School fees

Jdubb

Help, I can't be the only stupid mother with a smart kid, can I? My daughter has just passed her 11+ at an independent school and tho on paper it looks like I earn good money, my financial situation is quite complicated. So not much of a bursary, if any at all, coming our way.

I've thought of the obvious like remortgaging and loans but they just gonna make my hole deeper and really are short term fixers.

Can anyone offer advice with my options for funding, anything legal considered? Offers from any millionaires wanting just to help a lovely, smart kid but want nothing in return, except the sheer delight of helping someone, gratefully accepted!!!! Failing which, I need to sort this by beginning of March. Many tks in advance

tightgit_2

Why did your child have to take the 11 plus if you are going to have to pay school fees ? My son passed his 11 plus and goes to a selective school, but we don't have to pay any fees.

Jdubb

tightgit wrote:

Why did your child have to take the 11 plus if you are going to have to pay school fees ? My son passed his 11 plus and goes to a selective school, but we don't have to pay any fees.

'Cause it's an independent school, only have two very good but oversubcribed grammars in our area. She may yet get into one of the grammars but I had to play safe. Being new to the game of choosing a senior school, I didn't realise children had to pass a test to get to independent schools, thought u just had to pay! :

Spendless

Jdubb wrote:

'Cause it's an independent school, only have two very good but oversubcribed grammars in our area. She may yet get into one of the grammars but I had to play safe. Being new to the game of choosing a senior school, I didn't realise children had to pass a test to get to independent schools, thought u just had to pay! :

I thought you just paid too! I also thought about senior schools when i had son and purposely bought a house in the catchment area before he was 2. It meant i had 2 mortgages for 2 years but still glad i did it. He's now in reception year of a feeder school.

Sorry I can't help you with ideas for funding but hope you get something sorted out.

tightgit_2

That really surprises me, because where I live there are two very oversubscribed Grammars one of which my son attends. Even if they pass they are not guaranteed a place, but take the highest of those that pass. However we do also have at least 5 independant schools in the area (which I looked into just in case he didn't pass) and whilst some do have their own entrance exams they are nowhere near as hard the grammer school entrance exams as I know several children that have gone to them who were under achievers.

elona

Could you explain the situation to the school and see if there are any scholarships etc or special funds etc that might help you.

We are lucky that ours are all at a very good grammar ( that is really a comprehensive) in our area and people are fighting to get in!

This means we can spend on school trips and educational materials as if we had to pay school fees I do not know what we would have done.

Youngest daughter who is 11 has friend who goes to fee paying school and likes to lord it over her saying she goes to her school because she is very bright - personally feel the school would take her cat if it paid fees!

Good Luck

Hayze1980

It's a tough one. My son goes to an independant school and we pay the fees. He has Asperger's syndrome (very bright but not good at learning in a large class). The only way that we have found to get someone to help with the fees is to get a statement of special educational need. The LEA will do this after gathering evidence. The problem is that if they see it as you are being picky adn the good old mainstream state school down the road would be able to teach your child (whether or not child would reach it's full potential) then they will not help. If you can show that any other school will not benefit your child and this really is the only one, then the LEA will pay for it. It's a long shot but you might want to give them a call to discuss it with them.

Savvy_Sue

Whether you need to take a test or not to get into an independent school depends on the school. In some cases you may need to take the test for assessment purposes, but there may not be a 'pass' mark: other things will be taken into account, like whether your forebears went there. But if the school is oversubscribed, then why would they not take the brightest? It's not just the quality of teaching that gets them their results!

Anyway, back to the original question. I would approach the school and explain that without a decent bursary your daughter is unlikely to be able to take up her place, and see what they say. You may have to explain why your situation is complicated. They may have some help which they don't advertise widely, or there may be something you hadn't considered: I know boys who've had music bursaries which their parents hadn't immediately thought of applying for.

http://www.isis.org.uk/ may be also be a good place to look, if you haven't already!

jellyhead

each school must be different. the grammar high school in my town gives free scholarship places but you have to buy the correect uniform yourself. i don't know if there's an exam but know several people who're not bright who've been there. their GCSE results are better than the comprehensive but not hugely different. they do tend to have pupils in the paper who've got an amazing amount of top grades in their exams but equally they have kids who don't get 5 at c or above. my cousin went there after getting a scholarship but his mum couldn't afford all the uniform and sports equipment. he hated it anyway, was desperate to go back to his comp lol!

jockettuk

i live in cambridgeshire and i have the option of three secondary schools to try and get my child into in a couple of yrs.. we dont sit tests unless we choose to send her to another school that is fee run. and as far as ive seen with them if you can afford the fees your child gets in..

my boyfriend lives in aylesbury buckinghamshire and i enquired there as well and how confusing it was .. they sit a test to see how clever or not they maybe and as i understand it no matter how good or bad they are all yr its the result of this one test that decides which schools they can go to. they have grammer schools upper schools etc it confused me so much i decided to stay in peterborough for the time being see how she gets on here..

tightgit_2

From what others have posted, I realise I must be very lucky as the Grammar to which my son goes has always either had 99% or 100% pass marks and is considered to be far better than any of the fee paying schools in the area.That is why I considered a fee paying school as my second option. It is very interesting to hear how other parts of the country operate.