Scholarships - terms and conditions
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Hi Amber
I would try to negotiate that clause - you should maybe discuss with the head. the school will have a clause the other way (satisfactory academic performance etc)
There are many situations where staying on into the 6th form may be inappropriate, particularly if you son/daughter want's to specialise in certain subject areas in the 6th form. e.g media, music/performing arts or some business areas. Many school just can't offer these subjects which is why some students move to 6th form colleges for the 6th form.
I know KES and KEHS in Birmingham don't mandate that they must stay on till the 6th form.
I would try to negotiate that clause - you should maybe discuss with the head. the school will have a clause the other way (satisfactory academic performance etc)
There are many situations where staying on into the 6th form may be inappropriate, particularly if you son/daughter want's to specialise in certain subject areas in the 6th form. e.g media, music/performing arts or some business areas. Many school just can't offer these subjects which is why some students move to 6th form colleges for the 6th form.
I know KES and KEHS in Birmingham don't mandate that they must stay on till the 6th form.
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pixiequeen
- Posts: 378
- Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2008 12:06 am
Sensible advice KenR - I think that is what we are going to do. All 3 of our children have been bullied in the past and the thought of forcing them to stay around bullies would be terrible; but it is not the only thing which would make us want to leave a school. I keep wavering between 'mad to turn it down' and 'too big a commitment'.
And thank you PQ for saying I am not a bad mother...if you had heard my kids squabbling last night while I sat and watched helplessly, exhausted from disciplining them, you might have said differently!
And thank you PQ for saying I am not a bad mother...if you had heard my kids squabbling last night while I sat and watched helplessly, exhausted from disciplining them, you might have said differently!
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T.i.p.s.y
Amber,
I am not seeing the big picture here. Do you have a better option available for DS and why would the school not suit him? An outgoing child will do well in any school. As I mentioned to a poster on a previous thread it does come down to value for money. Is it better to pay full fees at a school that you think may be better or miniscule fees to a school you know is great for DD but are not fully convinced that it will be for DS. I could understand if DS was a wall flower and DD was outgoing but unless the school is girl-heavy I'm sure he would thrive there too,
I am not seeing the big picture here. Do you have a better option available for DS and why would the school not suit him? An outgoing child will do well in any school. As I mentioned to a poster on a previous thread it does come down to value for money. Is it better to pay full fees at a school that you think may be better or miniscule fees to a school you know is great for DD but are not fully convinced that it will be for DS. I could understand if DS was a wall flower and DD was outgoing but unless the school is girl-heavy I'm sure he would thrive there too,
I think if the scholarship is substantial then maybe it could be a trade off you may need to make. You are in a fortunate position to have a DD already is the school so its not going to be a blind decision on the school. Can you see your son in the school for 6 years? Whats the general trend at this school do they have many leaving to other school for A levels?
In one brochure I got from one indie which gives a maximum of 10% scholarship they state
In one brochure I got from one indie which gives a maximum of 10% scholarship they state
All that for a mere 10% and having your career dictated by the headmistress ouch. No wayIt is a condition of accepting a Scholarship that a Scholar will, throughout her school career, persue courses of study as approved by the headmistress, and will make a commitment to remain at *** until she has taken her advanced level examination
The 'big picture', as you put it Tipsy, is that we really could not afford to pay full fees anywhere, and were not really banking on paying any fees at all! We naively hoped DS would get into GS; he did, but not the one we wanted. So, we were happy to use the local comp. We put him in for this school as a back-up plan because we are just outside the catchment area for the local comp and do not know yet if he has a place there. We did not really expect him to get a scholarship, as we always thought it did not happen to 'people like us'. He did no preparation for the interview, but hit it off well with the head. We are now facing a choice we were not really prepared for. Silly, maybe, but I am a natural pessimist. We had not really thought the plan through, I admit!
You are right, happy, confident children thrive anywhere, even the local comp! I have admitted that I am not very together about this - I am wavering and there are emotions (pride, disbelief, happiness) clouding my judgement too. So sorry if I am not giving a very clear 'big picture'. Confidence has never been my strong point. It must be lovely to have a clear opinion and stick to it, but I am afraid I can't manage that just now - that is why I asked for help here.
The school is not girl-heavy, I think it is 50-50; but DS probably wouldn't mind anyway if it were!
Or, to put all this another way, as my lovely friend just said, as she dropped off a congrats card for DS, my life is 'just one long dilemma'.
You are right, happy, confident children thrive anywhere, even the local comp! I have admitted that I am not very together about this - I am wavering and there are emotions (pride, disbelief, happiness) clouding my judgement too. So sorry if I am not giving a very clear 'big picture'. Confidence has never been my strong point. It must be lovely to have a clear opinion and stick to it, but I am afraid I can't manage that just now - that is why I asked for help here.
The school is not girl-heavy, I think it is 50-50; but DS probably wouldn't mind anyway if it were!
Or, to put all this another way, as my lovely friend just said, as she dropped off a congrats card for DS, my life is 'just one long dilemma'.
We were not given any such clauses for either of the schools DC applied to. I would negotiate the VI form clause out of the deal if you can. It also has to be worth a chat with the head. Sometimes things are written on paper that when you question them the schools say "Oh of course we wouldn't enforce that!"
True, but by the time the OP's DS reaches 6th form, the current head may have moved on and the next one may insist on sticking to the agreement. I am not sure that I would be happy to agree to something like that on the basis of a handshake.
I do think that you need to think out what the school's attitude would be if you had to move to another region (and it became impracticable to continue at the current school) or in the hopefully very unlikely event he was bullied. Subject to the getting exceptions regarding these situations set down in writing, you may well want to commit to the school if your DS really likes it.
I do think that you need to think out what the school's attitude would be if you had to move to another region (and it became impracticable to continue at the current school) or in the hopefully very unlikely event he was bullied. Subject to the getting exceptions regarding these situations set down in writing, you may well want to commit to the school if your DS really likes it.
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T.i.p.s.y
Amber, I think you would be mad not to take up this opportunity. I would make sure that a relocation clause was stipulated though. If this is a good inde and, depending on the scholarship, effectively a free place then I would not even consider the comp. Sorry for being so blunt, and just because I think it would be the right choice for my family certainly doesn't mean the same decision would be right for yours. Good luck. 