Problem with private school

living_in_hope_3

Apologies for not coming back to answer the queries but I had a guest staying so had to entertain.

Right I'd like to make clear that my child is leaving the school regardless of whether I have to pay the fees. I have already stated that. The most concerning problems have not happened to my child but to older children. However although my child is happy at the school I am not happy for my child to attend a school that thinks those actions are OK.

The school is not a member of the Independent Schools Inspectorate but has been inspected by Ofsted. It is also a member of a professional body. Discussions are under way between parents as to when to involve the above organisations.

The Head was aware we were talking not because anyone complained but because when complaining to staff we mentioned information which could only have come from another parent.

The Head is not a qualified teacher and does not teach. The Head is the school owner and clearly doesn't live in the real world. At one point the Head told a few children they should not talk to parents about what happened during the school day. Obviously we were appalled by this (Child Protection?) and only when another teacher was involved did the Head claim that what had been said had been misinterpreted. Obviously we made it clear that the children should be left in no doubt that they should be able to talk about anything that happens in school.

The non talking thing was phrased that the Head didn't want gossiping in the playground. Now you and I know that if we were stood there saying how great the school was there wouldn't be a problem. We were told we should approach the Head first but from past experience we know this to be a waste of time.

Finally I want to make it clear that we were not bad mouthing anyone but the way in which the school is dealing with bullying.

I hope that answers all the queries. I have spoken to one of the other parents about speaking to a specialist solicitor concerning our case. She has already spoken to another friend who is a solicitor but is not sure about taking his advice.

bestpud

Good grief, the HT sounds a bit of a nutter!

In my experience, if the staff are speaking out against the HT, there is some major issues going on anyway. Schools never seem to work when their is conflict between staff.

In my experience, teachers will naturally defend their colleagues unless the problem is severe.

living_in_hope_3

I think the teachers are the problem actually. The Head is, I believe, a genuinely nice person and wants to please everyone. So the Head agrees to let everyone into the school in the hope that the school's ethos will help the child. It has become evident that this is an ethos not a miracle and some of the children shouldt be at the school. Instead of asking the parents to remove the child the school is being changed to try and keep peace in the school. I think this comes from the teachers who are all qualified in the traditional manner and have worked in schools using normal methods.

The changes started off with the things that "normal" schools use such as plus point systems & removing misbehaving children to work alone and it seems to have escalated. We were told the plus point type system was a temporary measure but despite the fact it hasn't worked it has become permanent.

Sorry if I'm not making much sense but I managed 3 hours sleep last night because it was all going around in my head.

bestpud

living_in_hope wrote: »

I think the teachers are the problem actually. The Head is, I believe, a genuinely nice person and wants to please everyone. So the Head agrees to let everyone into the school in the hope that the school's ethos will help the child. It has become evident that this is an ethos not a miracle and some of the children shouldt be at the school. Instead of asking the parents to remove the child the school is being changed to try and keep peace in the school. I think this comes from the teachers who are all qualified in the traditional manner and have worked in schools using normal methods.

The changes started off with the things that "normal" schools use such as plus point systems & removing misbehaving children to work alone and it seems to have escalated. We were told the plus point type system was a temporary measure but despite the fact it hasn't worked it has become permanent.

Sorry if I'm not making much sense but I managed 3 hours sleep last night because it was all going around in my head.

Sadly this can be an issue when funding is important to an organisation, so I guess it is the same for private schools.

Either way, there is a breakdown in trust and communication between staff and that can't be good.

sueeve

I wonder if the school is in financial difficulty and this is the reason for taking in the wider type of children. Although qualified teachers should be able to deal with this. I wonder about the finance because in my small town 2 independent schools have closed in the last 18 months, both of them well thought of, but they just couldn't balance the books. The head may be lovely, but really needs in depth training to be able to lead the staff effectively.

living_in_hope_3

bestpud wrote: »

Sadly this can be an issue when funding is important to an organisation, so I guess it is the same for private schools.

Either way, there is a breakdown in trust and communication between staff and that can't be good.

Sorry I must have confused you somewhere. The teachers are not disagreeing they are very supportive of each other (well they appear to be). When I said we had complained to staff I mean as parents do to teachers not as in the teacher was agreeing with us. Does that make any more sense? Sorry I'm obviously very tired now so making sense isn't easy.

sueeve wrote: »

I wonder if the school is in financial difficulty and this is the reason for taking in the wider type of children. Although qualified teachers should be able to deal with this. I wonder about the finance because in my small town 2 independent schools have closed in the last 18 months, both of them well thought of, but they just couldn't balance the books. The head may be lovely, but really needs in depth training to be able to lead the staff effectively.

The school doesn't cover its costs. It has a high teacher ratio with 10 children per teacher. This isn't due to a lack of pupils though because that is the stated ratio in the prospectus. I do think there was an element of needing extra bums on seats when it expanded recently and was able to take on more pupils. The expansion raised the costs of the school and most of the pupils wanting places were children who had "issues".

Savvy_Sue

living_in_hope wrote: »

The Head is, I believe, a genuinely nice person and wants to please everyone.

That's not a necessity for a Head teacher. It's not even a particularly desirable quality. The most effective Heads I've known haven't cared whether they're pleasing people or not, they've cared whether they're doing the right thing, making the right decisions etc etc etc.

The Heads who say what you want to hear, or don't even listen to what you have to say if they think you might dare to disagree with them, are nightmares and usually damage the school, given enough time.

living_in_hope_3

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

That's not a necessity for a Head teacher. It's not even a particularly desirable quality. The most effective Heads I've known haven't cared whether they're pleasing people or not, they've cared whether they're doing the right thing, making the right decisions etc etc etc.

The Heads who say what you want to hear, or don't even listen to what you have to say if they think you might dare to disagree with them, are nightmares and usually damage the school, given enough time.

I couldn't agree more, I never said the Head makes a good Head just that the Head is a nice person. Even when being told off for gossiping it was said so nicely that we almost didn't realise.

clearingout

Haven't read the full thread but just wanted to comment on my experience of withdrawing a child from a private school. Long story short - ex husband and I separated and could no longer afford school fees. Terrified I was going to move with the children, ex took me to court to stop me removing child from school. He then realised we couldnt' afford it so told me to withdraw child. I gave my permission but court order prevented school from accepting it - they needed his permission. He wouldn't give it. Cue hundreds of pounds in solicitors letters and a deadline missed to avoid having to pay a further term's fees.

School took us to small claims and won. Not that I blame them. I couldn't afford it and my ex could but as we were both signatories to the contract, the Law wasn't going to make any distinction. It is hard to imagine that it is worth getting a solicitor involved to argue the semantics over the school ethos and whether this represents a breach of contract. I should imagine a small claims court would immediately find in favour of the school if they went down that route - and it would cost you far more to defend that (well, I'm assuming the fees are around what we paid) or prove the change of ethos. Frankly, I would pay it, and move on.