Private schools charging during Covid

[southlondonyummom]

Does anyone know the justification for private schools attempting to charge full fees during Covid 19, for sub standard online learning platforms.

Why can teachers not be placed on Furlough and insurance be claimed ?

Do we need to start naming and shaming these institutions with no morals ! Did they ever have our children's interests at heart? How can the charity commission not hold them accountable and why are they allowed to be run purely like businesses ?

Does anyone know the justification for private schools attempting to charge full fees during Covid 19, for sub standard online learning platforms.

I was not making sweeping statements.

Um...

@theonlylivingboyinnewcross

Is there not a teacher group you should be on ?

As far as I was aware it was a parenting group, the question not statement was aimed at fee paying parents not teachers who have also decided to opt out of the state system.

From what I can gather there are varying differences in the service being provided by private schools, I will take that up with my school. Not sure what you added to this as I have found this information out from fellow parents !

We have given notice because we moving anyway but have also stopped the direct debit so we actually get a response from the school.

So far no discount has been offered or even mentioned. Just been given the brush off

The online materials are minimal

Teachers are very slow to respond to queries.

They are not charities as far as I am concerned they are a business and we will negotiate with them on a business footing. Part of being a business is keeping your customers happy. Some schools have done that and others are taking an arrogant viewpoint and ignoring their customer base.

When my husband phoned the school payment company they said that they have been inundated with calls from parents stopping their DDs.

@tigerkingsis mental

I agree the standard is not up to scratch, I've been layed off work and feel there doesn't seem any where to go to complain. It seems unreasonable happy to pay but full fees is pushing it. I'm looking after the kids full time, feeding them and making sense of online material which is substandard.

It's easy to comment when one is not in the situation themselves, I do agree regarding push back on the standard. But to just expect full pay when parents themselves are being furloughed is just unacceptable and shows the mentality they have which is out of touch .

Have you contacted school ?

We are also going to go with state education once we've moved. Found some nice local primary schools with a good ofsted rating. In a way I'm glad we've had this experience as its open our eyes to what we are actually getting for our money. Whilst there are lots of nice things involved in private school there is nothing we cannot replicate in parallel to the state system.

Ironically the smaller class size in private school has been a negative as the scope for friendship groups is extremely limited.
Luckily DS is a bright lad who will do well in a large group and if needs be we will get extra tuition as well.

So silver lining and all that.

Is there not a teacher group you should be on ?

If that's your way of acknowledging that everything you wrote about my post was bollocks so please will I go away and not expose your inability to construct a reasoned argument to any more scrutiny, apology accepted.

By the way, questions have question marks. You can have that bit of teaching for free: hth.

I'm in a country where there is no accessible state system. Private education is our only option.

I'm finding the attitude of the schools and some (but vocal) teachers frustrating. My school is trying but the online resources are sub-par (a lot of content copied from elsewhere else that isn't always age appropriate). Differentiation is pretty much entirely child led - all kids are set the same work but can choose to push to the more difficult questions. The parts of school I can't provide myself: socialisation, class discussions, group work, library access, extra curricular are entirely lacking and the school refuse to provide any form of real time lessons at all (late primary) or even any real time 'checkins'.

Some of the teachers absolutely are working extra hard. Some aren't (it might not be their fault but the PE teachers are not swamped for example).

Schools here won't reopen until September. Parents are (I think understandably) raising concerns that (a) they're just not getting what they're paying for and (b) parents are under financial pressure themselves (lots have lost jobs or are on unpaid leave).

Anytime this point is raised on social media it gets hit by very vocal teachers saying "we're all working a million hours a day. If you can't afford to pay the fees, move your kids to a cheaper school". I'm sure not all teachers think this way and of course people are worried about jobs. I find the attitude appalling though - there's no sympathy, no compassion for children's continuity of education and (for this country) no acknowledgement that actually legally we can't just change to a cheaper school (we're not allowed to move at this stage in the year) - our options are to withdraw for the term and risk no school place in September or to suck it up and pay full fees.

My child's school makes a healthy profit and will have reduced operating costs because students and teachers aren't in. Most people are (within reason) happy to help ensure teachers get paid (although we're not all getting paid so my sympathy is running out given the entitlement being expressed on social media) but I don't see why that means I have to continue lining shareholders' pockets.

I know this isn't all teachers and I know it's hard. I object to people being told (not on here necessarily) that parents are horrible monsters for wanting to talk about it.

I'm finding the attitude of the schools and some (but vocal) teachers frustrating.

My school is trying but the online resources are sub-par (a lot of content copied from elsewhere else that isn't always age appropriate).
Why is it so bad that some of the content is copied from elsewhere-why reinvent the wheel? This is perfectly normal. I am also a parent of a Primary aged child and it has certainly not been hard to find mountains of age appropriate resources in addition to what has been suggested by the school.

Differentiation is pretty much entirely child led - all kids are set the same work but can choose to push to the more difficult questions.

This sounds very sensible to me. Differentiation should always be from the top down anyway, with students attempting/achieving what they can, towards common goals. The true differentiation right now will be staff dealing with vulnerable children, with meals delivered, phone calls/visits and other support as necessary.

The parts of school I can't provide myself: socialisation, class discussions, group work, library access, extra curricular are entirely lacking

Is this a joke?

and the school refuse to provide any form of real time lessons at all (late primary) or even any real time 'checkins'.

Truly very difficult to do in Primary and judging by other posts from parents right now, on here, there would also be complaints that this would be stressing out the families too much.

Some of the teachers absolutely are working extra hard. Some aren't (it might not be their fault but the PE teachers are not swamped for example).

Why ruin a valid point with a nasty dig at all PE teachers? Did you not see a lovely BBC News Report yesterday about what a School was doing, with the PE teachers running video lessons? In addition, my school has also been working hard to produce face masks and other PPE equipment that has been gratefully received by the local hospital. Parents don’t often know what goes on behind the scenes.

Look, I know that this is a very stressful time for everyone and sometimes a rant is very much needed. But you and the OP must also be prepared to be called out on parts of your rants that are unreasonable in the current climate.

My friends school has just gone under leaving lots of students in the lurch-that’s why!

Friend’s

I think a lot of schools are going to go under tbh.

Ironically I think a virus is going to achieve what Jeremy Corbin never could.

We haven't heard from DS's school about fees yet. He had a full timetable of work last week with teachers being available for queries and marking, and he has been given a large amount of homework to complete over the Easter holidays, they broke up on Friday.

It might be nice if we get a discount for lunches/buses (as included in fees not charged separately), but we still want his school to continue not fold. It's a small rural school, not a large well known institution like Eton with a lot of generous benefactors.

My dds secondary is charging slightly discounted day fees. Full online school including assembly and prayers. It's an amazing school and I'm happy to pay what they ask. They've done a lot for us over the years.

why are they allowed to be run purely like businesses ?

Why are you angry with them for not providing a service that you pay for? Of course they are businesses!

I think a lot of private school parents like to pretend that although they are paying fees their schools are lovely cuddly charities. A lot of schools do offer a lot to the local community or offer generous bursaries but of course they are businesses in the broadest sense - fees pay for the upkeep of the school and the teachers.

Some private schools are badly run. Those are the ones that will close.

*placed

Why is it so bad that some of the content is copied from elsewhere-why reinvent the wheel? This is perfectly normal. I am also a parent of a Primary aged child and it has certainly not been hard to find mountains of age appropriate resources in addition to what has been suggested by the school.

I have no problem with some content being copied (except for the line that teachers are spending hours developing content). I have a massive problem with non-age appropriate context though - my son has an activity today that was aimed at Y9/10. He's Y4.

I can find resources myself, of course I can. This is about the resources coming from the school. That I am paying for.

The true differentiation right now will be staff dealing with vulnerable children, with meals delivered, phone calls/visits and other support as necessary

Did you miss that this is fee paying school? Believe me no one is delivering school meals or offering phone calls/visits (not least because visits would be illegal).

Is this a joke? No. Obviously they can't provide most of this (they could try on some eg group work). That doesn't stop it bring the case that this is a good part of what I am paying for and just taking the attitude 'we provide you with online resources' is frustrating.

Truly very difficult to do in Primary and judging by other posts from parents right now, on here, there would also be complaints that this would be stressing out the families too much. I get this but it's impacting my children's engagement and the school says it can't happen because some children don't want to get up in the morning. Having a class "Hello everyone , how are you" at (eg) 9am on Microsoft Teams isn't hard and doesn't breach safeguarding (that I can think of).

Why ruin a valid point with a nasty dig at all PE teachers? It wasn't a nasty dig. It's reality (or reality for my school anyway). We have been provided with a list of exercises kids can do for PE. That's it. Are you honestly saying that the primary PE department are having to work as hard as my children's class teachers (who I agree seem to be working very hard)? It's not their fault - a good part of their job was coaching school teams etc - but it is reality. The rhetoric "teachers are working harder than ever" is not true for all teachers.

My school may be working to make PPE behind the scenes (although there's not a hint of this in their social media so I think unlikely) but there's no shortage of PPE in this country at the moment (that they'll admit anyway) and if I'm going to be paying people to make PPE I can think of a lot of places more qualified than my childrens' school who are more at risk of not being able to pay salaries in the current environment.

The point on schools going under is taken. My children's school is very profitable and has reduced running costs because no one is using the facilities. It is run as a business which is fine by me, but then it needs to be prepared to reduce fees if it isn't providing the service.

They are not businesses - they make no profits and have no shareholders. They are still teaching remotely particularly at secondary level and it’s bloody hard work. I’d say I’m working significantly harder at the moment to set work, chase work, mark it , have dept meetings, try to unpick the evidence exam boards are requesting having online lessons with 6th form and touching base with my form group . We are passing in a small fee reduction to parents to reflect the savings we are making on some things. I’d actually be as well off if furloughed if you subtract commuting costs etc but I have classes who will have exams next year and we are all committed to the school and our students.

@TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross - I’ve worked in state and independent and I can tell you I had a much easier time at a state school in terms of workload and expectations.

You sound delightful OP. Poor teachers that have to deal with you on a daily basis.

@TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross - also parents don’t pay teachers’ wages. The school does that and there is a difference.