Are we alone?

[lonelymom]

Now, now, JR. Are you implying that Mary is accident-prone due to intoxication? That's not very fair - she may simply have big feet!!!

[englishangel]

I have said elsewhere that they are a size 7, but I have a small dark bedroom

[blondie95]

i can no longer feel my little toe realy due to constant stumping on bed and shoes that pinch them!!!

[lonelymom]

Can we stop talking about stubbing little toes please? It makes me cringe and feel slightly nauseous Mary, size 7 isn't particularly big, is it? I know quite a few young girls/teenagers wth size 6 or 7 feet, my daughter included

[Barnes Mum]

One of my daughters has size 9 feet, but it only seems to be me that stubbs toes and bashes into things in my house! Just plain clumsy I'm told!

[J.R.]

I have said elsewhere that they are a size 7, but I have a small dark bedroom

I'm sure there's a joke there, SOMEWHERE !

[englishangel]

Probably.

I have said elsewhere that 44 years ago when I went to Hertford a 7 WAS large, but all the young women I know take a 7 or larger. One of my son's friends took a 10 art the age of 12. Had to buy her CCF parade shoes on line and her party shoes in a tranny shop.

[blondie95]

i have had size 8 feet since i was 14-i loked like a clown as had not grown in height much and very skinny! Thankfully i have grown to 5'8'' and therefore my feet balance e out! still conscious of them though so dont often wear very open flip flops-and because they hurt alot!
Also as ive grown up so have the shoe collections for women and now all shops have size 8's i even found size 9's in New Look in Redhill!!

[ActionMan]

To come back on to the original topic: we've seen this from all sides as we have children at CH, and although we're ok at the moment there have been times when we were extremely short of money and watching every penny. It has always seemed to us that what goes on in the Counting House is often shrouded in mystery, and as time has gone on we have acquired information on how this works, in many cases, purely by chance from conversations elsewhere.

To us, this is not the way it should be. We feel that there should be complete transparency and fairness in all matters to do with admissions, particularly in the calculation of parental contributions. Provision of income bands and examples is all very well, but there should be full disclosure of all aspects that affect the issue, and every parent should receive a spreadsheet showing how the calculations have been carried out. In this age of computers, this is not difficult at all, and much more attention should be paid to proper communication, especially when people are in difficulty.

Re pension contributions, the same should apply as with mortgages. A reasonable level should be set for a figure which should not be regarded as income, and if anybody wishes to pay a higher level, that is up to them. And on mortgages, 12.5% is out of date, the level should be 25%. And what notional interest do they apply to capital sums? I don't know, but it needs to be in line with current figures.

What about CH's funds, I hear you say? CH needs to get into the 21st century and realise that its days of relying principally on endowment income are over for the moment - and that parents are suffering as much as the school. There is no bottomless pit in either of these, and to carry on as if there were is to invite disaster. There needs to be a much more commercial attitude towards the use of its assets, and in particular there must be very energetic attention towards the issue of fundraising. Briefly, we had a fundraiser, but she went on her way, partly, we heard, because she upset some of the "old school." A high quality replacement must be found asap, because this is the only other avenue towards filling the funding gap.

I hope someone at CH is watching this, because I shall be taking it further. Talk is all very well, but it is time for action before it is too late.

[dinahcat]

I agree with most of this and in fact much of it has been said before regarding mortgages and pensions. The 12% cap on mortgages is out of date and the rule on pensions is unreasonable because you are in reality not allowed to have one. I do think , however , that some of the problems arise with parents who have more than one child at CH (and I am one of them ) because logically you can't really afford more than one. Emotionally , once you see what the first child has , you must want the same for the next. Also you will quickly see that siblings who have different educational experiences might be divided and have no shared history which will ultimately drive a wedge betwen them. This is particularly a worry for widowed or divorced parents(where there is only one parent involved with the children) as they will want all the children to be together.
There is a note of warning on the promotional literature which is something to the effect that it will be difficult for a parents to afford more that one child at CH and parents should think very carefully about this. Of course ,they don't, for the previously mentioned reasons. Logically, If the Counting House looks at your income and says what you can afford to pay for one child -you will have no disposable income left. And yet if you have another child ... you will move heaven and earth.
I'm not solving the problem of transparency with how fees are calculated but I am willing to bet that those parents with one child have less of a problem with how the fees are calculated than those of us with more than one simply because we choose CH.

[jaspersmum]

every parent should receive a spreadsheet showing how the calculations have been carried out. In this age of computers, this is not difficult at all, and much more attention should be paid to proper communication, especially when people are in difficulty.

I asked for a spreadsheet or breakdown of fees calculation this year because our fees had risen considerably

[ActionMan]

I asked for a spreadsheet or breakdown of fees calculation this year because our fees had risen by over £2000 for no apparant reason. I put this request in writing to the counting house at the beginning of July, I received a reply today, no breakdown of fees calculation, just "I appreciate your concern, fees are correct, thank you for your understanding".

This is outrageous. There is absolutely no excuse for any organisation to refuse to provide a breakdown of their charges, and I think you should go back again and politely but firmly insist on a detailed breakdown. The Charities Commission is currently looking into school charities and their level of charges for services in connection with the 'public benefit' issue. This is not to say that CH is in any way breaching the Commission's rules or guidance, but I do wonder whether the Commission might be concerned at a failure to supply details of charges to individuals who are paying to receive the Charity's services.

[anniexf]

every parent should receive a spreadsheet showing how the calculations have been carried out. In this age of computers, this is not difficult at all, and much more attention should be paid to proper communication, especially when people are in difficulty.

I asked for a spreadsheet or breakdown of fees calculation this year because our fees had risen by over £2000 for no apparant reason. I put this request in writing to the counting house at the beginning of July, I received a reply today, no breakdown of fees calculation, just "I appreciate your concern, fees are correct, thank you for your understanding". Being an understanding parent sadly does not enable me to find an additional £2000. The cost of CH education is now sadly way beyond our means, their late reply gives me only a short time to find a state school place for my daughter. She is devastated and wants to know whether there is anyone to whom she can make a personal plea to be allowed to stay, does anyone on the forum have any suggestions? thank you

It seems to me that the element of "natural justice" is missing here. How can an almost £40 pw increase in fees be imposed without explanation where an income is largely unchanged from the previous, lower assessment? Putting the fees up because of "market forces" may well have been essential, but a swingeing increase like this surely can't be justified. The delay in replying, and the fact that the reply in itself was so unhelpful as to be tantamount to "take it or leave it", suggests to me that the concept of "natural justice", not to mention transparency, has been totally ignored. It might be worth a group of concerned parents clubbing together to seek a legal opinion on this.

As for the immediate problem, jaspersmum: you may well be charged a term's fees for withdrawing your daughter without giving the required notice, plus you'll have the expense of a new school uniform & peripherals. Would it be possible to keep her at CH for one more term, so that at least you can give notice? Or for one more year, and borrow the money somehow? I don't know what stage she is at in her school career, but whatever, it will give her time to come to terms with leaving - and maybe, in that time, a solution might become clear.

[jhopgood]

As a first port of call, why not contact the BSB (http://www.bluessupportingblues.com), who probably won't be able to help as their brief is to help Old Blues, but they have enough CH experience on board to be able to point you to another source of help.

[jaspersmum]

you may well be charged a term's fees for withdrawing your daughter without giving the required notice, plus you'll have the expense of a new school uniform & peripherals. Would it be possible to keep her at CH for one more term, so that at least you can give notice?

Thanks to all the very supportive and helpful messages, it is much appreciated