How soon before the next step to privatising the state schools?

M0nica

Oh, for heavens sake. Go and lie down with cold flannels on your fevered brows.

State schools are far far better now than they were in the 1980s, better funded, better equipped and even back in the 70s I was part of a PTA which was always fundraising for extras for the school my children attended.

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even back in the 70s I was part of a PTA which was always fundraising for extras

Yes, in the days of jumble sales!!
I remember my BF was a primary school teacher and we always ran the cake stall together.

Now the Summer Fair and Christmas Fair at the DGC's schools are more sophisticated affairs with stalls of local produce and crafts. And a secondhand uniform rail.

M0nica the voice of reason, thank you.

Oh, for heavens sake. Go and lie down with cold flannels on your fevered brows.

State schools are far far better now than they were in the 1980s, better funded, better equipped and even back in the 70s I was part of a PTA which was always fundraising for extras for the school my children attended.

GagaJo

If we had no independent schools, there'd be no issue. There would be no top loaded, imbalance of resources.

But yes. Nothing would surprise me. The Tories won't be happy until the poor are back in the workhouses.

But we do have independent schools; it isn't the first problem. What the government wants to do with schools, their ideology for all state spending, is of first importance. While people fiddle with a tiny percentage of private schools - and they won't succeed under the Tories - this government will continue its policy of soft privatisation. You have to decide what you want. Good, free education available for all, or education based on income, in every case.

I agree there would be no surprise if workhouses were back on the agenda. You only need to listen to some of their supporters on GN. But what, meanwhile, do we do about the state schools? They are not businesses, but schools pay the same as a business for energy. Where will that come from? Truss has said they will "look at it". What does that mean?

The poorer schools get, and they have been getting poorer continuously under this government, the harder it becomes to do any teaching. If children and teachers are cold, if they are short-staffed (or even more short-staffed) or if they have nothing to teach with, they will not learn as well as those that do have these things; or certainly not as easily. Subjects such as STEM subjects, so important for the future, will eventually become too expensive to run. Running a science lab is expensive, and teaching computing takes power.

I am sure we will hear all the usual excuses. However, remember this has been happening for 12 years. We know because they told us, that the government wants to stop as much spending in the state sector as they can. Hopefully, they will have little time. However, they will have enough to do a great deal of damage if the people do not make their opinions clear.

We'd have a lot of work to do before the State could take on all the pupils from Independent schools. Schools around here are bursting at the seams, vacancies go unfilled and all the money that the parents pay in their taxes for their private school children would have to be found for the schools where there are places.
Quite frankly, the secondary school for provision of education around here was the only reason we opted for an Independent school. The behaviour of the kids was so dire our boy couldn't get any work done, was lambasted for being clever and conscientious and the whole thing was a nightmare.
We aren't rich but we spent every penny of our savings plus most of my husband's pension lump sum to allow our son to work in a different ethos where hard work and good citizenship was actively encouraged, not just by the staff but by the other kids too. Both my husband and I went to State Schools so we were more than happy to send our 6 kids to State Schools but the rot is so deep now, we felt forced to treat the youngest differently which we really struggled with. The other 5 went to the Church School but they changed the catchment area.

Blondiescot

GagaJo

If we had no independent schools, there'd be no issue. There would be no top loaded, imbalance of resources.

But yes. Nothing would surprise me. The Tories won't be happy until the poor are back in the workhouses.

Well said!

I agree with you both.

I fervently hope, more than I think I have ever done before (and that includes 1997) that we get a change of party at the next election. Even then, the past 12 years has done so much damage that I don't know if we can recover, but at least there will be a will to do so, and the worse excesses of the direction in which we are heading will be headed off.

GagaJo

If we had no independent schools, there'd be no issue. There would be no top loaded, imbalance of resources.

But yes. Nothing would surprise me. The Tories won't be happy until the poor are back in the workhouses.

Well said!

I started senior school in 1968, my parents had to contribute to the school fund back then.

Where do you get your information that parents are going to have to contribute to their children’s schooling in state schools in this school year?

If we had no independent schools, there'd be no issue. There would be no top loaded, imbalance of resources.

But yes. Nothing would surprise me. The Tories won't be happy until the poor are back in the workhouses.