Is this fair?

[icomefromalanddownunder]

I see there is an ad (Times last Sunday) for a Business Development Officer and this completely confirms "onewestguncopse's" comment that CH is a business.
.

We are told that the university at which I am both student and employee must be run as a business, yet we are not provided with the infrastructure necessary to run a successful business. No more Technicians to run the labs, mentor the students, maintain the equipment. No more secretarial backup. Who needs Departmental Secretaries when we have PCs? Possibly the Senior Lecturers that are required to photocopy their own lecture notes and handouts.

I used to aspire to a cruisy, secure, academic position. Ha

The final straw for me was when our Head of School announced that a Lecturer's prime responsibility is not to the students, but to seek research funding.

[Angela Woodford]

I see there is an ad (Times last Sunday) for a Business Development Officer and this completely confirms "onewestguncopse's" comment that CH is a business.

What was the salary offered to the Business Development Officer, CHAZ? Just curious -

[CHAZ]

The salary was not disclosed, Angela. I thought about it momentarily but then no....

[kerrensimmonds]

I was just looking on the CH website to see if I could see the job to which Angela referred, and I came across this. It seems to be to be very clear :-

http://www.christs-hospital.org.uk/alla ... 007-08.pdf

[englishangel]

Which just goes to show how difficult it is, as the rent on a two bedroom flat in this area is a minimum of £9000 a year, with the council tax being nearly £1300.00 a year. What's a holiday? I can hear these people ask.

[ben ashton]

Sponsorship of sports kits/tours seems to me to be a sensible way of reducing costs (nb. not raising revenue, just cancelling out necessary expenditure). CH gets a good degree of media coverage for a school due to it's activities and traditions, why not make use of this in the most effective way?

[Great Plum]

Just to keep you all updated, the girl in question has now left... I am sure that there are things that weren't shared with me, but it has been a sorry saga...

I hope the school will continue to help all those who have a genuine financial difficulty in paying for fees for as long as possible.

[kerrensimmonds]

Thanks for keeping us posted, Matt. I was going to PM you to ask if you knew anything.
We've certainly learned a lot from this thread!

[stpandp]

I was just looking on the CH website to see if I could see the job to which Angela referred, and I came across this. It seems to be to be very clear :-

http://www.christs-hospital.org.uk/alla ... 007-08.pdf

Except it is last year's fees list, not 2008-09, and people planning to send their children in the future might like to know what the plans are for next year; often changes are not announced until after the entrance exams!

Also, although music is mentioned on the leaflet, there is no indication as to what level the music fees are. For some musicians, the music fees can be another large amount, especially for those thinking about applying to study music at uni or conservatoire, where 2 or 3 instruments (where voice is an instrument as well) are needed - and music exam fees are charged for in addition.

[LJG]

I wrote earlier about the large hike in the fees I was asked to pay for my daughter this year. I have now heard from the office to say the increase had to happen because for the past..... years they had apparently been incorrectly assessing my income. I am not too sure of the ins and out and will need to check their assertions with my employer - the NHS, but for me they are going to stagger the increase over the next 2 years, as they have recognised to pay it in one go would be very difficult, especially as it is through no fault of my own.
I too have followed the thread of this post and I was saddened by some of the comments about winter coats.... sacrifices.... family helping out.... Most first time parents are only too pleased to make the sacrifices necessary to give their children the chance to come to a school such as CH. I have a very tight budget with no family to help out, and found it a bit patronising to say the least.
As to the dodges parents undertake - my only comment is the scams I have heard about seem to be perpetuated by old blues as they are the only ones savvy enough, and with enough forward planning to bring them off! I find it hard to understand how a family that runs an 08 car, has a horse for their daughter and goes abroad 3 times a year pays mimimal fees. How another seemingly 'One Parent Family' who works has 3 children at the school- I could not afford half fees for another child, yet alone a third - they either have another income or a family member pays the fees!!! I could go on....
For my case it ends with a much appreaciated reduction in my fees for this year. I would happily have my home inspected and my finances gone into thoroughly - perhaps the school should carry out the random inspections they mention, but as far as I know never have. Unless you know differently.................

[Happy]

I have read these posts with horror and I am quite shaken. My mother threatened to stop paying my fees on the Grecians in a family arguement and I was told that CH would keep me regardless. I don't think it was tested but it made me feel safe and secure - and I went on to get 7 'A' levels and 2 degrees, thanking God that my education hadn't been broken up back then. A local school didn't teach one of my 'A' levels so I would have been stuck.

I am sure there are two sides but there is no justification for making a child leave over money in any school. The child has done nothing wrong so why punish them so profoundly for the action of their parents? It would seem to correspond with recent experience of a few friends and of dd's schooling, where her school tried to boot her a few weeks before her 11+ entry exams after we had a massive change in circumstances. She went to pieces and they only entertained the notion of her and her education after her proposed senior school gave them a booting about their behaviour.

I was enormously proud of my CH education and it bothers me greatly that sentiment that I once relied on has been so erroded. I appreciate that CH has a business side, naturally, but it shouldn't be put ahead of a child's welfare. Ever.

[michael scuffil]

Bryan Magee had a problem about fees when his father died -- his mother didn't think education was a worthwhile investment. He discovered later that the school would waive fees in such cases. The matter receives some attention in his book.

As for scams, in my time about one-quarter of the school were war orphans. But they were often (by no means always, of course) surprisingly well off, because of course their mothers had found new men.

Means-testing was applied in curious ways: not at all to the purchase of games clothes, which was a huge expense, but when the Dramatic Society went on a tour of Holland in 1962, parents were asked to contribute to the tune of 7 pounds, 4 pounds or zero, according to their means (multiply by about 15 for today's equivalent.)

[wurzel]

I was on zero fee (2 families living off 80 acres of arable near ch with 8 children between them meant very little disposable income) I heard about ch through Mrs Sillett who was my Primary school dep head, otherwise I wuld have ended up at the weald in Billingshurst or Tambridge in Horsham. While I was there the classics trips (I did classical civ O level with Mr Fleming) were subsidised 0,25,50 75 or 100% depending on circumstances, all I had to pay was £25 for Greece and £50 for Turkey for extra expenses, when my half Brother went through my Mums circumstances had changed and he paid fees, they were always assesed yearly and the year my mum had an unexpected large bill they deferred some of the payment. That was less than 10 years ago so I truly believe that in cases of real hardship the school would find a way to stop people having to leave.

At the time I went there it was actually cheaper than the local comp as I boarded and all non sports kit was provided as well as shoes, towels pj's etc. That could never continue, (much as having a wardrobe that repaired shoes was a great idea). I have to say i think the fees look fair although there is a bit of a steep acceleration once income goes past £30k (although finding a household earning over that without childcare costs and after taking out Tax NI is actually quite hard) especially if people remember that for 6 months of the year they don't have £50 a week of food/etc expense of the child so that is another £1300 ox post tax earnings

[Sallz]

With the expeption of £50 from a fund, I was never aided for school trips. However I did discover that my local LEA had a large fund to assist with educationally benificial trips etc that was never used by local schools, and managed to get back the entire cost of my trips to Egypt and New York.

[sejintenej]

With the expeption of £50 from a fund, I was never aided for school trips. However I did discover that my local LEA had a large fund to assist with educationally benificial trips etc that was never used by local schools, and managed to get back the entire cost of my trips to Egypt and New York.

I seriously wonder how educationally beneficial these trips are. My 3 children went to Spain, France and Germany respectively to learn the languages and not one of them could subsequently speak a word the relative language. Total waste IMHO. (My daughter received the last rights because of the conditions in which the host family were living - she recovered only when she came back to the UK)

My elder grand-daughter (14 years old) has now been informed that she must go on and pay for trips to Germany and to New York in order to do two GCSE subjects. Germany is £350 and the US trip is well over £1000 - all in one year.