Would you swap schools to afford another baby?

[suziguzi]

Hi,

I am after some opinions.

I have 3 kids who are in Public Independant Primary School that is costing me a fortune. Every year the fees increase along with the cost of living. We are just scraping by now to afford them there. My dilema is I really want a 4th child ( I know - crazy!). But, I don't think realistically I can afford 4 in private schooling. So, should I ease the financial burdan and move them to a public school or catholic school ( a saving of about $10,000 per year!) and go for number 4, or be happy with the 3 I have and give them the best education I can? I love the school, but hate the payments. If I do pull them out I would certainly be wanting them to go back for private High schooling. Very hard choice!

[*Ang*]

Truthfully I think that this is a question only you yourself can answer...how desperately do you want another child? If that is your number 1 priority then the answer is obvious, switch schools. There are plently of good private/catholic high schools that dont cost as much.

[diva det]

the other thing to do is work out a payment plan with the school. They might be happy for you to pay a certain amount off each week/fortnite so this goes towards their fees ect. if it is spread out, then sometimes its not so daughting. The other thing is to start to pay a bit extra off now so that when number 4 is ready for school, you have allready started paying their fees.
good schools that you are happy with and the kids love are gold! Talk to them and you may be able to work it out rather than pull the kids out!
HTH
odette

[Phteven]

Only you can answer that question but as an old person do you think you're more likely to regret your choice of school or not having a 4th child?
I've never read anything to make me believe that private schools are inherantly better than public although in some towns they may be the better option, just as in some towns the public may be a better option, so for me it's a no-brainer but I do see that if you believe private is better than public or you live in a twon with an awful public school it could be a conundrum.

[Mum0809]

I think you would need to talk to your dh and childrento to see how they feel about it. There are some good public and catholic schools. I went to a catholic school and it was great. You would need to find out about the schools in your area, in some places they are good and other areas they are crappy.

[suziguzi]

Thats what I am worried abut. That I will get to age 40 and regret not having another child.

We already pay fortnightly. $540 at the moment per fortnight and next year it will be $640 + and any annual increase ( which happens every year of around $200 per child). That is a lot of money that could really help will everyday living expenses.

Soory, I already pay$640 and next year it will be $740+

[Lulu]

Depends on whats about. If there was another good school around I would move them in a heartbeat for another baby.

But I suppose you might need to think about the effect it would have if the kids did move....

[Pretty Butterfly]

I'm with Lulu. In a heart beat if I found a good school.

My kids are in a great catholic school, and fees are around $700 per child, and cheaper the more kids you send!! ( as you can see, I'm doing my part!!)
So a LOT cheaper than your fees now. Just look around hon and talk to the family. You'll do whats best!!!

[BeautifulMadness]

Big decsion...im sure you willmake the right chocie for you and you're family....

[Hollybolly]

I think its down to the individual children - and what you think is best for them.

We have had Luke in a public school since he started - We thought we would start there & see how it goes.

He is currently in year 4 and the school IMO is starting to fail dismally - numerous things covering all aspects - behaviour, input, work, attention, etc the list goes on.
Thats not representative of every public school though - and is only seeming to be an issue with our son... speaking to many other parents whose children go there, none of them are having issues.
I don't think its the schools so much as how the individual children respond to them.

Its only been the last 6 months things have started to go downhill.. and I think he's suffering

We have an interview with the private top school around here - but have definately done my research into all of the schools (public, private, Catholic etc) - and spoken to lots of parents of the kids from all of them (Being in my job, I teach kids from every school near us, so have been fortunate to get excellent feedback)
DH & I have come to the decision that this one is the best for Luke - just a little unfortunate that it is by far the most expensive ($9500 for year 5 and it goes up every year )

In the beginning we tossed it over - we had to weigh up how much the financial committment would cut into our IVF cycles, but we have decided to budget and work around it... our other concern is that if we end up with twins etc from the IVF could we afford to send all of our children there?

WE've made the decision that we will work with it as each situation presents itself... I'm not pregnant yet so for the moment its just Luke - and this is whats best for him.

When the next child/children come to start school we can evaluate then... but even if I fell pregnant now thats another 5-6yrs away.. let alone how long it takes to conceive.
6 years will see Luke in year 10, so he may even be finished school by the time we have another one ready to start.

Just take each day as it comes.... wait until your pregnant and then wait again until this potential baby is ready for school... who knows what may happen with your finances between now & the next 6yrs!

I have to say though - There really wouldn't be a decision if it were me.. I'd have the 4th baby over & over again

[Mum0809]

My kids are in a great catholic school, and fees are around $700 per child

Jodie, Could you tell me is that a year or term?

[~clover~]

Suziguzi
I don't have an issue with public or private, it's the size of the school & the kids & families in the school.
My DD1 is in the Catholic school here. We pay $850 a year. She was in a public school last year, but there were only 14 kids in the school.
There is a public school here, but it's twice the size of the catholic (there are 170 kids at DDs school) & to be honest, while I know there are alot of great family's in the public school, there are also alot of kids with parents who are drug users, theives, alcoholics among other things. I didn't want her coming home one day asking to go back to one of those houses coz thats where her best friend lives. & I didn't want to have to explain that to her. She's too young to understand.
So where ever we live I am a person who weighs up where I live, what kind of town I'm in & what kind of kids are going to school there. I'm in a pretty bad town atm though.
Its a hard choice, but it's your choice. Do what you think is right.

[Pandora]

I would if it was still a school I was happy with.
For me I'd take into consideration the curriculum, size (enrolment) etc of the school, but also how it will affect your kids moving schools, emotionally as well as academically.
You dont want them to think you are putting a new bub nefore them, you know how come kids can think..
It sounds like the school may end up being too stressful finacially anyway if they have such huge price hikes every year, so whether or not you have another child may not even come in to it.
In that case, I would move them to a new school that you're happy with earlier than later, then its not even associated with the new baby if you choose to have one.

Also, Catholic schools in particular (at least Joesphite order ones) can allow you to have unusual payment methods - at my high school one students dad was a stonemason, and he built the front gates and wall of the school in lieu of fess for X period of time.

[Pretty Butterfly]

Thats per year, per child !!! I think for my third I pay about $610 for the year.... After 3, the rest are free too!!! So no paying when it comes time for the 3 babies to go....

And I get to pay a small amount a week, with no extra fee's attatched for paying that way!! it just comes outta my bank account. its a small school, only 2 classes per year, and my daughter who has had trouble with reading, gets extra tutoring for free too. We would never get that at ANY public schools in this area. Good luck!!