School making constant demands for time and money?

loopy-loo73

Hi,
I'm treasurer of my daughter's primary PTA and have been for the last 3 years. We gave the head a 'slush' fund to cover all the small visits to school (this was at a parents suggestion). We used to get letters home on a regular basis for £1 for this event £1.50 for that event etc etc. This no longer happens as the slush fund covers it. During the summer term a letter goes out from school detailing the events during the past year which the PTA have helped with & requesting a 'voluntary' contribution so the number / quality of events can at least continue if not improve the following year. It really is voluntary!
My daughter is in yr4 and this year i've paid for an activity weekend away (we were given almost 6months notice & could pay however we wanted, in full, by chq each month, or by sending cash in every week!). They only have 1 field trip each year which is good. But we are lucky and they are only a short walk from some lovely woods & sand dunes so they often walk there.
This year they have gone in mufti for sports relief & comic relief. It is not compulsary (and i did see some kids in school uniform) but the £1 donation goes to the charity involved not the school.
The PTA raises money in a variety of ways. All outside school hours so nobody feel obliged ... we have disco's, ice-skating, X-mas fair, summer ball, on a regular basis & other things when we get good ideas!
As for what we give the money for. We've helped restock the library, bought new text books (lots of them!), new PE equipment, new music equipment, history artifacts, in addition to giving a gift to every yr6 leaver, paying for most of the coaches for school trips & breakfast with santa for the infants each Xmas. It's supposed to be for things the school budget just won't stretch to!
All the mums who attend the PTA meeting work & we rarely see new faces, maybe people don't think attending will do any good?
Please, go to your next PTA meeting and tell them how you feel ... they should have some influence! Perhaps suggest a slush fund like we have?
I really hope there are no parents in our school who feel like you do.
Lou.
ps ... sorry if i ranted!

mehefin

Gosh, this is so familiar..I had a rant earlier this month about 'sponsorship' and that one sparked off a healthy debate too.
By all means write to the school/PTA re the issues - a 'good' head will take it on board and react accordingly - unfortunately my sons last school (primary) treated all parents like 1st year nursery and accordingly was heartily disliked( by parents, staff and pupils!) .
Give to leaving presents if you want - dont if you dont want.
I beleive its more important to give time to the school activities if you are able than just throwing money at it. We always made a point of getting involved when we could - I have willingly lost many hours from work for concerts/class assemblies etc ( fortunately I can do so without too much problem) .. but i would loved to have been able to help out with reading etc as some of the other parents have. There is a limit to how much I could play hookey!!
Probably all off topic but its my 4p worth.

Kimberley

I only contribute if it benefits my kids, if it's for something else then i won't. i will refuse to give money for a teachers retirement etc, it's their job to teach and it's the same on every summer holiday on last day of term, i never ever buy anything for the teachers like some do, the kids make their cards. A card is enough, there is no need to spend out on chocs etc.

I know some kids enjoy giving, thats great if they want to send a card. I tell my kids ok then, make a card, your teacher will appreciate a home made one rather then a shop bought one because you have made it yourself. I tell them you don't need to send chocs, draw a picture for them instead

I see teachers with desks full of chocs and i bet you that they will never eat them all either, most get locked away for summer fetes etc or given to friends and family, so no, i will not put my hand in my pocket to give to someone for doing their job, which they get paid for

As for the cheque write it out for a penny

gingin_2

Thanks for all of the responses and I completely take on board what you have all said especially those who are part of the pta's for your children's school. I know it's a jolly hard job with little thanks especially when you have people like me complaining (I really am a nice person).

But... my rant was aimed at my son's school rather than in general as it is in an affluent area but with a mix of children fom all different areas and backgrounds (which is great) and I feel if it makes me uncomfortable then what about others. For example I was asked to give money for a trainee teacher who had been teaching for 6 weeks in the class so I handed the class rep (who is kind of a friend) £2 which I thought was pretty generous as surely a card and a bunch of flowers would have been enough but when I gave it to her she took it and didn't say much so I said "is that O.K?" and she said it was fine but in a way you know it wasn't. I then find out this girl has been given (as I said before) designer toiletries and a trip to a day spa. Not only can I not afford that for myself but I am now really embarrased because in order to buy that everyone must have given far more than me but it still seems totally unnrecessary.

I just don't want to stir up trouble particularly when you are friends with people and your children are friends with their children and could stir up trouble, I guess I was just having a rant in cyberworld.

$17mma

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=220315

mehefin

Designer toiletries!!! Got s*d all when I was a student teacher - sign of the times eh.

Dead_Eye_Jones

sending a request home for a teachers leaving gift sounds excessive, unless the teacher was a well respected member of the community who had had a big impact and in fact many parents would like the opportunity to say thanks..?

I think you gotta remember that schools are massively underfunded and can generally only cope because teachers put in extra time and run much of what goes on out of commitment, not because they get paid for it.

Schools should be seen as community assets and I find it strange that anyone would feel irritated by being asked for their time. A good school thrives on community support and close links with the parents and children - this is a good thing! I find any attitude to the contra very selfish, very typical of the me society - i mean really, who wouldnt want to get involved in the place their child is going to spend much of their formative time? Id want to be as close as I could. This is your children we are talking about!

I remember my mum helping out at all kinds of events from day trips to jumble sales, good for the school, good for me, and good for her too. Sure not everyone can do it, work commitments perhaps, but if the reason to not get involved is a round of golf or a coffee morning then I think you have to ask yourself whats more important...

Money is a different issue, if the school is struggling to fund teachers and text books then get in touch with the governers and demand an explanation! If they are requesting money for trips or extra curricular activities then surely you recognise that the trips are for your childs benefit - in my experience these are subsidised to the max where possible, but the bottom line is they just dont have the budget for these things...

I think people really underestimate the importance of school in today's society, especially when we are relying on them more and more, not just for education but now they are expected to provide dicipline and child care - is it really too much to ask to put something back...?

gingin_2

Dead_Eye_Jones wrote:

sending a request home for a teachers leaving gift sounds excessive, unless the teacher was a well respected member of the community who had had a big impact and in fact many parents would like the opportunity to say thanks..?

I think you gotta remember that schools are massively underfunded and can generally only cope because teachers put in extra time and run much of what goes on out of commitment, not because they get paid for it.

Schools should be seen as community assets and I find it strange that anyone would feel irritated by being asked for their time. A good school thrives on community support and close links with the parents and children - this is a good thing! I find any attitude to the contra very selfish, very typical of the me society - i mean really, who wouldnt want to get involved in the place their child is going to spend much of their formative time? Id want to be as close as I could. This is your children we are talking about!

I remember my mum helping out at all kinds of events from day trips to jumble sales, good for the school, good for me, and good for her too. Sure not everyone can do it, work commitments perhaps, but if the reason to not get involved is a round of golf or a coffee morning then I think you have to ask yourself whats more important...

Money is a different issue, if the school is struggling to fund teachers and text books then get in touch with the governers and demand an explanation! If they are requesting money for trips or extra curricular activities then surely you recognise that the trips are for your childs benefit - in my experience these are subsidised to the max where possible, but the bottom line is they just dont have the budget for these things...

I think people really underestimate the importance of school in today's society, especially when we are relying on them more and more, not just for education but now they are expected to provide dicipline and child care - is it really too much to ask to put something back...?

Have you actually read anything that has been written or just read the title?

Penny_Watcher

My son is starting secondary school in September. Before he's even there they've started with the GIVE US MONEY routine. In the prospective parents 'New Intake Brochure' there are direct debit forms!!

To quote from the head of governors letter

"Parents have to face up to the reality that as part of the voluntary aided sector, there is a price to pay for choice."

WTFlip? Apparently they need £300,000 to contribute to a £2.7m extension to the school. However they'll never actually get the £2.7m from the government because the school doesn't tick all the right boxes in the national social diversity spectrum (although it reflects the social diversity of the town we live in).

Too true - there is a choice and after a letter like that I choose not to pay :mad:

filigree_2

My son's school was in an area of high deprivation, so much so that they got extra grants from the govt. I was on the PTA for years and we soon learned that there was no point asking for money or volunteer help because the answer would be "**** you". The only way to get money out of the parents was to organise fundraising where they got something in return ie a disco or bake sale. We used to keep prices as low as possible and had a tiny profit margin but they still complained.

Please don't suggest great fundraising ideas, they're hard to implement when no-one even shows up to PTA meetings :rolleyes: The staff did 90% of the work.

In fairness I should say that when we had International Day (dances and food from round the globe) parents would regularly contribute huge amounts of lovely Asian food. It wasn't all bad news

On the one hand, getting parents to join in with PTA fundraising was like getting blood out of a stone. On the other hand, they expected the PTA to pay for all the extras The sums didn't work, and the quality and frequency of school trips dwindled away to almost nothing.

If we put on a play there was no point asking the parents to make costumes. The staff would make everything, mostly out of sugar paper and poster paints because there was no cash for supplies. Often the staff including myself would take our own possessions into school to serve as props or costumes. One classroom assistant used to take her family's Xmas decs into school every year to set up Santa's grotto.

I'm not picking an argument because I agree with nearly everything people have been saying. I'm just jealous that my son didn't have these opportunities - if I couldn't afford something or didn't approve of it I could have said no, but we didn't even get offered a choice

I agree with gooismead that it would be an idea to make a protest to the school. Where requests come from the "higher-ups" then write to the head, and if it's a PTA issue then go to a meeting and tell them your concerns. Some PTA members (in my limited experience) can be a bit la-di-da middle class and need to be told the facts of life.