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

peaceandfreedom

dizziblonde wrote: »

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....

I'm not a teacher but I know what school life is like from the inside and I agree with every word of this post. :T

meritaten

I think we are losing sight of the original purpose of the thread - ie the little 'extras' which mount up over the course of a term! yes we know uniform is expensive - we also know that 'school trips' abroad are expensive - and have been for decades!
I also dont think that non-uniform day and teddy bears picnics enhance learning one iota! and thats a day lost from learning!

Would it shock you all to learn that my GD has just ONE hour reading practice in school a week? and she has learning difficulties and they wonder why she is two years behind her reading age????????? in my day we spent at least one hour per day! so I think her parents would be happier if the class didnt Faff about having 'This day' and 'That day' and the class actually got taught!
(her parents try to help her with her reading but GD gets upset if they deviate from 'Miss's way).
I would think that teachers would be happy to not have to do the extra work required in organising 'This and That days' - but apparently raising funds for the school and charity take precedence and of course this is how they are trained!

picnmix

I have to say that in my DD's school if they have a mufty day, the lessons etc still go ahead as normal. They don't get out of learning just because they have different clothes on.

I think that the themed days do make a difference, we have had a Viking day recently and it was suggested that if children would like to wear viking attire, they could, it wasn't compulsory and not all took part. However the day they had, even though they were not sat at desks all day reading and completing their normal lessons, sounded wonderful and I am in no doubt enriched my DD's learning experience, they had a "Viking" visit them in the afternoon, held a mock battle, baked bread outdoors etc. We were not asked to donate a penny for all of this, I presume it came from the hard work done throughout the year by the PTA and the generosity of parents supporting the PTA.

I think this kind of learning has great benefits, and although the teachers may have had a nightmare of a day teaching so many 7/8/9 year olds bearing homemade swords and axes, everyone seemed to survive intact.

Could this time have been better spent sat behind a desk reading, IMO probably not. I read with my children every day, I can help them with their handwriting etc. Can I arrange a Viking battle and visit in my back yard - no. School is about education, and the more interesting and engaging the better IMO, get them young, interest them and inspire them. That is what the majority of teachers strive to do, could I do the job - not on your nelly. I can teach, and sometimes have to as part of my job, but to a lecture hall of adults, not a class of eager and not so eager excitable little people.

Let the teachers do their jobs and support your schools as best you can, be it with a donation of time, money, goods or if you so choose with nothing. I am sure they do not have a blackboard in the staffroom with the kids names on who don't donate.

Kaz2904

dizziblond, if I could thank you twice, I would!
Interestingly enough, I am going on cub camp (overnight) next weekend. I haven't been asked to pay a penny for myself. I have paid for DS (£10) and wouldn't have minded contributing towards my own food costs but haven't been asked. We have had a letter home saying that it's a rule of the scout group to take cake on ANY overnight stay (which I think is great ).

My DD's school has a bake sale tomorrow. We all make cakes or buy them to take in. We then go and buy them all back again. We also sit in the hall drinking tea which we buy there. You know what? I generally chuck at least £5 on top of what I have spent making cakes. I don't mind this in the slightest. They sell the cakes so cheaply that they raise loads.
My DS's school (first school, mid change to full primary) held a cake sale for comic relief. I baked a large cake and a tin full of cup cakes. I did this because I knew that I would buy another tin full of yummy cakes to serve for DD's birthday party the following day. I was staggered when they were charging 50p per cake and only allowing people to buy 1 cake each. Surprisingly enough, they ended up giving me the whole tin of cakes back (I needed the tin and was the last parent in the play ground). They had trays and trays full of cake and there were a lot of very unhappy parents and children leaving the playground that afternoon.
DS's school has just been showing at the theatre for a dance festival of all the schools in our county. It was painful to see the lack of funding put into there school and it was quite obvious. Yet they are at the most well off school in the area. Unfortunately, us parents can't give any more and we have already had to pay out hundreds of pounds over the last 3 years to pay for the new school building. The council paid half and the school had to raise the rest. Great when it was a school with 115 pupils and they needed to raise £100K (for phase 1).

embob74

I find the costs associated with school extortionate sometimes.
I agree holidays are not compulsory but if your child is studying French and all the other children studying French are going to France you feel obligated to send your child in order that they do not miss out. I am happy to pay for my share of the teachers costs if it wasn't so high. PGL do kids holidays for less than £400 and they supervise your children 24 hours a day too!
I choose to pay for school lunches and I have previously had to pay for breakfast club when I worked and I put this cost down to the price I had to pay for working for a living.
However I feel all children should be entitled to learn music if that is their passion. And sports clubs should be free. How else will this country have talented musicians and sports people in the future?
I am constantly astounded at what I am expected to pay for. An art book - only £2 but surely if a child is studying art the school should provide an art book?! We were told to pay £10 if we wished to keep any of the items DD makes in design and technology. I refused and now the school will have to pay out more than that in disposal costs.
And printer credit. DD has run out of her allotted prints and I refuse to pay £5 for any more. If the teachers choose to give homework which involves printing things off the internet then they can pay the costs of that. It also bugs me they expect all families to have access to the internet at home.
On attending a parents evening prior to GCSE exams one teacher was offering help sheets she had printed off at school. At a cost of £2. I paid the money in order to help my daughter but was annoyed the teacher had these help sheets but wouldn't have given them to anybody who didn't pay.
I do feel it results in a two tier education system. If you don't pay your child doesn't get the same help as the child whose parents do pay.
Perhaps if I didn't have to pay £300 a year for school uniform I would have spare money to contribute more to the school!

WhiteHorse

embob74 wrote: »

On attending a parents evening prior to GCSE exams one teacher was offering help sheets she had printed off at school. At a cost of £2.

You should have asked for a receipt ...

tom9980

meritaten wrote: »

Would it shock you all to learn that my GD has just ONE hour reading practice in school a week? and she has learning difficulties and they wonder why she is two years behind her reading age????????? in my day we spent at least one hour per day! so I think her parents would be happier if the class didnt Faff about having 'This day' and 'That day' and the class actually got taught!
(her parents try to help her with her reading but GD gets upset if they deviate from 'Miss's way).
I would think that teachers would be happy to not have to do the extra work required in organising 'This and That days' - but apparently raising funds for the school and charity take precedence and of course this is how they are trained!

1 hour x average class size of 26 is 26 hours in a week a teacher and a TA do not have especially if they have multiple children with special needs. Most TA's are paid 9 to 3 thats 6 hours a day 30 in a week so right there on reading alone you have tied up most of their time during the week! Its very unfortunate that there are not more resources available and that schools have to rely heavily on untrained students and parent helpers but that's the way it is. In reality if some of you saw all the difficulties teachers have to deal with on a day to day basis you would be shocked.

It all comes down to lack of resources and if the school budget cant pay for it they have to find a way to raise the money. Rather than blame the teachers and the school who are really trying their best help them find a solution.

I suggest meritaten you find out how your GD is being taught to read from the teacher so that her parents can use the same techniques. Learning to read is a difficult process for children and it requires a lot of time its crucial that parents help.

peaceandfreedom

embob74 wrote: »

And printer credit. DD has run out of her allotted prints and I refuse to pay £5 for any more. If the teachers choose to give homework which involves printing things off the internet then they can pay the costs of that. It also bugs me they expect all families to have access to the internet at home.

On attending a parents evening prior to GCSE exams one teacher was offering help sheets she had printed off at school. At a cost of £2. I paid the money in order to help my daughter but was annoyed the teacher had these help sheets but wouldn't have given them to anybody who didn't pay.
I do feel it results in a two tier education system. If you don't pay your child doesn't get the same help as the child whose parents do pay.

Your school does seem over-zealous in its efforts to keep its own costs down. I agree that charging £2 for help sheets is not acceptable - that kind of resource should be available for all without cost.

I think that schools expect that most families have access to the internet at home in some shape or form. If not, there are usually free facilities at school available outside regular class-times, often with free printing also (as long as it's school-related printing).

At my kids' (secondary) school, there are some resources that are chargeable - such as books of exam past papers - but the cost is very low (maybe £2.50 for a huge wodge of papers) and indeed much cheaper and more convenient than printing out at home. There are also loads of resources freely available online on their learning platform, including links to Youtube videos which go through exam answers etc.

Some subjects are also naturally going to cost more simply because they involve physical materials - things like photography, DT, textiles, DT food, art etc. I accept that the school can't possibly fund the extras for these subjects, even if I do mutter and moan when my children extract yet more cash from me.

jellyhead

Spendless wrote: »

:eek: Never heard of such a thing. I suppose I don't know kids of the right age. :cool: Dare I ask how much?

Ours are free. Teachers put on revision sessions throughout most of year 11 in lunchtimes and an hour after-school.

One teacher is even coming in unpaid for a day so her class can do their GCSE coursework before the deadline. I want to send her some chocs, but will have to wait until the end of year so that it doesn't embarrass my son :rotfl:

Elsewhere

Egg decorating - simply using a pencil to draw on eggshell works very well, doesn't soak through the shell, and won't poison anyone if they eat the egg! I used to draw silly faces on my kids' breakfast eggs to encourage them to eat them - just one problem though, avoiding getting fingers burnt on hot eggs!