Are we alone?

[dinahcat]

MKM- I am sure you are right about the Beetle-I just meant that it kept breaking down.My dad was good with cars,he built a motor bike and a mini from a scrap yard. I was about 28 before I realised that some people took cars to garages to be fixed . In fact I was quite old before I realised that you didn't have to build them yourself! As I was about 13 at the time my memory has failed me miserably.Apologies.

Back on topic , it does say in the bumph from the school that it is hard to afford two children at the school and that parents have to think very carefully before they send a sibling. I guess most of us ignore that bit as once you have one child in the school you want the same for any siblings and it's this that may cause the problem . Logically, if you are paying as much as you can afford for one child then you won't have anything left over for another .

[blondie95]

I thinkw what has emerged from this particualr discussion and may other surrounding the schools approach to changes etc and is something that occurs across our lives: there will never be a solution that satisfies absolutly everybodies thoughts ad expectatios and situations! The school like all others in such a situatio are trying to find the 'most suitable' way forward and im sure they put their hands up when they realise it may not be working so well! (heres hoping anyway)

[ailurophile]

Huggermugger, my apologies. I really didn't mean to attack anyone, especially those who have been so sympathetic and supportive since I opened this thread on the Forum, and I'm truly sorry if any of my posts have come across that way. You're quite right, I am feeling angry; but with the system and not with other parents. I just wish I could articulate this better!

In my last post, for example, I certainly did not intend to accuseyou of suggesting that 2 parent families are automatically better off than one parent families; but it's clear from the way in which income is assessed that the Foundation do appear to make this assumption, and that the fees are calculated accordingly.

Perhaps the reason why some of the posts on this topic seem judgmental is that they are a reaction to a whole admissions and assessment process which in itself is based on judging families on their income, lifestyle choices and marital status. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that this is fundamental to means-based testing and I can understand that it's almost impossible to do in a way which is fair to everyone; but where there is clear evidence of problems, this shouldn't be ignored. I'd just like to echo Blondie95 in hoping that the Foundation are prepared to "put their hands up when they realise it may not be working so well!"

And I put my own hands up to coming across as arrogant and censorious. It was unintentional, and I apologise again.

[huggermugger]

OK, fair enough; I appreciate your willingness to accept my point of view as well. As I said, I can & do appreciate your frustration and disappointment with a system that is failing you and your children. And amen to Blondie95!

[YadaYada]

Got my final assessment in the post today. It is over twice the original assessment when we started the process and I am still in exactly the same job etc.

I hope this isn't going to be the case every year.

[lonelymom]

Mine is about 2/3 more than the initial assessment I received, but I noticed that the yearly fees have gone up to £24,000, so that could account for the increase

[YadaYada]

Yes, I did notice that too. A relatively big increase in fees over a short period of time but perhaps they had been under-estimating. It's a bit of a worry though that things can increase by such a lot in only a very small amount of time.

[lonelymom]

Yes, I did notice that too. A relatively big increase in fees over a short period of time but perhaps they had been under-estimating. It's a bit of a worry though that things can increase by such a lot in only a very small amount of time.

I think the problem is that at the moment the school's endowment isn't producing as much revenue as it has in the past, so fees have had to increase to subsidise the loss of income. I think (don't quote me) the full fees have risen by about £1000 this year.

[onewestguncopse]

The foundation has lost a very large sum of money since the start of the recession. The school however still needs to pay bills, staff, redecoration costs and look to the future. This shortfall is not a matter to be ignored, or the school will be obliged to cut staff or close a boarding house. Challenging times for CH as for every other fee paying school.

[lonelymom]

Yes, there are plenty of other schools struggling too, some that have even had to close. I still believe that CH is worth every penny

[ailurophile]

The foundation has lost a very large sum of money since the start of the recession. The school however still needs to pay bills, staff, redecoration costs and look to the future. This shortfall is not a matter to be ignored, or the school will be obliged to cut staff or close a boarding house. Challenging times for CH as for every other fee paying school.

I'm sure that we all understand and sympathise with the difficulties faced by the Foundation. But as I've said before, CH does not exist in a bubble; parents too are being affected by the recession, they too need to pay bills and look to the future, and with less money coming in and more going out any increases in the assessed fees are likely to be unsustainable for many families.

I think that it is important to remember that CH is not like "every other fee paying school". Its charitable status is unique exactly in that its endowment has hitherto created sufficient income to enable the school not to rely on income from fees. The pupil demographic is comprised largely of children from families who could not otherwise afford an independent education. Expecting such families to be able to make up the current shortfall in the Foundation's income by digging deeper into an already overstretched income of their own is simply unrealistic; the school may well be worth every penny (and I agree that it is!), but if you haven't actually got the pennies then that quickly becomes an academic point!

So, challenging times for everyone. It seems to me though that it is the current pupils who will really suffer the consequences, and I'm worried that in the struggle to keep financially afloat the Foundation are in danger of losing sight of the children whose needs are at the heart of the school.

[englishangel]

Very nicely put.

[onewestguncopse]

I agree with the point made earlier about the school up to this point being able to offer fee reductions that enabled all who wanted to come, to come. We were unique but no longer. Most independent schools are charities and most now are moving all there scholarship money into means tested bursaries. They are in the same market as we are, albeit with less money than we have. That is why many of our potential students end up in other fee paying schools. Most are day schools and therefore a damn sight cheaper. Full boarding is very expensive, up to double the cost of some day schools. If you get a 50% scholarship to a day school it is cheaper to go there. We offer them a place and they choose the cheaper option. That is our challenge in a competative market - why pay more if you are a parent on a lowish income? Perhaps full boarding is the thing that has no long term future? Heretical perhaps but it is sooooo expensive.

We are moving towards, sadly, a position that full needs blind status (ie we take you regardless of your ability to pay) is no longer possible. The money is not there anymore. The challenge is deciding what we do now. Do we reduce our size or take more fee paying students? Not an easy choice but if the money is not there, it is not there...what happened in the past is irrelevant in the current climate. This is a genuine crisis - we will survive but perhaps not with the ability to offer 100% of our applicants fee remission.

[englishangel]

Perhaps this should be done as a letter to parents/Governors and whoever else rather than gossip on an unofficial forum, which I think is what a lot of the posters are actually saying, not only that this is happening, but that they are getting no communication as to the whys and wherefores.

[icomefromalanddownunder]

I've been popping in and out of this topic, not paying as much attention as I might because there is very little chance that any relative will ever attend the school, but my interest was grabbed by the mention of a VW (which, as Mary Mc so rightly attested, would have had no need of ditch water: strained or otherwise ).

So then, between nose blows, I got to musing on why the school is in such financial strife now, rather than during the 60s, for example, and came to the conclusion that it may well have a lot to do with what we got for our parents/LCC/governor's money in those days.

Imagine the reaction if today's pupils were offered the fare that emerged from the Hertford kitchens. Oh no, I've just envisaged a plate of fish mornay and need to head off to the little girls' room for an upchuck.

xxx