Money Moral Dilemma: Should the school have paid?

Fang_3

No, the school should not have paid. Things have to be paid for and if someone chooses not to pay then their child does not watch. Simple.

janiebquick

I thought that the dilemmas on MSE were 'real case scenarios'. This one clearly isn't as ALL schools have to have a policy for dealing with exactly this sort of situation. Usually, they have to ask for 'voluntary comtributions', although, unless enough people pay, the event can't take place. Schools also can operate a 'hardship fund' in cases of need.

bridaldream

I am on the PA at our school, we have lots of events during the school term which then goes on to fund such things like plays, leavers disco's etc, This way no one gets left out and no one feels the pinch

JayD

I am confused by this.
I am a retired teacher and it was my understanding that nowadays schools could only request a suggested financial contribution towards outings and things like this. There could be no obligation on families to pay.

That way, poorer income children could still participate - even wealthy families could choose not to make any payments at all if they so wished, although in my experience all but the poorest happily paid.

So I would investigate this further as it seems to me the school in question is flouting the law.

Hezzawithkids

I bl00dy hate the way that parents are blackmailed into these things. I've had years of notes home from school demanding a "voluntary contribution" for events happening in school during school hours, and the thinly-disguised threat of "if you dont pay up your child cant take part". The tone is always "We've organised this, that'll be ££ please", it winds me up every time but I always pay up cos I dont want my kids to be singled out and embarassed.

It ranks alongside my other pet peeve INSET DAYS as the thing I most despise about out under-funded education system in this country. And of course I realise that its not the schools' fault (before any teachers start in on me), they are hostages to the system just as much as parents are.

Rant over.

EBL2008

There is no way the children should have been singled out like that.

Yes contributions for such things are voluntary, however the schools do have funds for things like this. ALSO where it the PTA in all this??

At our school the parents work very hard all year raising funds so that all the children can benefit from things that the school is unable to provide, which can be anything from a playground shelter to theatre trips.

Children should not be singled out/excluded based on anything their parents have or have not done. The school has a duty of care to ALL its children.

dollybird4

tabithakated wrote: »

a few years ago my daughter asked for £3.50 to see santa at school, she was lucky i had it as it was that day and no letters had been sent home. when i asked about it later that eve she told me she got a pressent but gave it to a friend who had forgotton her money and was told to sit outside the room while all the other kids in her class went into see him. i was horrified how a school could do this to a child.

Well done to your daughter for her generosity and kindness to her friend - she's a credit to you. The school should not have excluded the child, especially from seeing Santa if all the rest of the class did. They should have sent letters to the parents not just expected the children to remember the money.

In the case of the play, they should have let the 4 children watch it and then spoken to their parents afterwards about it (if they couldn't do so before hand).

Cleopatra100

Oh dear. Have we regressed 40 years in Britain? When I first became a teacher the debate was how to include all children - and adults - in opportunities to learn. Discrimination on the grounds of gender, religion, poverty, disability, etc. was continually analysed and discussed and by the 1980s most schools and colleges had devised strategies to ensure that no-one should be disadvantaged on these grounds. These children are being disadvantaged on the grounds of their parents' financial status. Even if the parents are well able to pay but careless about their children's education, the school has a duty to ensure that no-one is excluded from a learning opportunity to which the majority have access.
The school should pay for them.

counsellorneil

I'm surprised that anyone would post that if the parents didn't pay the children should be excluded. I wonder if they are not yet parents or were excluded themselves at some past event?
From my perspective all children should be let in (unless the parents do have some valid reasons for not wanting their children participating) regardless of payments made or not.
School trips that need funding by parents direct contributions should not be allowed. If its part of the curriculum then the school should fund it.
I'm not that keen on the ski trips someone above mentioned either. If its related to the school then all should be able to go or no one goes. It is heart breaking to have your child bring a letter home for a "once in a life time" trip to Russia, costing over a thousand, which you have no way of affording. Your child says it's ok, he understands. But, why should others go just because they're more spare money. In case anyone gets on the what else do you spend on - no sky, don't smoke, don't drink, holiday only UK on last-minute deals. In this case I did write to the head expressing my concerns. Received a very polite reply, explaining that it had been a hard decision but they felt the right one. So basically tough, in more diplomat language.
So my long answer is yes the children should be let in wherever and whenever the performance was.

Marisco

Like Judith, I read it to mean the theatre group went to the school to perform. They shouldn't have been excluded, and maybe some parents are not comfortable talking to the school about their financial and private business, but the kids should not suffer because of it.