School Non Uniform Days - Whatever next?

gaming_guy

its usually £1 or so to go into school in non uniform, asking for an old mobile is stupid and greedy. all they would get from me is a really old brick, not even a nokia 3310!

andyrules

I organised a 'non-uniform' day back in November for anti-bullying. I deliberately didn't ask for donations, but emphasised that it was to make us all think and talk about bullying. About half the school had brought in money, some said they couldn't remember how much to bring! (not surprisingly) I thought it spoke volumes about how conditioned we parents (and the kids!) are to sending in money!

The way this mobile thing has been organised would certainly put my back up as a parent. :mad: A better way would have been - an old mobile if you have one or 50p.

btw, I know which of my kids would find donations a struggle, and wouldn't dream of asking them for anything, nor would I expect them to dress differently to their peers.

andyrules

all they would get from me is a really old brick, not even a nokia 3310!

Hey, I've got one of those :cool: Height of fashion, aren't they?

THE_LONE_RANGER_4

A letter to the head with your concerns if you dont say any thing to the school they do not no you are bothered by this .Iwould also say that you are feeling forced in to giving donations etc and state if you do not give then your child has to come in uniform and as such has been excluded from the day and made to look different .
as with donations for trips etc you do not have to give the full amount or you can give what you can afford you must tell your school your child must not be excluded due to you not giving, they are not allowed to do this .
since school fund was abolished this is where the donation system came in remember you are asked for a donation and as such do not have to give when im asked i decide shall i or not some i do some i do not ive crossed sword with the head over it its all down to a battle of wills be assertive make you point and your school will listen .

hollydays

Whoever has come up with this idea is slightly loopy.

Alleycat

Its crazy I know. My dd is only just turned 2yrs and has been at nursery since 6 months and there have been countless donation days. Jeans for genes, children in need and others I can't remember the names of. I seem to spend a fortune. I don't mind the fancy dress and quite enjoy it. My dd is one of only a couple of the kids who participate in this side of it all unfortunately. The last one was for Children in Need I think and it was a pound for a scratch card thingy, another pound for some biscuits, another pound to have one of the staff gunged. You aren't forced to donate, but do feel obliged when the staff have gone to the effort of organising things.

Have to say though, that the donate a mobile thing is way off. How many kids do they think are going to have a spare old mobile hanging around?

Contains_Mild_Peril

I have to admit when I read the first post in this thread, I initially assumed it was a spoof until I noticed that its author is a regular and mostly serious forum member. !!!!!! are the school thinking about? Surely pupils with old unwanted mobiles lying around are going to be in a small minority, which means the majority are faced with a choice of coming in wearing non-uniform clothes without paying (in which case the school miss out on the usual £1 per pupil donation, which rather defeats the purpose of fundraising); coming in wearing uniform and suffering ridicule; not turning up at all; or acquiring an old mobile from somewhere, possibly involving considerable expense and inconvenience (completely going against the idea of making money from "junk" when some will pay more for the required old mobile phone than the school will make from it), or in the worst case scenario, even theft.
Mpython, could you tell us the exact wording of this unusual and frankly bonkers request? My first instinct would be to go straight to the local papers, but I suppose it would be fairer to take it up with the school and give them a chance to see reason first. If they don't, I would go to the papers and allow my child to go to school out of uniform (encouraging him to dress particularly flamboyantly), with a cheque for £1 (the going rate for non-uniform days) made out directly to the relevant charity should anyone at the school wish to accept it on their behalf. I would also ask the charity if they were aware of the nature of the fundraising efforts being made on their behalf: if I were in a senior position with a charity I would be furious to learn that such shenanigans were going on in my organisation's name.

mpython

Thanks to everyone for their kind words & advice. The school has backed down - no doubt I wasn't the only parent that this wound up. It seems that the teacher who authored the piece hadn't got it checked with anyone and was a little too enthusiastic with his drafting! There will be an amendment newsletter coming out in the next couple of days clarifying the non uniform day including that its voluntary & cash would be just as welcome. Also colleagues at work have said they will let me have their old phones for my kids. Just as an aside, the charity I gave my last phone to said they got £2.50 for each phone, but apparantly they can be worth a lot more:-
http://www.envirofone.com/metro/ and more charities are asking for old mobiles

Contains Mild Peril - text below as requested.

Friday 9th February will be a non-uniform day with a difference! Most people these days have old mobile phones that are no longer needed or they have friends or relations who have old mobile phones. These old mobiles can be recycled, a very environmentally friendly thing to do and one, which can raise money for us!
Instead of your child bringing in £1 for the non uniform day they should bring in one old mobile phone for recycling, this should be given to their form tutor who will make a note of who has “paid”. As there is quite a long time to go before this event, I am hoping that this will not present a difficulty for anyone. If any pupil has more than one old mobile to recycle, that would be even better, there will be a substantial prize for the pupil who recycles the most phones. Phones can be brought in any time between now and no later than Thursday 8th February.

before_hollywood

i'm all in favour of non uniform days- but putting on a necessety for something like a mobile phone is a bit ott i think.
if there was a system where if you had one you could send it in out of kindness, that would be a better idea cos they are worth a bit recycled (i just keep them for trade-ins), i've recently given away a broken 3310 for a trade in (unfortunatly where i went they tested it switched on) and i am keeping hold of an lg b2050 (bit of a paper bag phone but reasonably modern) in case someone else wants a trade in or is willing to give a tenner for the charger and battery.
i've had about a dozen phones, which sounds really bad till you consider most went back as faulty, and i struggled to get one together for the trade in. i always keep an unlocked phone as a spare though, i own 3 phones of my own at the moment and i've semi permanantly got hold of an inhereted one from when my old one drowned

liz105

before_hollywood wrote:

i've semi permanantly got hold of an inhereted one from when my old one drowned

:rotfl:

See, this is what happens these days when people don't teach their phones to swim!

Re:discussion, I never had to pay up when I was at school (only 6 years ago or so) I resent forking out on work 'dress down' days let alone kids having to