Opinions please on school refusing to return deposit

Savvy_Sue

I appreciate that the school don't want to alert those who aren't going to make it into the sixth form too early, BUT it seems irresponsible not to explore other options with them. 

It was made clear to DS3 that if he failed to get a C in his English Language GCSE, that they would exceptionally allow him to proceed to Sixth Form, BUT he'd have to resit in November. And if he failed to get that C again, he'd be asked to leave. In his case it was pure indolence which had caused the low grade, but he only took it seriously once they had that conversation with him. The school talked to him about possibly taking the Foundation paper, but I knew that would make getting a C grade more difficult / less likely, and we agreed he could take the Higher paper. 

And I'm fairly sure that the school would have had a 'what's your best option' discussion with any child they weren't expecting to welcome at post 16 level, or indeed any pupil they didn't WANT to welcome at post 16. 

It seems very unfair to enter pupils at Foundation level without also saying to them "your grades won't / are unlikely to be high enough to get you into 6th form here"  - I presume they wanted As and Bs in particular subjects. Do you think your son realised this but didn't consider what that meant early enough? 

I agree it's the school cancelling, not you, and they should be refunding. 

JMW77

Yes you would think the school would of made him aware he might not make it to sixth form ,maybe they did but not so he understood. 
I originally  thought he would be unlikely to make 6th form but two of the subjects he choose i thought he was quite good at
so when my son said he was doing 6th form I said are you sure and he said I love my subjects i'm going to work really hard when i'm doing A levels.

As far as I am aware he was not told to look at a back up plan and we were not told so after the parents evening and knowing the teachers were assessing students we as parents believed that the school were likely to allow hm so do 6th form.We both said well they invited him to 6th form induction and they have invited  him to the trip so looks like he must be in .After all the teachers know his grades. I know in a normal year it would be different but this year I thought it might be a bit relaxed.

Not that it matters but he got a  part time job and spent a fortune on a new desk and new folders etc ,pens and we got his laptop fixed and he bought a suit and shirts because he was certain he was in.

If the school had even said and checked back up plans were in place it wouldn't be too bad as he would of got a place on the next best thing in college , but now he's not doing what he wants  as too late to get a place and unlikely to go to Uni .Although we will try hard to get him where he wants to be.

He also finds it extremely difficult to work at home as has a severely disabled brother so having this last couple of years working on line didn't work for him.He is a carer for him often when we work.

Im pretty angry how he was treated and the school could of communicated with us.

I believe the covid situation and the stressful homelife has caused him to not get the grades.

No response from school yet over deposit .

Shelldean

I can't help with your dilemma, but we had the same situation a few years ago with youngest son.

However fortunately we realised before we  sent the deposit in.
We queried it and was told deposit was nonrefundable unless they could get a replacement student.
Mentioned this to a friend who's son had attended the high school but had applied for the sixth form. She also checked with the school and was told the same thing! Non refundable again!

Neither child paid a deposit, my son didn't go into sixth form (his choice) and her son didn't stay long (his choice)
So neither would've gone on the trip and we would've lost £200 each!

Savvy_Sue

JMW77 said:

If the school had even said and checked back up plans were in place it wouldn't be too bad as he would of got a place on the next best thing in college , but now he's not doing what he wants  as too late to get a place and unlikely to go to Uni .Although we will try hard to get him where he wants to be.

It may be worth encouraging him to see this year as a 'gap year' of some sort before applying for what he really wants to do next year. It's never entirely too late: two of my siblings and I did university in the conventional way straight from school, whereas two of us did other things first and went either as mature students or through the Open University. 

It's also worth making sure his first choice of college knows he's interested: if someone drops out early enough there may be a place available. 

Tokmon

JMW77 said:

Yes you would think the school would of made him aware he might not make it to sixth form ,maybe they did but not so he understood. 
I originally  thought he would be unlikely to make 6th form but two of the subjects he choose i thought he was quite good at
so when my son said he was doing 6th form I said are you sure and he said I love my subjects i'm going to work really hard when i'm doing A levels.

As far as I am aware he was not told to look at a back up plan and we were not told so after the parents evening and knowing the teachers were assessing students we as parents believed that the school were likely to allow hm so do 6th form.We both said well they invited him to 6th form induction and they have invited  him to the trip so looks like he must be in .After all the teachers know his grades. I know in a normal year it would be different but this year I thought it might be a bit relaxed.

Not that it matters but he got a  part time job and spent a fortune on a new desk and new folders etc ,pens and we got his laptop fixed and he bought a suit and shirts because he was certain he was in.

If the school had even said and checked back up plans were in place it wouldn't be too bad as he would of got a place on the next best thing in college , but now he's not doing what he wants  as too late to get a place and unlikely to go to Uni .Although we will try hard to get him where he wants to be.

He also finds it extremely difficult to work at home as has a severely disabled brother so having this last couple of years working on line didn't work for him.He is a carer for him often when we work.

Im pretty angry how he was treated and the school could of communicated with us.

I believe the covid situation and the stressful homelife has caused him to not get the grades.

No response from school yet over deposit .

That seems really unfair for him, especially that you expect him to be a carer for his brother when he isn't even an adult himself! I feel quite sorry for him that you have put him in such a rubbish position and now he hasn't been able to do what he wants in life because of that.

Perelandra57

It's probably difficult to work out whether they should or shouldn't give you a refund (on a legal / contractual basis), but maybe easier to see that they should do on a 'right thing to do' basis - perhaps try writing to the school business manager, and then escalating to the governors in that case. There is an element of legal correctness to say that if the customer is not able to enjoy the product / services because the seller is not able to provide them) then the contract hasn't been fulfilled. Hope that helps!

rach_k

It looks like I'm the only one to think so, but I don't think you can place all the blame at school's door for him not having a good place now.  As his parents, you should have helped him with back-up plans.  Even A-grade students who are assured of their places make back-up plans.  It's your job as a parent to help with things like this.  You are his back-up!

Savvy_Sue

rach_k said:

It looks like I'm the only one to think so, but I don't think you can place all the blame at school's door for him not having a good place now.  As his parents, you should have helped him with back-up plans.  Even A-grade students who are assured of their places make back-up plans.  It's your job as a parent to help with things like this.  You are his back-up!

I don't DISagree with you completely, but it can be hard. I had A-grade students who weren't prepared to consider backup plans for Uni: one had both his main and his insurance offer at the same level and just assumed if he didn't meet the main that the insurance might still take him. The next one refused to keep an insurance offer and said he would just take a year out if he didn't get in. I think I'd given up with the 3rd (he of threatening to fail GCSE English fame ...)

But your job as parent is to get over "it's the end of the world" and look at what possibilities are open. 

getmore4less

Does this trip include travel and accommodation?

it may be covered by the package holiday regulations.

if they cancel then due a refund.

Spendless

Savvy_Sue said:

rach_k said:

It looks like I'm the only one to think so, but I don't think you can place all the blame at school's door for him not having a good place now.  As his parents, you should have helped him with back-up plans.  Even A-grade students who are assured of their places make back-up plans.  It's your job as a parent to help with things like this.  You are his back-up!

I don't DISagree with you completely, but it can be hard. I had A-grade students who weren't prepared to consider backup plans for Uni: one had both his main and his insurance offer at the same level and just assumed if he didn't meet the main that the insurance might still take him. The next one refused to keep an insurance offer and said he would just take a year out if he didn't get in. I think I'd given up with the 3rd (he of threatening to fail GCSE English fame ...)

But your job as parent is to get over "it's the end of the world" and look at what possibilities are open. 

Yup, having had no back up plan for my sixth form years and parents who didn't contribute to helping. When I was one qualification away from their requirements, I ended up doing an alternative course for a year and left after that. So, I tried to intervene in my kids choices.
DS had 2 places for sixth form both running the same course. He chose his preference due to easier and quicker to get to over mine, with the consequence that his grades were so bad he ended up doing a foundation at Uni first (on the bright side, it also means he hasn't graduated in a pandemic!)

When DD didn't get accepted into her first choice, she was happy with her 2nd, then hated the course by lunchtime of her 2nd day there. She then swapped to a similar course which I had my reservations about how helpful it would be, given that drama school is the dream, however she's managed it.

OP - there are 3 funded years for sixth form, so he can look again next year to change courses if he wishes. Just use this year of him gaining more qualifications if that's what he needs.

Did you get any response from the school about this?