school 'demanding' voluntary contribution, income sub £16,000

gonzo127

mrcow wrote: »

So you're saying it's acceptable for the school to be forced to make cuts to find the money for the OPs child to go swimming, but not for the OP to make cuts for their own child to go swimming?


Mmmmm......

IF the lessons are part of the compulsory education the school will have already received the funding as part of their normal budget, if the school has spent it on something else then this should not be the parents problem but the school for incorrectly budgetting

IF the lessons are not part of the compulsory education then they are right to ask for the costs HOWEVER there should be a secondary class run for people who do not want to go or can not go, the child should not just be made to sit at the side of the pool

poppy-glos

thank you all, i will have a think and digest your advice.

to answer the queries, i guess i am at the point of having had one too many voluntary contribution letters (with up to three reminders to pay when i haven't immediately), i did not pay the contribution for a class trip to a castle last year (as i was cross that the whole class had been told they were going from the beginning of term and then two weeks before the trip £17 voluntary contribution bill arrived - the school still took her.

I have now written to the school and asked them to inform me of all charges for the next financial year, both manditory and voluntary, so i can budget and decide in advance what i fund in school time, if anything.

Currently (and for the past 2 years) I pay £20 a month in private swimming classes on direct debit, and i am not going to stop these for the 8 weeks the school is planning to take the class swimming as part of the curriculum. The school can happily tick the box that my daughter will be able to swim 25 m at the end of ks2 with or without the school lessons, so on that basis she does not have to go.

I am happy for my daughter not to do the swimming, and i work half time and the school swim day is on my day off so i could collect her rather than her having to go and watch. I guess what i'm cross about is again the teacher has said they 'have put voluntary on the letter cos thats what they have to write, but in reality it is not voluntary'. I understand fully that i should not 'benefit' when other parents 'have to pay', but as the school has about half to three quarters of the families on benefit or income sub £15,000, should there not be some consultation before they plan their trips and activities before parents are asked to pay for them.

For the first three years of school i have taken my daughter to the school fete (£1 on each thing and £3 for santa and £3 for snack and leave £20 - £30 lighter twice a year), been in and supported the school book initiatives, and been in and volunteered my time in school cooking and where the pta have asked for help. Targets are always in place, receiving only six sponsorships on the comic relief (totalling £30 odd quid - generous grandparents!) my daughter came from school saying she had not got enough sponsors cos there was a target line on the back of the form!




Thanks all for your advice and letting me rant. I guess the answer is we all have a set amount of money coming in and all have a choice how we spend it.

peachyprice

mrcow wrote: »

So you're saying it's acceptable for the school to be forced to make cuts to find the money for the OPs child to go swimming, but not for the OP to make cuts for their own child to go swimming?


Mmmmm......

The school should not be putting it's self in the position whereby they are reliant on voluntary contributions for an activity to take place. Swimming is part of the curriculum and part of the school budget. If they get some voluntary contribtutions all fine and dandy, but they shouldn't be taking it as a given that every parent will contribute.

Spendless

poppy-glos wrote: »

thank you all, i will have a think and digest your advice.

to answer the queries, i guess i am at the point of having had one too many voluntary contribution letters (with up to three reminders to pay when i haven't immediately), i did not pay the contribution for a class trip to a castle last year (as i was cross that the whole class had been told they were going from the beginning of term and then two weeks before the trip £17 voluntary contribution bill arrived - the school still took her.

I have now written to the school and asked them to inform me of all charges for the next financial year, both manditory and voluntary, so i can budget and decide in advance what i fund in school time, if anything.

Currently (and for the past 2 years) I pay £20 a month in private swimming classes on direct debit, and i am not going to stop these for the 8 weeks the school is planning to take the class swimming as part of the curriculum. The school can happily tick the box that my daughter will be able to swim 25 m at the end of ks2 with or without the school lessons, so on that basis she does not have to go.

I am happy for my daughter not to do the swimming, and i work half time and the school swim day is on my day off so i could collect her rather than her having to go and watch. I guess what i'm cross about is again the teacher has said they 'have put voluntary on the letter cos thats what they have to write, but in reality it is not voluntary'. I understand fully that i should not 'benefit' when other parents 'have to pay', but as the school has about half to three quarters of the families on benefit or income sub £15,000, should there not be some consultation before they plan their trips and activities before parents are asked to pay for them.

For the first three years of school i have taken my daughter to the school fete (£1 on each thing and £3 for santa and £3 for snack and leave £20 - £30 lighter twice a year), been in and supported the school book initiatives, and been in and volunteered my time in school cooking and where the pta have asked for help. Targets are always in place, receiving only six sponsorships on the comic relief (totalling £30 odd quid - generous grandparents!) my daughter came from school saying she had not got enough sponsors cos there was a target line on the back of the form!




Thanks all for your advice and letting me rant. I guess the answer is we all have a set amount of money coming in and all have a choice how we spend it.

Only 8 weeks? Is that ALL kids in your area get for swimming lessons. Is that the norm there? or do they swim in a different school year also?

Just a thought there's only 8 weeks of this academic year left- so do the lessons start again in the higher year in Sept?

JodyBPM

I pay for my DDs swimming lessons, about £40 a term. But not every child goes swimming - there are normal classes run at school, and those whose parents have opted (and paid for) swimming lessons, go off in groups of about 10, whilst the rest of the class continues as normal. I *think* this is an extra curricular activity, and so its right that it is paid for.

I must say, I don't think that children whose parents cannot/will not pay should be made to sit at the side of the pool, that doesn't seem right at all. But I don't think that the school or the other parents should subside swimming lessons.

gingin_2

It seems like you are very unlucky in Gloucestershire.

According to various articles I found, four out of five councils in England fund free swimming for under 16's, however, in Gloucestershire, central Gloucester is the only area to offer this.

It's a shame there is such a disparity between areas in the country. I think it's worth creating a stink, even if only to encourage them to change the "voluntary" aspect of it.

Person_one

I don't understand the posters who are saying that if the OP wants her child to learn to swim, she should be willing to pay.

As already shown, swimming is on the national curriculum, therefore should already be in the school's budget, the same as maths, science and everything else they are expected to provide.

Knowing how to swim can be a lifesaving skill. I for one don't think its right at all that the school would let one child sit on the side and watch and miss out on learning.

ladybez

The teacher is wrong in saying that although the letter says voluntary it doesn't mean that. In the eyes of the law, voluntary means just that. Swimming is part of the national curriculum and, according to the headteacher at our school, charges cannot be made for it, voluntary or otherwise. Next parents will be asked to make "voluntary" contributions to cover numeracy or literacy lessons!!

ladybez

Incidentally, all my children have had private lessons and after a dispute about how one of them was being taught, I asked for them to be withdrawn from the class. I was told I could not do this as they had to attend, as the swimming lessons were part of their statutory education

mrbrightside842

poppy-glos wrote: »

So in conversation with the teacher yesterday - i was told if i do not pay my child does not do the activity. In the same conversation she said that to swim 25 m by the end of ks2 is a govt target therefore they have to put on the swimming lessons in school time.
If my child does not swim, she will be taken along on the bus (paid for by other parents contributions) and sit on the side and watch the activity.

I guess i need some advice and views from people.
Currently i have signed the consent to swim, but have stuck a line through the 'i enclose my voluntary contribution' line.

Do people on here feel i need to apply to the head for a waive of the 'voluntary contribution'? somehow it does not seem correct if it's voluntary.

I look forward to hearing from you all.

poppy x

I don't understand how they can say it's a government target, and then say that she'll be excluded from it.