Cruel School?

Fang_3

The only people responsible for these children potentially feeling left out is the parents who refused to pay.

cloudy-day

Fang wrote: »

The only people responsible for these children potentially feeling left out is the parents who refused to pay.

But we don't know that they refused to pay. Letters go missing all the time, wha about sickness, holiday etc when the letters were issued?

Seems wrong to me that children that small should be punished when their parents may not be able to afford £5.

pigpen

Or the parents may not have got the letters so knew nothing about it.

Or £5 could feed their family for a week and they couldn't spare it.. (though most schools if you say I cannot afford £5.. but I can afford £2 will use discretion and let it go.. just making a contribution is enough)

Or.. the more well off parents could 'sponsor' another childs place as they do at our high school.

Or maybe the parents just didn't agree with showing it and not paid on principal to make a point!!

You cannot know their reasons..

nottslass_2

TBH I think it is shameful behavior by the school. Personally,as a parent I would have walked out,hoping that the other parents would follow,thus hopefully leaving the staff concerned very embarrassed by their petty actions.

thebaileys

Hi,

Thanks for everyone's responses.

One of the parents was heard saying to the teacher 'I've paid this school enough money, Im not paying anymore'

Surely the teacher could have said 'Im sorry you feel like this, but just pay what you can afford,even if it was 50p'

Another parent has eight children, and as its end of term there have been many trips maybe she couldn't afford it.

For instance over the last 2 weeks this is how much it has cost me in trips/Fruit money etc...

£2.00 Fruit Money- (£1.00 each week)
£10.00 Trip to adventure park
£1.70 Lunch for a teddy bears picnic
£5.00 For the show

So its cost me £18.70, over the last 2 weeks.

Its a lot of money, and I only have one child, and my partner works.

But surely it wouldn't have broken the schools budget to allow three children to watch a show.

liney

The problem is that once the school is seen to be subsidising activities, more and more people refuse to pay. The school has to subsidise more people, and eventually stop activities because they can't afford them for the sudden growth of people who need subsidising.

Our school letters say something like the cost is £5.00 and have a second box saying I enclose a donation of £? implying you should offer a token if you can't afford the full price.

At what point do you say "No pay, no play" because the other children who's parents can afford to pay will suffer if trips no longer take place, or should everyone be deprived because some can't or won't pay up? Is it really up to everyone else to subsidise the aformentioned woman's eight kids?

Just edited to say that trips and special activities are more likely to fall at the end of term, so your £18 in two weeks isn't really representitive of the money you are paying out regularly in my experience.

DaisyFlower

There have been many posts on here from parents who wont pay towards the nice things at school so why should other parents pay whilst a majority dont and get it free? Every household with children gets CB plus possibly tax credits so even if they dont work or are low incomes they are given money by the state to assist with the childs costs. Heads are usually always willing to agree to installments if the cost is high.

Its a shame the little ones missed out as they are probably too young to realise why but maybe the school has had enough of paying for those parents that choose not too and was taking a stance. I dont think all schools get funding to pay for trips etc where parents dont, smaller schools simply cannot subsidise the extras without parental contribution.

Also our preschool is not actually part of the school albeit in the same building, its ran by a business. Therefore the school would not have funding at all for these children - perhaps the nursery is run in the same way.

DaisyFlower

thebaileys wrote: »

Hi,

Thanks for everyone's responses.

One of the parents was heard saying to the teacher 'I've paid this school enough money, Im not paying anymore'

Surely the teacher could have said 'Im sorry you feel like this, but just pay what you can afford,even if it was 50p'

Another parent has eight children, and as its end of term there have been many trips maybe she couldn't afford it.

For instance over the last 2 weeks this is how much it has cost me in trips/Fruit money etc...

£2.00 Fruit Money- (£1.00 each week)
£10.00 Trip to adventure park
£1.70 Lunch for a teddy bears picnic
£5.00 For the show

So its cost me £18.70, over the last 2 weeks.

Its a lot of money, and I only have one child, and my partner works.

But surely it wouldn't have broken the schools budget to allow three children to watch a show.

If a parent chooses to have eight children then they should ensure they can afford them - its not the schools or other parents responsibility to pay for them. Not to mention the mass CB and CTC they will be getting for 8 children.

The end of the school year often brings trips and treats for the chilren, its no surprise and can be budgeted for in advance.

So many people have a huge sense of entitlement and believe that everyone else should pay for their lifestyle choices. Maybe the school are fed up of the mum with 8 children not paying and had already paid for her children on many other occasions.

SingleSue

I've had times when middle son has forgotten (he has extremely poor short term memory) to give me a letter and then have found out on the day of the trip/event at school etc.

Cue a phone call from the school and a mad dash to get things organised, sometimes having to borrow money from my parents because that outlay just wasn't in my budget that week.

The high school now give the letters direct to me....and follow up with the TA's ensuring I know about any trips or events by verbal means.

Fang_3

thebaileys wrote: »

Hi,

Thanks for everyone's responses.

One of the parents was heard saying to the teacher 'I've paid this school enough money, Im not paying anymore'

Surely the teacher could have said 'Im sorry you feel like this, but just pay what you can afford,even if it was 50p'

Another parent has eight children, and as its end of term there have been many trips maybe she couldn't afford it.

For instance over the last 2 weeks this is how much it has cost me in trips/Fruit money etc...

£2.00 Fruit Money- (£1.00 each week)
£10.00 Trip to adventure park
£1.70 Lunch for a teddy bears picnic
£5.00 For the show

So its cost me £18.70, over the last 2 weeks.

Its a lot of money, and I only have one child, and my partner works.

But surely it wouldn't have broken the schools budget to allow three children to watch a show.

If she can't afford it, then she can't afford it. Why should those parents who have been responsible subsidize her lifestyle choices? If they did, what does that say to the child? I don't need to work because others will pay for me? Or will they hit 18 and begin to wonder why other people have nicer things than them and no one will buy it for them, and so they steal because they see it as their right.

As I said, it's the parents that do this. No one else.