Private school extras fee dilemma

fred246

GwylimT wrote: »

There are five private universities in the UK, none charge fees as low as £9250 a year, I believe Buckinghams medicine course is around £35kpa. None of which were ever state funded universities.

Oh no so I went to a state university that charged fees? Disaster! For the last hour I thought I'd gone private. So if it wasn't private it must be bad. Yes indeed thinking about it there were some riff raff there.

ViolaLass

fred246 wrote: »

Oh no so I went to a state university that charged fees? Disaster! For the last hour I thought I'd gone private. So if it wasn't private it must be bad. Yes indeed thinking about it there were some riff raff there.

What constructive point are you trying to make?

silvercar

fred246 wrote: »

When we looked at private schools they would have been quite a hindrance to the pursuit of after school activities. Every private school had a bus service which you paid for. They picked the children up from your area in the morning and deposited them back in the evening. The bus wouldn't wait for any after school activities so if they did one the parent would still have to pay for the bus and then go and pick them up personally.

Private schools near me run additional coaches after the after-school clubs have finished. Pupils have the choice whether to get the early or late coach for no additional charge.
I find it strange that a school that has a lot of children arriving on coaches and runs after school clubs that they encourage pupils to attend don't do this.

Much cheaper and better to send them to the local state school and then they could do all the activities they wanted. That's what we did. Free education and then they went on every holiday (including skiing very year) and exchange trip that there was. They did after school activities every day of the week. So the state school was much better in terms of after school activities and we had plenty of money to pay for them.

Most parents value the education that private schools provide higher than the extra curricula activities.

fred246

I don't understand this. I thought people paid for private education so they could go on to universities like Oxford and Cambridge. I guess they all must want to go to Buckingham now (or the other 4 private universities) or else they would lose the advantages of going private.

pearl123

fred246 wrote: »

I don't understand this. I thought people paid for private education so they could go on to universities like Oxford and Cambridge. I guess they all must want to go to Buckingham now (or the other 4 private universities) or else they would lose the advantages of going private.

Some people pay for private education due to a child having learning issues. For instance dyslexia. Sometimes the nearest state school has some quality issues, so private is looked into.
Only a small percentage end up going to Oxford or Cambridge!

TBagpuss

In luight of the update, i think your best bet is to contact the school and give notice that you are terminating the agreement, giving whatever notice period is necessary.

Then let your ex know that you have done so because you simply cannot afford the extras at the rate they were being incurred, but that you are happy to contribute to extras going forward, either by paying the school directly for individual clubs / activities one term at a time, or by reimbursing your ex or her parents but that you will only be able to contribute where the activity and the cost has been agreed in advance with you, and that you don't expect to be able to fund more than one extra / £xx per term, given your personal circumstances.

It's also worth asking the school about any bursaries or assistance programs they may have, and looking into whether your daughter would qualify for any, although I suspect that it's more likely that support is available to cover fees, and to cover extras for children who are getting help with fees, but it would not hurt to ask.

ViolaLass

fred246 wrote: »

I don't understand this. I thought people paid for private education so they could go on to universities like Oxford and Cambridge. I guess they all must want to go to Buckingham now (or the other 4 private universities) or else they would lose the advantages of going private.

You seem to have a bit of a chip on your shoulder about private schools. Do you wish you had been able to go to one?

fred246

On a money saving forum I have to point out that paying for private schools can be a massive waste of money. The losses are just enormous. People should analyse the options available much more critically than they seem to. If you are super rich and you think it's best then OK. I find it really sad when people miss out on other experiences to pay for it. For example one of my work colleagues worked every weekend to pay for private school. He never saw his own children! He lived in an area with great state schools.

MallyGirl

on the other hand the 2 options for my DD for 6th form are:
local grammar where A level class is up to 22 students
or
local indie where A level class is up to 9 students

That is a massive difference in teacher access time.

ManofLeisure_2

fred246 wrote: »

On a money saving forum I have to point out that paying for private schools can be a massive waste of money. .

They can also be a tremendous investment