Added Extra's

Independent Schools as an alternative to Grammar

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monstermunch
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Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2008 9:49 am
Location: London

Post by monstermunch »

zorro wrote:Ohmigod! you have to pay the exam fees as well?Why are we paying £15,000 per annum and still have to cough up for exam fees?
Because once you start earning a certain amount the government sc**ws you for every penny. It's nice to know our taxes pay for other kids exams and not our own. I think it's ethically wrong for the government not to pay for certain pupils exam fees. They can't want everyone to be equal in one breath and then treat kids, who did not choose to go to private school, differently.... and the private schools don't make you aware of this either:x ....and the beauty of it is if you don't cough up the school either won't let them sit the exam or withholds the qualification from them!
zorro
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Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:27 am
Location: Barnet, Herts

Post by zorro »

I think it's outrageous!
We have to pay for a good education and to rub salt into the wound we then have to pay to sit the same exams that other children in state schools don't.
As a newcomer to the independent sector ( DS went to state primary) this really stinks!
I think our next holiday will be in Bognor Regis or Blackpool!!
monstermunch
Posts: 81
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2008 9:49 am
Location: London

Post by monstermunch »

zorro wrote:I think it's outrageous!
We have to pay for a good education and to rub salt into the wound we then have to pay to sit the same exams that other children in state schools don't.
As a newcomer to the independent sector ( DS went to state primary) this really stinks!
I think our next holiday will be in Bognor Regis or Blackpool!!
You're lucky - I spent a week in the grottiest part of Scotland, and I didn't even see a kilted-man or his bits. :cry: Went all out and hired an MPV for the week. Thats the only holiday I'm going on this year! :x
zorro
Posts: 2076
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:27 am
Location: Barnet, Herts

Post by zorro »

We are going to Portugal for 2 weeks this summer - have told DS that this will probably be last decent holiday until he is 18!
Perhaps I could get him a holiday job as a Redcoat at Butlin's! ( or is it a Bluecoat? I was always colour-blind!)
Then at least we'd get a holiday!(!)
monstermunch
Posts: 81
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2008 9:49 am
Location: London

Post by monstermunch »

another extra that anoyed me:

the previous school sent an email declaring, rather excitedly, that they were now going to offer swimming lessons during PE once a week at the local baths. Great, I thought. Then we got the bill for £75 a term! Thanks for telling us school that we had to pay for this non-optional extra! :roll:
perplexed
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Joined: Wed Jan 02, 2008 1:18 pm
Location: kent

Post by perplexed »

Other extras from girls' independent secondary we have experienced just to upset you further:

GCSE revision guides

a lot of the materials for GCSE art course

compulsory school lunches up to year 11 at about £4 to £5 per day

no lessons for the last week of every school year (despite the already long holidays) and then a mysterious charge for "activity week" ........ one trip out on public transport

school bag, hymn book, the list runs on .........
monstermunch
Posts: 81
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2008 9:49 am
Location: London

Post by monstermunch »

What happens during exam revision time? When I was at school we studied at home and came in for the exam - do we have to pay a terms fees for our kids to be effectively off? Does anyone know if this is the same at boarding school?
ProudEFCdad
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Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2008 1:39 pm

Post by ProudEFCdad »

Hi, been reading this thread with interest. I would of thought, in this day and age, with mobile and internet technology the way it is, aren't letters becoming increasingly redundant? My DS is starting boarding school in Sept and I believe we can ring him every morning at an allotted time. Assuming this is true, I can't think he would have anything substantial to say in a letter.
monstermunch
Posts: 81
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2008 9:49 am
Location: London

Post by monstermunch »

ProudEFCdad wrote:Hi, been reading this thread with interest. I would of thought, in this day and age, with mobile and internet technology the way it is, aren't letters becoming increasingly redundant? My DS is starting boarding school in Sept and I believe we can ring him every morning at an allotted time. Assuming this is true, I can't think he would have anything substantial to say in a letter.
I'm not saying you will do this but I personally think its unhealthy to call your child everyday at boarding school - whats the point in them going there? I call my child once a week (if I remember - oops) and he usually tells me I'm taking him away from something fun he's doing. It is well known that daily and more than twice weekly contact with your child at boarding school makes them more home-sick and less quick to settle. In fact most schools say that you musn't contact your child for the first 11 days at the start of a new term as it disrupts them.

Personally I don't think letters are redundant and I can guarantee that if you get a hand-written letter from your child it will fill you with far more joy than an email. :D
ProudEFCdad
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2008 1:39 pm

Post by ProudEFCdad »

I'm sure your right Monstermunch. Its going to be our (as a family) first experience of BS and he will be pitched straight in there from state primary. I'm still rankled by feelings of guilt and anxiety, and while, initially, the calls will be very frequent, I'm certain this will tail off once the novelty factor has wore off. I read with interest what you say about this potentially making them more 'home-sick' and it has given me food for thought.
I just hope he thrives and enjoys his time there, and in later life, doesn't resent me for sending him. I assume these feelings would be entirely typical of parents sending their kids to BS for the first time.
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