Salary to consider private

[Duckyneedsaclean]

Just wondering at what take home salary you would consider/be able to pay for a private school place?

We were hoping for a bursary but not been granted one - trying to figure out if we can afford full fees.

@twistyizzy if you live in SE England, your mortgage is unlikely to be £800pcm if earning at a level to consider private school - will be several thousand per month

And that's why I don't live in SE

@Dodgeitornot Just saying that this is not something unique to UK and more like a worldwide situation in the weak economy

@ReneeX I never said it was unique to the UK. However, the majority of my family live in various countries in mainland Europe and none have the problem with lack of SEN provision. Even countries Brits would class as very poor have excellent provision, plenty of special schools and really incredible early support.
Not enough money in education is an age old complaint, it even happened during the time labour was throwing money at schools.

@ladykale
your mortgage is unlikely to be £800pcm if earning at a level to consider private school - will be several thousand per month

How can you write something like that? 🤣 Everybody has a different financial situation. Some people took very small mortgage because they paid a huge deposit as they owed some property before some are nearly at close end of their mortgage, some are 30 years old and some are 55 years old. Some decides to pay less for longer and some pay for shorter. Some bought the house in London when it was less than 300k, and some next door identical property for 800k just years later.
You simply cannot assume those things and put one rule to all. People have variety of circumstances-.

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@Dodgeitornot as a European I can promise you that the grass only seems to be greener on the other side of the Channel.
There is 1.5 mln kids in UK who are in special schools. There are 377 schools with the SEN departments and additionally there are single SEN Co officers.
There is a Council provision everywhere for those schools that don't have SEN Co. Achievement for Kids is one of them.

Yes, after Brexit people on EU seem to be more proud of their country than people in UK. And that is the difference

@ReneeX yep all of this and we don't live in the SE 😁 Some people think the whole world is the SE of England!

@ReneeX I'm not saying the grass is greener. I can promise you the situation with SEN is dire in the UK. I don't doubt there's problems in other countries but my original reply was for a person in Japan who said it's important for them that their kids attend a local school. Just because a local offer is there, doesn't mean it's accessible. Your reply reads like one from a politician. It's very, very different on the ground.

Ours is cos we’ve lived in the house for nearly 15 years and have decided to do Pvte school rather than a new house: sacrifices. Although now I’m wondering should we have got the house and done secondary rather than prep.

@ladykale It is more about job opportunities than anything else.

@Dodgeitornot What exactly do you mean by not accessible? If the school notices learning difficulties or some unusual behaviour they refer to CAMS for evaluation.It takes around a year to complete it. After that the child receives SEN support to the extent it is determined by the evaluation. Some kids get a dedicated assistant and the school gets funds for it.
A parent can also request evaluation through the local Council.

@ReneeX it really isn't that straight forward to get funding and support from the council. Councils are under huge financial constraints as are schools and the result is the system doesn't function as its designed to.

There are plenty of people who use private who have low mortgages me being one of them. There are people in flats, lots on relatively modest terraces as well as those who bought early or prioritised paying down their mortgage.

@ReneeX I'm sorry but as someone who works with SEN kids on a daily basis you are coming across as very very naive. I don't know anywhere in the UK where the waiting list for CAMHS is a year long. I also don't know any child who has been given all their provision as advised by professionals. Even if they have an EHCP. At one of the schools I visit, they have 3 judicial reviews in progress for kids who need a special school but have no space. Everything you've mentioned exists, but it is like hens teeth and disappearing by the day. I don't have the space here or energy to prove you wrong. I feel like I'm messaging Rishi Sunak. You really have no idea what the reality is.

When it comes to education the choices depend on where you are.

I live in Northamptonshire which is an educational black hole. There is almost no choice even when it comes to private schools.

@Dodgeitornot

What are you basing your assumption that I work with SEN kids? I have never said it. In London it takes 1 year. How do I know? Because that is what I was told and I am waiting for evaluation of my son re dispraxia. We have huge support from school and local council.
I also look at the secondary schools in the catchment and everywhere there is SEND, in each of the schools- I am specifically checking itm
I speak to many overseas mothers who have zero SEN support and have to so everything privately That is why I think that the reality in UK is not that bad. It is all a matter of perspective .

@MomFromSE

I must admit I am not sure in relation to what is your comment. A bit confused here.
I have not been addressing any council housing funding topic

@ReneeX I never said you work with SEN kids. I said I did. All state schools in the UK must have provision for SEN. What the reality of that provision is, is very different than what is written in your councils local offer. You are extremely naive. I don't know anyone else who's only had to wait for a year, especially for dyspraxia. Some London councils don't have any OTs on their books. There are kids I work with who have OT written into their EHCP but never get it because the council hasn't got them.

@ReneeX I didn't say council housing. Additional funding for SEN pupils is provided by the local council via an EHCP. Local authorities control the assessment and funding process.

@MomFromSE
I still don't get it. You talk about housing, mortgages and funding for SEN or even those with EHCP at the same time.

@ReneeX It's really not that difficult to understand the post. Obviously only the first part applies to you:
"it really isn't that straight forward to get funding and support from the council. Councils are under huge financial constraints as are schools and the result is the system doesn't function as its designed to."

You talk about the offer councils and schools have which is what this poster was referring to. Just because a school has included something in their legally required SEN information report, doesn't mean that's going to be available to your child. Equally, the local offer is bs half the time. The situation in London isn't bad at all, but most kids are having to wait 12 months to be triaged by CAMHS. I don't know if you've already been seen, but what will likely happen is you'll get an appointment from CAMHS about 12 months post referral. This will be about 1hr 30mins and you will find out what waiting list you go on from there. In N London the waiting list for a psychiatric evaluation is currently 3-4 years long.
You cannot base the UK's SEN provision on your very very limited experience. There are whole counties without a single EP. There are schools that have been trying to recruit a TA for a year without any luck because the pay is a pittance.

@Dodgeitornot Even on the third page point 3 it says that only first step that is processing scanning and reviewing takes up to 6 months (image attached) not to mention what the referral to Neurodevelopmental Assesment Service and the waiting list there. It can be further one 1 year( attached image that says it). It is minimum one year if we lucky.
If you really are working in SEND and you are not only SEN parent ( whonalso stangely doesn't seem to know the process) you should be very aware of it. It is strange that it surprises you.

A lot of private schools have admission tests. With some (perhaps many) schools this is really for show, rather than being used to select pupils (because the schools are not oversubscribed). However, they can then be used to weed out children who are very weak academically. Where there's a local private school which does use some real level of selection, then you often see a nearby, smaller private school which is there to cater for children from wealthy families who don't pass the entrance test for the main private school. The children at those schools are less bright than you'll find on average in state schools.

@User534 the reason the children have higher IQs at private primary schools is not due to selection but because it's in their genes as they generally have brighter (hence better paid) parents.

@ReneeX LOL. Bless you. I really hope your faith in this works out for you and your child gets the support they neef. You are in one of the wealthiest and least populated boroughs in London. If you do get this within said time frame, that'll be why. Don't patronise me. Your experience of this will be very, very different to 99% of the UK population. And for your info, each CAMHS has a different way of doing things and different time frames, so I wouldn't know yours as I'm not a genie. However the situation is so crap across the country, I can bet that even for you it'll be longer than on this leaflet. As you are someone who is obviously well versed in the SEN provision in the UK, I am surprised you don't know that.

@Dodgeitornot hence I don't understand why she written the second part in the context addressing it to ms.

but most kids are having to wait 12 months to be triaged by CAMHS.

🙆a moment ago you were saying that you don't know the place where there is 12 months wait suggesting that I am not saying the truth 🤦‍♂️