Take kid out of private school - fees question

[BrentfordForever]

DS in Y8 in a private school; for last two years we ve been promised we ll move to a new bigger site but never happened . He had 3 offers but chose this school mainly cause of this move

new site would mean he’d be home much earlier as closer to us; currently school bus picks him up at 7ish and drops him off around 6pm. These long days have been a disaster for his mental health, he has adhd and we had to up his medication just to survive the day which had an even worse effect on his brain/behaviour

we had enough , and got him to sit an assessment for another school near by and thankfully was accepted for Jan start

so given the timings I need to pay full next term at current school, but I am so annoyed about the constant lies (especially given we were misled about the new site) and the lack of support that I really don’t think I should pay full fees

any thoughts ? Any similar position at all?

would really appreciate your help

Your contract determines what's due.

If something they say is so fundamental to choosing to be there, you should have asked for it to be part of the contract terms before agreeing.

Although it's unlikely they would have agreed to insert such a request and you could have then chosen to not sign and picked a different school.

Was it absolutely necessary for him to start at the new school in January, could he have waited until Easter?

I'm sorry that getting things sorted for your boy is being so challenging, however you say "so given the timings I need to pay full next term at current school, but I am so annoyed about the constant lies (especially given we were misled about the new site) and the lack of support that I really don’t think I should pay full fees"

It's hard to know without knowing what was actually said. Everyone knows that building projects often overrun though. If you can prove that those lies were deliberate lies, then yes you maybe could get out of paying full fees. However, it seems quite likely that they told you what they were aiming for, and it went wrong, rather than actually lying.

Contractually, you could get the fees, or some of them, refunded if the contract promised services or amenities that are not provided on the old site, (like if part of the expense was to cover swimming lessons twice a week in the onsite pool which would cost more than a normal PE lesson, but the old site has no onsite pool). Again though, it seems unlikely that you signed up for anything that specific.

You’ll have to give one full term’s notice unless you have a very unusual contract. Indie schools work on a system whereby if you don’t pay, your current school won’t release him contractually as a pupil, and another Indie won’t take him. It’s kind of an honour system so parents can’t bilk a school on the fees.

If your contract says a terms fees then that is what you will have to pay , private schools are usually hot on this and will take it as far as court .

You will need to pay the term’s notice, this isn’t a sufficient reason not to.

Thank you all I do appreciate the response

nothing has been in the contract but we be had numerous emails promising the move

going though alll emails now 😑

The trouble is, schools will have fought this battle (or a variant of it) many times before. And if they let you go because of the building thing, they're effectively saying that any kid can leave without notice until the work is done.

I've literally never heard of anyone getting out of a school contract unless someone has, literally, died.

But if they were to accept the argument that a term’s worth of fees weren’t due because a school move hadn’t happened, then they would logically have to refund a term of fees to everyone, because nobody got the move. And that would be nonsense.

You are paying for a lot of things in fees - teacher salary being the prime one, games equipment, books, electricity, support staff, the current facilities etc. If a group of parents argued for a discount because the move hadn’t happened, the most I would expect is something like 5% off, because all other costs would still apply,

Yes you’re right for sure
I would definitely not look to not pay anything, perhaps a negotiation on a percentage ?

I get the point that if that was the case everyone would go but surely in this age , especially in London it’s just not as easy to move from one private school to another

also I have letters from CEO (last one dating four months ago) saying he’s 100% sure we re moving before Xmas but still nothing not even an update. They promised this change 3 years ago so it’s just false advertising

but anyway ok I totally get what you’re all saying it’s just a bad bad and costly lesson

appaling school in so many ways, happy to give my saving to get my kid out of there

appreciate your responses many thanks

This isn't for Kneller Hall is it? The planning application is still not signed off so the move seems a way off yet. I know a fair few disappointed parents locally. Not sure if others are in the same boat trying to leave due to the lack of site move though?

Hope the new school works out well for your son @BrentfordForever .

You know I don't think you will be able to get out of the contractual commitment to pay but you could use the lack of progress and deceptive emails to negotiate on the basis if you made it known to them that you are very angry and quite prepared to tell the world about it through social media ? Private schools need bums on seats.

thank you @feltflower great idea !

thank you @Floralnomad fingers crossed !

When I did this, we went to the school we were leaving and offered to pay the terms fees in instalments over the period of the next school year and they accepted this. It made it easier to manage