Schools charging & people on benefits!

nottslass_2

Fortunately we have an income which is supposedly above the national average but within the space of 3 weeks I had letters from school asking for £30 for a trip,a sponsored run for sport relief,a letter asking us to support the school book fair,a letter informing us that our children could wear their own clothes for the sport relief run(but we had to pay a pound ) oh and we were also told our children had to dress as vikings for the day - more expense. TBH I've considered just setting up a direct debit to the school and they take what they like.lol But seriously if you've got more than one child at school i can see how the constant demands for money can stretch the family budget.

renegade

xmaslolly76 wrote: »

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!

Punctuation would have this easier to read!

kingfisherblue

SingleSue, if you are on benefits, you shouldn't have to pay hospital parking when you have an appointment for your disabled children. At Alder Hey, you take a copy of your income Support letter to the pay desk in the main corridor. They validate your ticket so that you can drive out without cost, and they also give a few pounds towards petrol expenses (I think it was about £3.80 for us - wwe live in St. Helens).

As for the expenses and being on benefits, I am also a carer for my disabled child. I have to budget carefully so that my children can go on trips, but it should be noted that any educational trips (or workshops - which are also expensive and seem to be on the increase!) should request a voluntary payment and children should not be excluded from anything to support the curriculum if their parents can't or won't pay. This doesn't include residential trips. Of course, it also means that if several people don't pay, the trip or workshop might not go ahead because of lack of funds.

Schools are not supposed to insist on uniform that is available from only one supplier, but ConsumerDirect have told me that they often get round this by selling uniform from school (at the same inflated price), thereby giving the option of two suppliers.

Some councils give uniform grants for people on benefits - mine arrived in this morning's post. primary school pupils get £29.50 a year, and secondary pupils get £44.50 a year. Although it isn't a vast amount, it all helps. I budget by saving what I can afford throughout the year.

My youngest is going on a residential trip next week. It happens every year, so I knew it was coming up. It's £180 (Monday to Friday) and will give my son the opportunity to participate in several activities that he would not otherwise get the chance to try. I've saved some money each month for a year, so that he can go.

BTW, in response to the poster who suggested that the people who complained about these costs are probably the ones who drink and have regular nights out, I don't drink, smoke, gamble, or take drugs. I rarely go out for the evening, unless you count my voluntary work - I run a Brownie unit and a Rainbow unit. We also go to Deaf Club once a month (which costs nothing to get in, although I do buy the kids a drink and a bar of chocolate while we are there!). I'm hardly living the high life!

xmaslolly76

I have to agree with deanna on the notice the school gives although my sons school only requests relatively small amounts for trips the letters very often only get sent out a couple of days before hand when your on a tight budget you can't always find the extra just like that given some notice it isnt impossible to find the money and i doubt any parent would begrudge their child the opportunity. These trips obviously take some time to organise so why can't they give you proper notification to allow you to budget properly.

On the uniform point again i am lucky that the schools my children attend dont have ridiculas rules and we can purchase the majority of things from places like tesco i dread to think where i would find the money for expensive uniform at some of the prices quoted on this thread.

retro_bluebell

I totally agree with school uniforms I think it give kids a sense of belonging and it takes out the worry over what to wear etc, but I disagree entirely that we are told where we can buy them. Why do kids need to have the school name emblazened on everything? Whats wrong with a basic uniform and school colours (sweatshirts from Asda start a few quid and blazers are a tenner).

I chose to send my boys to a school in a "better" area of town than I can afford to live in as I care about their education and therefore I have to expect extra costs (all the other parents are doctors, lecturers at the Uni etc), however it crippled us for a few months buying my eldest school uniform when he started the high school- a blazer with a teeny tiny logo (embroidered not a stuck on badge) for £26.50 (luckily hes small and I got away with buying the smallest size there) and its only crappy polyester like you would buy cheap anyway?? The tie cost £10, and could only bought direct from the supplier. Only one supplier offered.

I mean come on! At the very least schools should offer logo badges that parents can sew/iron on themselves.

Im sure theres something within competition law or something that says they cant do that?

*steps off soap box*

Heliflyguy

You dont have to pay for activities that occur at the school and in school time, you dont have to pay for transport to or from events out side the school although you will be informed that if enough parents choose this option the activity/event will be cancelled, well thats what my DD school does.
Being forced to buy school uniform from one supplier is a bit much though.

SingleSue

Kingfisher - The only parking allowance we get at the hospital is for if you have a child as an inpatient, otherwise we have to pay the same parking as everyone else....wish we could have the same as you!

Our local council also doesn't do the uniform grant, they stopped it a fair few years ago now, the school only did the £15 one as they changed the uniform for this year.

School trips, there have been one or two voluntary payment trips but everything else is a set contribution..this is where the guilt sets in, especially the Activity week where each child HAS to take part and all of the choices cost money, from a relatively small amount (£20) right up to over £400! Youngest got the £20 one but middle one got the £40 one.

So true about the school supplier though, you could buy through the school or from the one designated shop...but both at exactly the same (over inflated) price. If the child is not wearing the official uniform (in other words, not cheapies purchased from Asda etc), they are not allowed in school until they are wearing the correct uniform.

Thank goodness eldest goes into 6th Form in September where uniform is not a requirement!

retro_bluebell

kingfisherblue wrote: »

S

Schools are not supposed to insist on uniform that is available from only one supplier, but ConsumerDirect have told me that they often get round this by selling uniform from school (at the same inflated price), thereby giving the option of two suppliers. /QUOTE]


Sorry to highjack, does this mean you have been in contact with Consumer direct? im only asking as my sons school doesnt offer a second choice of buying from the school, they send out order forms for buying directly from the suppliers, if you have any info on this would you mind pming me with it as its something Im thinking about challenging.

pukkamum

The point is though that sometimes you just have to say no.
Now i am lucky in that my son is only 9 so hasn't yet had any majorly expensive school trips they are mainly museums etc, however, i do know that they run a PGL course in year 6 which i nkow will be expensive.

So do i let him go on it, if so i will start saving now, or do i wait and let him go on one in 'big school', this is because i intend to do as my mum did with us which was you got one holiday away with school and that was it.

I never even bothered showing my mum the various letters for Spanish holidays, skiing etc because i knew she couldn't afford it and i didn't want her to feel bad.

There were many of us who didn't go on every holiday and it was fine.

The trouble is these days parents think their children 'should' be able to go on every school holiday and are 'entitled' to do the same as every one else regardless of their personal circumstance and this is where the greedy 'have it all' attitude comes from.

Children need to know there are people with more money than others and that just because you don't have as much money as the next person and can't do everything they do it doesn't make you any lesss of a person and thats just life, sometimes you can't have everything!!!!

bestpud

SingleSue wrote: »

School trips, there have been one or two voluntary payment trips but everything else is a set contribution..this is where the guilt sets in, especially the Activity week where each child HAS to take part and all of the choices cost money, from a relatively small amount (£20) right up to over £400! Youngest got the £20 one but middle one got the £40 one.

Now this I don't agree with!

They did the same at my older childrens' school but around half of the activities were free.

Is that £20 for the week, or per activity?