Schools expect parents to pay, pay, pay

shrek101

My last posts was sent before I finished it off, I was in a rush.

To robnye I agree that was down in some respects why Poll tax was better than council tax however both are unfair, its people who pay taxes not houses.

To original poster, I know where you are coming from with regards to schools asking more money.

We get it too, more recently it was because my daughter wants to play a musical instrument, but as we are also on a low income we are being asked to pay. Surely things like learning to play a musical instrument is part of school curriculum, just like sports should be.

I don't mind pay a contribution even when we have had to due to certain benefits we have paid. But one can only afford so much money.

My youngest daughter started secondary school last year her bigger sister went a trip to France and we saved on for months to pay for it. I don't begrudge that as I never got the chance nor every been abroad. This year its been scrapped and my youngest doesn't get the chance. If you have more than one kid it isn't nice for one to do without, but we cant afford to go abroad, but I make sure we go somewhere to make up.

Backbiter

I do understand the complaints of parents about the frequent demands for money for everything from charity fundraisers like Red Nose day to basic equipment that used to be provided free to school trips.
i'd still like to point out that schools are unbelievably strapped for cash. Whatever they can provide without charging they do. I work in a school that's nearly 50 years old (it was built to last 20). In 48 years the classroom in which I am based has been redecorated ONCE, and the (knackered) blinds have NEVER been cleaned in about 15 years. Our kids deserve so much better, but to bring our school buildings up to scratch would cost literally billions, which would mean big rises in tax, especially council tax. Which means they will continue to get worse, because no government or council will spend those billions. A common scheme these days is PFI (private finance initiative) under which private companies rebuild schools and lease them back to councils over a 30 year period. This means in practice that council tax payers pay for the buildings a few times over.

culpepper

I remember book day which involved my daughter and the rest of her class aged about 5 being taken by the teacher into the hall at hometime and let to 'choose' books which mummy would pay for when she arrived.
I was furious as we had very little money and my daughter wanted a book of notelets costing £5 ,I told her no we couldnt afford them but we'd look in the poundshop on saturday which we did and found some she liked equally as much.
I do think sometimes that teachers think they are on very poor money and everybody else is richer than they are and can easily afford to fork out.

shrek101

What a helpful and well thought out comment.

Perhaps you aint short of money and have to make savings. The fact is this is a very valid argument.

If you havent got anything constructive to say, then please be quiet.

shiller_supreme wrote:

OOOOhhhhh my good what a load of scrooges,complaining about a few quid towards things for your own kids!!!!! If you dont want to spend out then dont have kids in the first place....I cant understand people who dont want to give money for their kids to get things at school.Maybe you want them to get picked on a called a !!!!!! so you can save a few quid.Probably for booze for yourself.And if you think it,s expensive while their at school wait till they leave.Trust me they will want more than a couple of quid once they leave.Clothes,money to go out,cars,,,,Stop winging pay up and get used to it because its only gonna get worse,,,,P.S. Getting a job might help you afford it!!!!!!! Penny Pincher Mc Scrooge.........................

lady_noluck

***quote removed - MSE Controller2***

When I was a kid I wanted to go to dancing, brownies or school trips just like all my friends. But my mum refused to pay saying it was a waste of money. We were never given the opportunity to do ANY activities and I still resent her now. Now if my daughter wants anything and I can't afford it, I just have to find the money because I don't want her to go through the sheer disappointment I went through. If it means going without for a month just so she can go to gymnastics I will.

HOWEVER, schools seem to think parents are an untapped source and are forever asking for money for this or that. When are they going to realise parents have other important destinations for their money as well as school.

tiff

lady_noluck wrote:

When I was a kid I wanted to go to dancing, brownies or school trips just like all my friends. But my mum refused to pay saying it was a waste of money. We were never given the opportunity to do ANY activities and I still resent her now. Now if my daughter wants anything and I can't afford it, I just have to find the money because I don't want her to go through the sheer disappointment I went through. If it means going without for a month just so she can go to gymnastics I will.

HOWEVER, schools seem to think parents are an untapped source and are forever asking for money for this or that. When are they going to realise parents have other important destinations for their money as well as school.

I dont know how old your mother is, by my MIL was exactly the same. She is 60 now and my husband is 40. He was never allowed to go to cubs, scouts, any kind of activity, she said he should make his own fun. Even now she thinks buying toys for my kids (on birthdays and Christmas) is a waste of money.

To Shiller supreme, you obviously dont have kids or else you have money to burn!

Poppy9

Reading the original post I am horrified. We have occassional non uniform days but no one policies if the kids bring a £ or a bottle.

At our primary school we have two main fund raising events. One in the summer and one at Xmas. A small group of parents ( 7 of us as we can't get anyone else to give up their time) organise the events. Both these events raise about £5k including raffle ticket sales. We have a non uniform day before both events where we ask kids to bring a bottle. A bottle could be wine, shampoo, ketchup whatever. This stall is the most popular with parents who happily stand in a queue for 15 mins for a turn. What does grip me is that the events are poorly supported by most parents who cannot be bothered to give up an hour of their time to bring their kids back to school. When you ask them to help organise they make excuses about cleaning their houses working part time etc. All 7 of us work too and have houses to clean but make time.

I suggest if you are unhappy with the fund raising by the PTA you join it. If no PTA and head organising speak to her/him about it.

Regarding swimming lessons - and saying they are part of Nat Cir. then they cannot charge you for it. I do not pay any extra for the 1 term swimming they get in school, nor do I have to pay for music tuition. However all children who have chosen to have the free music tuition have to join the school orchestra. This means they have to turn out to various events outside school hours. You wouldn't believer the number of parents who complain about this even though you are only talking about the kids giving up 1 lunch hour per week (which a teacher also gives up) and about 3 saturday mornings a year.

IvanOpinion

Oh I love these threads ... childless family here (not by choice).

Can I say that I start getting annoyed at the number of neghbourhood kiddies coming round to our house looking for money for sponsored walks and other school related activities ... we have had about 10 since the beginning of the year ... and the little blighters always come to the door just as 'Stargate' is starting ... they do it deliberately.

I have never understood why schools send children round collecting for children in need, red nose day etc. etc. Jeez the school is full of children why do they not just collect for their own school were the money can be put directly to use instead of going to some charity central office were a percentage can be wasted on administration. Personally I will never give to 'Children-in-need' because of some things that it has done.

There are more and more demands on the school budget and one of the side-effects is that parents are going to have to pay additional for certain activities. I am not criticising here because I can see both sides of the argument but as an example ... In some instances a parent wants their handi-capped child to be taught in mainstream education which may require a specially trained classroom assistant to be present at all times - this costs a lot of money. I was recently hearing an article in one of DWs gossip mags were a mother gave up her job and took her handi-capped child to school everyday and attended to her throughout the day so that her daughter could become a lawyer (I think the mother also ended up getting a qualification as a para-legal) ... this took a lot of dedication and did not cost the education system money. There are swings and round-abouts here ... the more people demand the more it costs.

The other thing, and I have posted this before, is that it is disgusting that many parents will not get involved when requested by the PTA. I have been down helping at the local school because my brother has phoned me to help assemble staging when not one parent has turned up to help. It appears that all the parents were too busy watching TV or out drinking to provide any help to a fund raiser for books for their children ... this gets me mad :mad:

So SUPPORT YOUR PTA not only with money but also with time if needed. It is for the benefit of YOUR children .. I think some people can forget this at times.

Ivan

DSmiffy

I have been acting as the treasurer on our "Friends of...." school committee for the last year. I know how annoying it is to be asked to pay for this trip, a £1 here and a £1 there, buying cakes, xmas fair tombola etc...... I am a parent of two children. However, it's really difficult being on the committee and trying to arrange fund raising activities for the school so that people will attend and spend their money. All the money goes towards things for the school, play equipment, books, coachs for trips etc., and if we didn't have fund raisers, we would have to ask for school funds to be paid in every term for each child, otherwise the school would not have the money to pay for them.
Our problem, is finding something which is a good fund raiser which we could have only a couple of times a year, instead, because they are not very well supported by the parents, we have to subsidise them with extra events to bring in the much needed revenue.
If it's for the good of our children, I'm happy to pay it, it is only them who will suffer in the end. I work full time and beleive me I don't want to be spending the rest of my spare time down at the school 'fundraising'.
What gets me is all the parents who complain about paying for all these events and charity days, but are the first to complain when their child is missing out on much needed resources in school. If you want to be heard, and think you've got a good idea or even just want to suggest less fundraisers, GET ON THE COMMITTEE, go to the meeting or speak to the members and do something about it.!!! Your school needs you.

Busybee_2

Exactly what part of my original post gave people the idea I never helped out at the school PTA fundraising events? Both my husband and I have on many many occasions given up 3-4 hours of our time to help the school at fetes, book fairs, to help paint walls, help weed the school gardens, help clear out storage rooms etc etc. Giving time was not my point. DEMANDING money for charities was more my point. I mainly mentioned the fundraising aspect to demonstrate my point better.

Shiller Supreme: I think it only fair to point out to you neither my husband or I have ever drunk nor ever smoked. Hopefully we have raised our daughter with enough respect for both us and herself that, when she leaves school, she will get her own job and save to buy her own clothes, car etc rather sit and wait for us to fork out every time. Until such time she leaves school then her father and I are happy to provide whatever she needs. She certainly does not go without. She attends an after school activity, such as Brownies and swimming, almost every week-day evening. She also is happy to join in and represent the school in such things as swimming gala's or choir when asked.

Finally, Shiller Supreme, I would like to say that I would be more than happy to go out and get a job if I was not in such bad health that it is impossible for me to work. I feel you have no right to personally judge me when you do not know anything about me or my circumstances.