kids schools with begging bowls at the ready

tandraig

hi janepig - as you guessed I AM valleys! when my kids were in school in the 80s they had the nativity in parish hall (or perish hall as i called it as it was freezing in there)! and it was FREE and no raffle either.
my grandkids are same school - now they hold it in school hall - charge £2.50 plus there is a raffle as you go in so if you refuse to buy tickets everyone knows it!
at least its warmer!
no hun - not your mother in law - but i bet i would get on well with her!!!

milliebear00001

Janepig wrote: »

Is this correct in law? So if a school is running a trip, say, skiing in France, there are going to be parents who have paid hundreds of pounds for their child to go, and then parents who can't/won't pay who get their children to go anyway? Or for instance DD took part in an after school sports club earlier in the year run by an external company which cost (I think) £15 for about 8 weeks tuition. But you're saying there could have been children there whose parents couldn't/wouldn't pay? It would be interesting to know if this is legally binding.

See, I wouldn't want any child to miss out really, although I never did or had anything that my mother objected to when I was younger and if she didn't want me to have something or do something, it didn't matter if the rest of the class had it or did it, it was tough. But my experience (and it's just my experience, maybe others know different) is that the biggest moaners are the ones who can afford it no problem, they're just miserly whingers who just want to have a moan :rolleyes:.

Jxx

LEGALLY, a school cannot demand payment from parents for any activity that falls within normal school hours, so...residential trips are exempted from that requirement (although many schools will subsidise parents who are genuinely struggling to pay). So, all the 'demands' as they have been describe, for tickets for school productions, educational visits, find raisers, mufti-days etc etc, are completely free to you should you choose (or not be able) to pay. My school recently took our classes to visit a Victorian working mill (pretty educational I think). The 'charge' was about £6.00 and most parents paid, but there were some who did not, either because the couldn't, or simply chose not to.
As somebody else has stated, if too few parents choose to pay, the children simply don't go on trips because the school's budget just won't stretch that far. I for one (as a teacher and a mum) would be very sad to see a return to those days.

shellsuit

My school never charged to watch Christmas plays and my kids school has never charged either.

Funny I've come across this thread, it's non uniform day for both kids tomorrow, £1 each and I have NO change at all!

Here's a moan about school from me (again!). Son comes home Monday, 4pm, with a letter to say he is wanted to play for the school in a Rugby tournament the next day at 12-4.

He needed a packed lunch and £1 for the mini bus. So they want me to pay for him to go out of school, to do something for the school? Ha! Then we didn't have anything in for a packed lunch for him, so had to go and get some bits.

He sets off Tuesday morning and comes home Tuesday afternoon at 3.45. Thought he was early, but No, the match was cancelled.

So less than 24 hours notice from the school again because they are the shitt!est people on this earth with regards to communication. Plus the letter said if match was cancelled we would be contacted. Were we? Were we balls!

Sooo, they can whistle for the £1 from each kid tomorrow as I haven't got it and I'm not pishing about getting OH to go to the bank to get cash to then go to a shop to get change.

Oh and all those £1's for tomorrow are towards the "Here comes Christmas" fayre they host once every year for the whole afternoon, which my 2 will need money for! So you have to pay to help host it, then pay again! What a joke lol

I. hate. my. kids. school.

Rant over

tandraig

as I said before - if a trip was obviously educational (and yes a trip to a victorian working mill is) then my son would pay (or i would). but, we live in an area which is official 'deprived' yet the schools seem to think the parents are made of money! its the constant demands (and yes they are demands) for a pound for this or 50p for that, that arrive every week which are infuriating. they have nothing to do with education!
as i have said before - once a year a charity drive is acceptable! or even once a term - yet it seems like every week parents are asked to cough up! and no - its not couched as voluntary! it may be polite - as in please send in X amount with your child - but it isnt voluntary is it? how about asking if parents could send in a donation in sealed envelope? never seen that being asked for!!!

folkestonelisa

Had to put in my pounds worth (cant get a lot for a penny nowadays):rotfl: My daughters school are always arter money for various things. A music garden, hop scotch and other things painted on the floor, a mini adventure playground that cost about £30,000. Pencil shaped metal fences in the playground, around the classroom going home doors, not sure what they are for, but they did look pretty, but the weather is getting to them a bit, oh and the kids scratching the paint off them.
They have even taken on someone full time to get donations off business, and oversee the fundraising. Surely his wages would go someway to towards the fundraising.
Oh and the latest crackpot idea from our headmistress is a swimming pool in the school grounds. Lose the field and have a swimming pool instead for half a million quid:rotfl:Reckon by the time my daughter is about 40 they will have raised enough money for that.

shellsuit

When my 2 were in junior school, we had words with a teacher once, as a letter brought home asked for a "voluntary donation" for something or other. I can't remember what it was, but I remember it was £4.

This teacher had asked the children who hadn't brought any money in, where it was, every day for a week.

I didn't know till daughter come home the last day and told me. I was livid.

I told the teacher that she was best looking in a dictionary at what 'voluntary' and 'donation' meant, before she kept asking children for money.

milliebear00001

tandraig wrote: »

as I said before - if a trip was obviously educational (and yes a trip to a victorian working mill is) then my son would pay (or i would). but, we live in an area which is official 'deprived' yet the schools seem to think the parents are made of money! its the constant demands (and yes they are demands) for a pound for this or 50p for that, that arrive every week which are infuriating. they have nothing to do with education!
as i have said before - once a year a charity drive is acceptable! or even once a term - yet it seems like every week parents are asked to cough up! and no - its not couched as voluntary! it may be polite - as in please send in X amount with your child - but it isnt voluntary is it? how about asking if parents could send in a donation in sealed envelope? never seen that being asked for!!!

Actually, that's an interesting point because my current school ALWAYS asks for a voluntary contribution towards the things you mention. I have though, worked in schools where the 'voluntary' bit is never mentioned, and some that deliberately made the payment seem compulsory. It's not right (in my opinion) but I can understand why schools do that - many parents simply choose not to pay if they think the payment is voluntary, and that leads to a lot of children missing out on trips that don't get arranged or are cancelled. It also often means reduced funds for the school, and that impacts on ALL the children.

Whether you think your school handles its budget wisely is a different matter, but I meet few moany parents willing to go and put their money where their mouth is at the monthly PTA meeting or volunteer to stand as a Governor where they might actually be able to change that...

Janepig

milliebear00001 wrote: »

Actually, that's an interesting point because my current school ALWAYS asks for a voluntary contribution towards the things you mention. I have though, worked in schools where the 'voluntary' bit is never mentioned, and some that deliberately made the payment seem compulsory. It's not right (in my opinion) but I can understand why schools do that - many parents simply choose not to pay if they think the payment is voluntary, and that leads to a lot of children missing out on trips that don't get arranged or are cancelled. It also often means reduced funds for the school, and that impacts on ALL the children.

Whether you think your school handles its budget wisely is a different matter, but I meet few moany parents willing to go and put their money where their mouth is at the monthly PTA meeting or volunteer to stand as a Governor where they might actually be able to change that...

It's an interesting point about the word "voluntary" - DD/DS's school never uses the word in their letters. I've just checked the letter for DS's trip to see Father Christmas and it just says that the cost is £4.50 and it's needed by next Monday if you want your child to go. There's a consent form at the bottom where you can tick if you want your child to go or not. I heard one mum in the queue yesterday who wasn't sure about letting her child go because she thought she might be too young to go on a bus trip with the school rather than the cost.

And I'm guessing the reason they don't use the word "voluntary" is because there are parents who "won't" rather than "can't" pay. But in fairness I've got no complaints about how often the school ask for money - this trip next week and last week's £1 for CiN are the first things I've been asked for since September.

Jxx

tori.k

i havent read all the replys, but you might want to start saving now for secondary school so far since september we have paid out £631
Alton towers for 2
4 day spain trip
London GCSE fieldtrip
GCSE PE fieldtrip
Launceston castle

we could have said no to Spain and Alton towers, but it bugs me when they send the GCSE trip letters home asking for huge amounts of money that state they really should do this trip as it will help their understanding of the subject. you feel that if you dont let them go they are at a disavantage to the other kids.
we are lucky to have two wages coming in, but i wouldnt have been able to find the £100 london trip if i was on my own. so god only know's how single parents manage it.

silvercar

tori.k wrote: »

i havent read all the replys, but you might want to start saving now for secondary school so far since september we have paid out £631
Alton towers for 2
4 day spain trip
London GCSE fieldtrip
GCSE PE fieldtrip
Launceston castle

we could have said no to Spain and Alton towers, but it bugs me when they send the GCSE trip letters home asking for huge amounts of money that state they really should do this trip as it will help their understanding of the subject. you feel that if you dont let them go they are at a disavantage to the other kids.
we are lucky to have two wages coming in, but i wouldnt have been able to find the £100 london trip if i was on my own. so god only know's how single parents manage it.

When my kids chose their GCSE options we were told that Geography invoived a field trip and parents should bear in mind that the field trip would involve collecting data for the course work. The strong hint was that you should only choose Geography if you were prepared to pay and allow your child to take the trip. Same with art, course materials were required, over and above what was provided in school. If you weren't prepared to buy the materials your child would need to do all their art work in school which would put them at a disadvantage to those who bought materials and could do some work at home.

At least you knew in advance what was required.