford!

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ks - But then surely you pay for childcare for the 20 wks that they are not going the private school.... or do they charge you fees even during the hols?

I don't understand what you mean about your ability earn? Whether they are at Nursery or School through the day what difference does that make to your ability to earn?

Aimsmum - I know, but you don't have to be earning THAT much to be exempt from any tax credits. We were not going to get anything with a joint income of £36k and a yearly childcare bill of £5k for 2 children!

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Ks - Why can't you get a childminder for the school hols though...why a Nanny or Au Pair??

I work fulltime (as of next week!) and I plan to continue to work fulltime when my kids are at a normal run-of-the-mill cooooooncil school but will use before and after school care to cover 8-9am and 3.30-5.50pm.

Why would that be different with a Private School?

yeah but nursery costs a huge amount more than childminders, ime, and plenty of people do patchwork care: some childminder, some shift work, some relatives, etc.

Zebra - I know, we're just switching dd from Childminder to a Nursery due to her unreliability.

What I mean is: If you broke down the hourly cost of having a child in a Private School, it really isn't THAT different from the cost of having a child in a Nursery fulltime.

Aimsmum- hahahaaaa not quite!

I see ks - We have an after school club here that takes them up to the age of 11 or 12. After that they are old enough to get their own way to and from school if you live close enough.

I know there are a lot of 'ifs' and 'buts'.... but the costs are not that different.... and the extra childcare you would need at a Private school is exactly the same as at a State school.

Tooth - that was the reason we even looked at private education for ours.

After shelling out a fortune for nursery and still managing to eat (most of the time) we discovered that we could pay less and have much more choice about the sort of education our ds had.

Yes, holidays are difficult, but we would have to pay to cover holidays in state schools too, and most local authorities or employers run cheap play schemes which takes the pressure off.

The extras can be managed as well - all private schools run a second-hand uniform scheme, or you can buy the basics (white shirts, grey trousers, or whatever) at BHS or Matelan and not at John Lewis or other expensive school outfitters.

Instrument tutition is not compulsory either.

Outings and day-trips are not expensive, a few pounds a time, - no more than the local state school would charge.

Our fees have never gone up by 5% a year?

School run is the same as for state schools - you either do it yourself or get someone else to do it for you.

We have always been able to drop DS off anytime after 8am, for no extra cost, so I or DH always do that end. DS can stay every evening till 5pm for a few pounds a day - not expensive, but we usually have an au-pair to do the pick-up as 8 - 5 is too long a day for our DS.

Have used both employers and local authorities playschemes and some have been better then others - depends on a multitude of factors, but all cover the entire working day if that is what you want.

We have found this to be the case, round here, too. We did it by working out cost of private school fees and dividing over the whole year, and taking into account some childcare during the holidays. I am lucky to get 13 weeks holiday (when I want them) so that helps, and we have grandparents available a lot of time too. And there was no school drop off/pick up issue either, unlike at state school, as the schools we considered included before and after school care in their prices.

The only thing that has stopped us going ahead with provate school when DD starts in a year or so) is the fact that we decided to try for another baby. One set of fees is fine and, for us, very affordable. However, two sets push us to the limit and it is a no go back decision IMO. We may well reconisder for secondary education though. DH should be earning far more then, so even two sets would be fine.

But for us right now one set of fees is no problem, two is just too much.

agree with ks.

the other point is the length of the commitment. if you embark on private education in reception, in most cases this is a 14yr commitment to private education. nursery is only a commitment for 4yrs, when you have the option of state school.

while we can afford nursery for 2 at the moment, i am not assuming that i will continue in my present career for the next 17yrs, and if i don't private school fees are not an option. i am the main earner and if anything am looking to reduce my hours as the kids progress through school. i suppose in nursery using households where the man is the main earner, the assumption is the he will continue to pursue a f/t career until retirement if possible.

We are going to be sending dd to a private school, she is currently at their nursery. Dh is a teacher so childcare during school holidays isn;t an issue. The school provides before and after school care free of charge, meals and most trips are included (residentials are extra) and I would be paying out for instrumental etc tuition anyway if she were going to a state school as music service provision is virtually non existent.

It does work out cheaper than it would have been to put her in nursery as a baby and toddler.

Yes, the committment is a long-term one, but given the choice between new cars/expensive foreign holidays/designer clothes - all the things my working friends with kids in state schools spend their money on, for me, there is no competition, I'd rather spend my money on my kids education.

And you can move back into the state sector at secondary stage, or whenever you like - if you are lucky enough to have any decent state schools in your area.

Wonder if this is another south east vs rest of the country thing? We actually saved money (around £2.5k p.a.) when moved DD from f/t day nursery to f/t private school at 2.5y. Even adding on the cost of aftercare and holiday care private school has always worked out cheaper than nursery. But this has been in South Wales, Merseyside and the East Midlands where school fees are much cheaper. Here in Derby the early/aftercare costs at DD's school are about 50% cheaper than those of the local state school with the added bonus that teachers/TAs from the school take turns to run it rather than a "bought-in" provider.

Batters - some are, some are not. Each to his/her own.

Agree totally with what ks is saying about private school holidays and ability to work full-time. . Nurseries are aimed at the working mother, private schools are not. Also never known a private school not to increase its fees by between 5 - 10 percent per year depending on the school.