Independent School Teachers

[rillette]

How are your schools coping financially? Are they furloughing? Mine has made a small number of staff redundant and I'm starting to worry...

Yes, furloughing of lots of domestic staff and a few teachers. Parents who can have been asked to pay full fees and the savings will be taken off next terms bills. I don’t think there’ll be redundancies yet, but it will all depend on numbers in September and whether it’s all back to normal. I know of a couple of schools who were already in financial difficulties so god knows how they’ll get through.
Are you in a prep or senior @rillette?

We have furloughed the vast majority of non-teaching staff and given parents a 16% reduction off this term’s fees. We are setting up an emergency hardship fund for those parents who won’t be able to pay fees. We are in a prime tourism area and many of our families’ incomes are reliant on Easter/summer trade. - hotels, campsites, restaurants etc. We hope to have £200k in the hardship fund in a few weeks.

We are all also working our backsides off to try to justify our own continued existence to few-paying parents. We are providing at least 1/3 of teaching live and trying to continue with extra-curricular activities etc too. It’s exhausting!

Our biggest competitor is an excellent 6th form college nearby and I imagine we will lose out to them more than usual this September.

How are other schools doing?

We have furloughed most, though not all, non-teaching staff. Standards being demanded for remote teaching are, understandably, high. 25% discount being given off summer term. I'm confident the school will survive.

I was thinking about this situation with independents last night...the government must be terrified of too many indies failing. They would not be able to handle the surge of kids moving into state schooling. I wonder, if this drags on, whether some of the smaller to medium sized senior schools will apply to become academies?

@ellie2201 I'm in a Prep.

Lots of responses sounding similar to my school - high pressure for live online teaching. I don't love teaching online, but it's lovely to see the children, and all things considered, I'm glad to have a small sense of normality from it.

Our school have furloughed all non-teaching roles and now also teachers whom were deemed to find remote teaching more difficult due to their subjects (music,PE,art,HE etc).

Parents have been told that there is a 25% reduction on fees for next term. Has gone down well with the majority of parents but some still not happy, say they pay fees for small class sizes and personalised education etc. Honestly not sure what planet they're on in times like this but we all have those types of parents!

Teachers are hugely struggling emotionally with workload from working remotely and having to 'go digital' alongside that constant thought that 'parents are paying'. We are a through school so what works for the senior school does not work for the prep school in terms of remote learning but parents really don't seem to get this.

We are recording teaching videos in prep and there are online live lessons for the senior school but we just can't please all parents. Some are hugely struggling to home school as they have demanding jobs that they are still required to do at home, some parents expect 6 hours a day face to face live teaching through an iPad and immediate feedback from tutors and teachers.

It's a stressful time all around in the indep sector and I think we are really all doing the best we can!

I am a parent, not a teacher but I have 2 DC at private school (primary age).

Our school are giving 20% discount next term. They have furloughed non teaching staff. They are still open for families with parents in the nhs (we live near a big hospital).

Before Easter the remote teaching offered was pretty poor but it was only for a week and they had a lot to organise in a short timeframe. We were all getting used to wfh too, it was a strange time.
But some of the other parents are furious. They want it all - a huge reduction in fees plus a comprehensive online learning service. They have been sending harsh emails to the head making all sorts of demands and asking other parents to sign. I feel sorry for the staff, they are doing their best and have the threat of losing their job too.
It is hard balancing working and home schooling but I don't think taking it out on the school is the answer.
We have received details of teaching for after Easter - recorded lessons so we can do them when it suits us rather than at certain times, online marking of work, 1:1 online meetings with each staff member each week to discuss any issues, they are setting enough work for 6hrs a day for my yr5 child and also a whole area for exam prep (11+ is in September). They are also organising group Zoom meetings and encouraging social interaction between the children.
I think this is enough and will work well (maybe not for my reception age child!).
I see our school as a community rather than just a service. I don't want them to go out of business or have to suffer because of this, my youngest has another 6 years there.
I can understand that parents are under financial pressure (and we are fortunate that we are not at the moment) but if you are worried about one term's fees is private school right for you? I have to stop myself from replying to the class WhatsApp groups as I don't think this view is shared by everyone.
Anyway, I wanted to show my support. These are unprecedented times.

@Burrden you sound like a fabulous parent, please can you bring your children to my school! 😄 that's made my day, thank you.

I wonder what will happen to bursaries promised to new starters for September, I suppose they will have to honour them?

I’m not sure if we have furloughed any staff, certainly no teaching staff as of yet. We are one of the lucky ones though, an old boarding school with a decent endowment fund that should be able to weather the storm (whether they will continue with the plans for the new science block who knows though). We are doing a lot of teaching still though, I have 20 zoom lessons a week plus there is more homework and therefore marking. It’s probably still fewer hours than usual without games or boarding duties, but definitely a lot less enjoyable!

Lots of staff at my school have been furloughed including me. And parents have been offered a 25% discount on fees.

Most non-teaching staff have been furloughed (including all TAs and LSAs) and parents have been offered 25% off fees. We may have to have some of our salary deferred if the fee income falls below a certain amount but hopefully this won't be necessary.

My HT says we are fine financially and no one has been furloughed. She emphasised that our remote lessons had to be tip-top.

We have a 10% fee reduction for my DD. She is in UVI so doesn't have any lessons this term.