Schools charging & people on benefits!

foxwales

:mad: It drives me absolutely crazy when I hear that parents on low income or on benefits get into debt or struggle to get by just so their kids can partake in the same activities as everyone else in their school.

Schools should be places of nurturing equality and not making some students feel left out or different because they come from low income families.

The same applies for school uniforms in that people on low income are expected to fork out huge amounts on school clothing to comply with dress-code and are not able to take advantage of cheaper items that would suffice, all in the name of compliance and making pupils the same apparently.

I am not a parent,
Heck I don't even know if I am an adult yet, perhaps being 27 I should be, but what I do know is that this drives me crazy to see the things that parents go through in the name of an equal education for their children.

If your on the schools board, kick up a fuss, get onto your local authority, get onto your local MP, contact your local Citizens Advice who can raise social policy issues and put pressure on the right people to make a change.

No child should feel left out
No child should be made to feel different
No family should have to get in debt to provide equal opportunities to their child

Rant over!

Mupette

I just had to shell out a fortune for my son to do French exchange, and wow the amount of money i needed to entertain them both and take them places.

I felt very out of place against the other parents who were all working, who all looked down at me, because i was on benefits, i really wanted to shout out yes i am a single parent, and on benefits but i'm disabled not lazy.

Everyone got invited to each others places for bbq's etc, except us.

£500 a week i figured you would need for the entertaining. Including food, petrol, entrance fee's

Son is on free school dinners, would the school help with the French student, would they hell, even though they have a fund, it was down to the kind hearts of the commity who ran the exchange who gave me money for the bus and dinners for school.

School uniform can only be bought from the most expensive department store, or if you want to go fair trade double the price.

Then you got the thieving toe rags that have stolen my son's school bag, pe kit, etc... who has to replace it... me

foxwales

Mupette, your situation is exactly what I am talking about. Local authorities and schools brag about their equal rights and equal opportunies policy but by heck they are so far off the mark it is unbelievable.

Things have got to change in our education system and the way our schools fail to neglect the struggles of low income families.

Perhaps it's time for a campaign! Equality should mean equality.

[Deleted User]

Yep my son's school is in a school in a deprived area. Yet the school insists on uniform that has to be bought from one expensive shop in town, the blazer costs nearly £40., the trousers £18 a pair. The first year my son had to make do with ordinary black trousers .., but it was the first year the school allowed this. His sweat shirt was £18.., designer clothes can be bought for less lol. And of course he lost it the first term.

And, u will see what I think of schools giving parents a few days notice of another extra expense.., visits to Bowling Alleys (twice) for ICT. Yesterday it was a trip to the Birmingham Bullring (I was only given the letter Thursday after school) where he was expected to take money to make a purchase so he could review customer service performance (the letter about the trip did not even explain this so he didn't have this extra money). So at a time when my income has gone down by £50 a week (a third of my money) and I am budgeting extremely carefully anyway.., I had to find £8.30.., not easy and it caused major panic. If u don't pay, your child is singled out and made to look 'different'. Which is not something I want. The daft thing is, it took the whole day out of school to make this trip.., when if it had been given as homework, I could have just taken him out myself and got him to purchase something I actually needed., reviewing customer services at a number of different shops. Much more useful and less expensive I would have thought.

onlyroz

Well I've got no complaints about my son's school - the most expensive item in the uniform is the £8 sweatshirt, and the school has just changed suppliers so that next year it will be cheaper. We do get asked to make a lot of charity donations, but these are always voluntary and I guess it's a good thing that our kids are being encouraged to think of others as well as themselves.

The school dinner costs twice as much as it did when I was a kid - but I guess that's inflation for you, and I could always choose to make a packed lunch (but I'm too lazy). As for school trips - they're usually excellent value for money and I think there's a hardship fund for those that really can't afford it.

xmaslolly76

Deannatrois

How on earth did they come with the figure of £8.30 what were they getting them to buy surely it would have been better for the school to get the kids to select a shop and the item they wanted to buy that way they could of gotten something they needed and still done a satisfactory report on the customer service they recieved and probably a more balance view rather tham 30 kids all buying the same thing from the same shop i cant see the logic there at all!

The_Poet

I think this is shocking....so shocking in fact that I think we lobby our MP's to introduce another benefit. The overpriced uniform/ bowling alley/ shopping fund because there are no other CHILD BENEFITS that are given to parents purely in the interests of the child.


To repeat what foxwales has said......chant with me people.......

No child should feel left out
No child should be made to feel different
No family should have to get in debt to provide equal opportunities to their child

Foxwales for PM!

dmg24

foxwales wrote: »

:mad: It drives me absolutely crazy when I hear that parents on low income or on benefits get into debt or struggle to get by just so their kids can partake in the same activities as everyone else in their school.

Schools should be places of nurturing equality and not making some students feel left out or different because they come from low income families.

The same applies for school uniforms in that people on low income are expected to fork out huge amounts on school clothing to comply with dress-code and are not able to take advantage of cheaper items that would suffice, all in the name of compliance and making pupils the same apparently.

I am not a parent,
Heck I don't even know if I am an adult yet, perhaps being 27 I should be, but what I do know is that this drives me crazy to see the things that parents go through in the name of an equal education for their children.

If your on the schools board, kick up a fuss, get onto your local authority, get onto your local MP, contact your local Citizens Advice who can raise social policy issues and put pressure on the right people to make a change.

No child should feel left out
No child should be made to feel different
No family should have to get in debt to provide equal opportunities to their child

Rant over!

Surely this should act as a motivator for parents to increase their earnings, either by working more hours or increasing their skills?

With limited exceptions (such as the disabled), those who are on a low income are in that situation through choice. Why should other people subsidise them just because they choose to stay in a low paid jobs/ work limited hours/ only have one parent working?

dmg24

The_Poet wrote: »

I think this is shocking....so shocking in fact that I think we lobby our MP's to introduce another benefit. The overpriced uniform/ bowling alley/ shopping fund because there are no other CHILD BENEFITS that are given to parents purely in the interests of the child.


To repeat what foxwales has said......chant with me people.......

No child should feel left out
No child should be made to feel different
No family should have to get in debt to provide equal opportunities to their child

Foxwales for PM!

What do you think Child Tax Credits are for?

Hint: The clue is in the name!

mazza111

I'm quite lucky being a working single parent, my child doesn't want to go on these things. However, if he did I would probably find the money somehow.

And it would surprise you. I find the people who are on benefits in this area ( i don't mean WTC or CTC) are the ones who are still better off. Their kids have the latest designer gear, the latest game consoles etc etc etc. The amount of people in this area claiming to be single parents when clearly they are not is shocking.

I could sit here and name a few and their partners who are not legally living together but are in receipt of a very comprehensive benefits package.

BTW these are the parents in Scotland who also get a clothing allowance of £50 for their children's school uniforms along with free school meals.

JoJoB

I would urge all parents affected by any of these issues to kick up a fuss, contact the board of governors and LEA so that it is put on the agenda. Lots of new MPs wanting to impress their constituents - make use of that and your local press.

Even going to your local CAB is an idea as they can flag it up as a social policy issue and begin lobbying on a national level - they are particularly interested in anything related to child poverty right now and this is a very good example!