School seem to think we have a money tree at the bottom of the garden!

picnmix

suki1001 wrote: »

Well, I have to thank the op for starting this thread. My dd starts secondary school in september, we were told they had the opportunity to go abroad in yr 7, but I didn't think about it. Been into bank today, to set up account for school trips etc, because of this very thread and the thought of the costs.

I find with school uniform, if I buy from the supermarket, it shrinks and needs ironing. The school badge stuff has just lasted for years and years. infact I can't remember the last time I bought any polo shirts and jumpers, so I don't have to complain too much about it. 6 jumpers and 6 polo shirts between 2 isn't bad in the time they've lasted, I feel like I've paid for quality.

Our school does keep asking for money for fundraising, but out of it the whole school gets to go fully paid to a pantomime every year including coaches and the year six's get a free school year book. the fund raising went on things like a treehouse.

We must have been thinking along the same lines, I am seriously thinking about starting a school holiday fund now as well, and my first DD doesn't go to high school for another 4 years :eek:

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

blue_monkey wrote: »

if I paid for violin lessons privately I am looking at a minimum of £10 for half an hour, her lessons cost me £3 a week!! Plus they play in assembly every now and then.

You've fallen on your feet there, then - music lessons at DD's school are £157 for 12. So pretty much £26/hour. Plus the cost of the instrument, plus the cost of at least one other music club/equipment (compulsory for all kids taking music lessons), plus the cost of the additional performances/transport/costumes/refreshments for every single thing she is in. Which are always charged for (normally £5 - £10) - no free assemblies in secondary school.


Now, I fully acknowledge that it is my choice to do these things, and I wouldn't dream of not going to everything, but seeing as my music lessons don't cost that much more and I have a tutor who has had a rather successful career as a musician and then studied for his Masters, rather than coming straight from a music degree to teaching, I think I get rather more value for money than she does.

thegirlintheattic

In our school teachers are not paid for school trips if it's not a day they usually work. We're never short of volunteers though.

As for Sports Relief and stuff - if a child, secondary mind you, tells us they don't want to give fine - we don't pursue them. If they just keep saying I forgot etc. we keep reminding them. If you don't want to give then send a note in saying so and no teacher I know would treat your child differently because of it.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

dizziblonde wrote: »

Aaah the sniping and utter utter contempt of teachers (do you REALLY think we WANT to give up weekends and endless evenings to do residentials and the paperwork, parents meetings, reuniting everyone with the dirty washing they forgot to pack and the complaints about anything and everything whatever you do - in the interests of some kind of "free holiday" where the teachers "do what they want to do"... it's something teachers do for the kids, often to the detriment of their own family, and it's stressful and knackering - not some kind of jolly for them)... oh and the evil grabbing PTA - so we'll assume your kids want to spend breaktimes in an empty concrete playground - because it's only via PTA money (and the supermarket vouchers usually) that there are climbing trails and play equipment... and of course the teachers specifically choose to have school photos done (I flipping hated class photo day - hate having my picture taken) and force you to buy them - just to spite you.... and how dare they charge you for school meals - disgraceful (I've gone on school trips before where parents have refused to send packed lunches in, knowing full well the staff won't see the child starving and will have a whip round of bits from their own lunches to make sure they have something to eat)!

It's that level of utter resentment and hatred that makes me count my blessings I'm out of teaching now - because I'm sick to death of putting my health and my family behind the children of 30 parents - most of whom resent your very existence and will complain about whatever you do.

With the bickering and sniping and moaning and complaining - one day all the teachers are going to turn around, refuse to do things like subsidise endless school resources out of their own pockets (when the allocated 2 pencils per child for the entire year runs out mid-January - who do you think ends up buying them out of their own money?), refuse to take on the responsibility and paperwork of running trips (last one I took - the risk assessment form was running at 20 pages, not to mention parents' meetings about residentials), refuse to run clubs - because people just complain about the cost, or the fact there's an expectation kids get collected promptly, or the content of the club... and the kids will be the ones who lose out - but I wouldn't blame a teacher who decided to do that, when they're met with the crap going on on this thread.

Oh and teachers don't personally set the dinner costs, the lunch menu, the school uniform, those flipping death-by-powerpoint inset days, the incessant non-uniform days, we don't generally run the PTA (but give up our time to support the events), we're also not responsible for global warming, the local football team's league performance, or the price of fish....

Strange. Some of us willingly take children on residentials for cubs, Brownies and the like - and don't get paid for it, take time out of our statutory minimum holiday entitlement to do so and pay our own way.

It's also quite fun.

suki1001

picnmix wrote: »

We must have been thinking along the same lines, I am seriously thinking about starting a school holiday fund now as well, and my first DD doesn't go to high school for another 4 years :eek:

I know, it would probably save big headaches. I'm dreading it when both of mine are at secondary school.

Btw, I have the ultimate in parent spending for one of the days. I served a dad who bought his son a suit, belt and shoes, so he could look like Johnny English on world book day, not only that, but he decided the little brother might get jealous, so he bought him the same. Total cost for world book day £180 :eek::eek::eek:

I bet his wife never lets hims go clothes shopping again. Maybe that's why he did it.

peaceandfreedom

ilovecheese wrote: »

School trips are not compulsory!!! I never went on a school trip because my parents could not afford it - End of story.

So what is your suggestion, that all school trips are cancelled, or should everyone else pay for YOUR child to go???

Actually, that seems to be an increasing trend these days and it really gets my goat. It's those school trips where you have to 'raise £2000' to pay for the trip, which usually has some theoretical charitable slant to make it seem like they are not just raising money for a jolly (Operation Wallacea is one example). So they have fund-raisers and ask for sponsorship and wangle money out of everyone so that they can go on a 2-grand 2-week trip. Really hacks me off. No-one chips in to pay for my child's £700 trip to Paris.

I feel like staging a quiz night with a raffle and state that proceeds are going towards our camping holiday in the summer.

dizziblonde

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

Strange. Some of us willingly take children on residentials for cubs, Brownies and the like - and don't get paid for it, take time out of our statutory minimum holiday entitlement to do so and pay our own way.

It's also quite fun.

Difference being - it's very clear that cubs and what-not are voluntary so the parents are somewhat less utterly unreasonable in their bashing of you. People coming on here ranting and raving about their brownie pack leader or whatever tend to get pretty short shrift and reminded it's voluntary - yet fair game to sit and swear at the teacher who's just spent their entire weekend with class 5b, and accuse her of doing it for a "jolly"... yes teachers teach because they enjoy seeing the kids get so much out of it - but let's put it this way - you wouldn't willingly go and endure a soft play place in the middle of the summer holidays for your own personal fun - you go and do it because your kids love it and you get enjoyment out of that... same sort of deal with Generic Outdoor Residential Place really.

suki1001

peaceandfreedom wrote: »

Actually, that seems to be an increasing trend these days and it really gets my goat. It's those school trips where you have to 'raise £2000' to pay for the trip, which usually has some theoretical charitable slant to make it seem like they are not just raising money for a jolly (Operation Wallacea is one example). So they have fund-raisers and ask for sponsorship and wangle money out of everyone so that they can go on a 2-grand 2-week trip. Really hacks me off. No-one chips in to pay for my child's £700 trip to Paris.

I feel like staging a quiz night with a raffle and state that proceeds are going towards our camping holiday in the summer.

I agree with this. I remember my mum being hacked off because her sister asked her to sponsor her children so they could raise funds for the school trip with the exclusive private school they went to.

peaceandfreedom

Abbafan1972 wrote: »

Just a vent really!

I can't wait for the Easter holidays, the school want money for this and that, and it's getting right on my wick! Just for info I have 2 DD's aged 10 & 7.

I know it's tough when you are on a tight budget and I know exactly how you feel about constantly being asked for money by the school. But you are not being asked for much and the school is also on a very tight budget. They are trying to do the best they can within very tight budget constraints. If parents did not pay some of the costs, many extra activities just wouldn't happen.

Others have already pointed out that some of the things don't cost anything - decorating a boiled egg would cost precisely nothing in this house - there is a multitude of stuff that would do from both inside and outside the house. If stuck for ideas, I would google it and shamelessly copy someone else's idea.

Same goes for dressing-up - throughout many years of schooling my kids, I have never purchased anything for dressing up other than an occasional wig. We actually have a dressing-up box still, which is used frequently by adults and kids alike (our social group likes fancy-dress bashes).

I'm afraid it only gets worse. In secondary school, day trips are more expensive, residential trips are eye-wateringly expensive, uniforms are dearer, they need more equipment, you have to pay for exam resits if your child has not performed as they wanted to ... sorry to break it to you but you are actually still in the cheaper phase of education costs.

POPPYOSCAR

dizziblonde wrote: »

Difference being - it's very clear that cubs and what-not are voluntary so the parents are somewhat less utterly unreasonable in their bashing of you. People coming on here ranting and raving about their brownie pack leader or whatever tend to get pretty short shrift and reminded it's voluntary - yet fair game to sit and swear at the teacher who's just spent their entire weekend with class 5b, and accuse her of doing it for a "jolly"... yes teachers teach because they enjoy seeing the kids get so much out of it - but let's put it this way - you wouldn't willingly go and endure a soft play place in the middle of the summer holidays for your own personal fun - you go and do it because your kids love it and you get enjoyment out of that... same sort of deal with Generic Outdoor Residential Place really.

Then what is the problem?

People in all sorts of professions get moaned at. I am not saying it is right but that is life.

My OH used to be manager of a youth football team it took up a great deal of his time(and our families) He was always being moaned at by the parents for one thing or another, but he did it for the boys and he enjoyed doing it.