Voluntary contribution towards school trips

emweaver

becominganobsessivesaver wrote: »

It's not that this point has been ignored, it is more that this is not the first time this has happened, which maybe explains the school's attitude. Had your husband explained this and offered to pay as soon as the wages went in then the school may have been a little more understanding.

Also if you husband was deemed not fit to travel by a doctor you may have found that travel insurance would have covered you. To be perfectly honest I had been ill just before I went to DLP and felt exhausted by the end of it. If I had been sick during the 'holiday' (still not convinced dlp is a holiday, more of an ordeal that's nice to reflect on afterwards!) I dread to think how I would have felt on my return.

He was fit to travel I have never once said he wasn't and it is not the sort of illness that would leave him exhausted he is off work with a torn muscle and he works doing heavy lifting and his work had no lighter duties for him. Happy now, no probably not.

I have already said he explained it to the teacher but she was not interested! I am not replying to this thread any more as clearly I am irresponsible and you lot wont be happy until you have totally tore me apart. All of you with your I'm better than you attitude when you have not a clue about my personal circumstances you just make assumptions on the very few parts of it that I have posted on this forum!

Maybe DH should give up work, JSA or IS for a couple is at least £30 a week more than his SSP, we''ll get free rent and council tax too then

Molly41

I think the school are taking an intransigent stance because they "see" that you have recently returned from DLP and it is not the first time either. In their eyes that must have cost money and therefore cannot imagine that you are truly in need of financial assistance.

I had four at school together so you can imagine how difficult it was as regards voluntary

Have you checked your entitlement to Housing Benefit or any other benefits ?

meer53

You can't really expect people to be sympathetic to what you're saying when you claim not to be able to afford money for a school trip when you have just taken your family, in term time, to DLP. I can 100% see where the school is coming from, especially as you have made a complaint about this previously, so were aware that this would crop up again.

I know you've explained that you didn't pay for the trip, only spending money, but could you not have used some of that spending money for the trip ? How much was it ?

You will have to get used to this, as your kids get older, it will happen much more frequently and the trips may be more expensive, if you don't budget for this, your children will be the ones to suffer.

We don't know your personal circumstances, but, the responses you have received, all pretty similar, are based on what you have told us. I feel that the school have come to the same conclusion, that it would have been possible for you to pay for the trip. If you can afford spending money for DLP, you can afford a school trip.

FBaby

emweaver wrote: »

Wow you really do need a reality check now I have checked through your posts as you do me! If you claim to struggle with 2 kids and a joint take home pay of £5000 a month + maintenance how do you expect me to survive on 1/5 of your take home pay and provide for an extra child!

For one I never checked your previous posts just read the comments on this thread. For two of course I don't struggle any longer but I certainly did as a single mum getting no maintenance. In the end I guess we must have different values and priorities. I personally would feel shame taking my children out of school on holiday but then not being able to afford a school trip not once but twice but that's me.

Mojisola

meer53 wrote: »

You can't really expect people to be sympathetic to what you're saying when you claim not to be able to afford money for a school trip when you have just taken your family, in term time, to DLP.

rachbc wrote: »

Its not a case of the school have a view on this - by law they are NOT allowed to demand for payment for a child to go on an educational visit - they can only ask for a contribution and they must not treat any child whose family cannot or chooses not to contribute differently from other children.

If the trip is for non educational activities then is different -ie holidays etc. Complain to the Chair of Govenors - about the schools treatment of your child and the last of communication from the head.

It doesn't matter whether the staff feel sympathetic or not - if the trip was an educational visit (and because the request was for a voluntary contribution I assume it was), they should not stop any child from going.

We used to have a few parents with plenty of spare cash who never paid up for educational trips. Their children had to be taken on the trips but they were never made to feel upset or embarrassed by their parents' decision.

fedupnow

I think the lesson here is we should all keep a little 'emergency cash' in case of such things as bank glitches.

Things do creep up unannounced all the time especially when we have just come back from hols - the car always breaks down then, doesn't it?

I think it was incredibly mean and unprofessional of the teacher to say why she couldn't go in front of the daughter. But it is possible another parent had already 'spilled the beans' as it were. The teacher might have been a little harassed having just had a confrontation with another parent about 'Why should I pay when ..' Of course said parent isn't aware of OP's position and Oh dear. Messy. (Though not sure how anybody should know who pays and who doesn't)

Maybe they have a three strike rule. You had notice a voluntary donation was requested the previous time you couldn't pay I'm assuming. Maybe the teacher who told the parent the child couldn't go didn't make the decision and lacked discretion to give time to pay which explains the lack of interest with Natwest. I bet it was a horrible message to carry. When we are the bearer of news which might !!!! somebody off we are often defensive and stand firmer because of it.

Anyway, like I say, always have a pot with a token bit of cash for such emergencies. It might not have been a school trip, it could have been another child's birthday party where a card and gift were needed. Anything.

I also think people are being a little unfair about the OPs requests for cheap babygros etc. This place is frequented by so many of the same names. Threads like the baby one is very social and chatty chatty. It might not have even been a 'serious' request, at least not right now, but a little bit of friendly chat and gossip with the other expectant mums. Nothing wrong with that.

FatVonD

Even if the OP has failed to get her priorities right why should her daughter be punished for her failings? Would it be right for the children of alcoholic/drug addicted/scumbag parents (not you OP!) to never go on a school trip because of the sins of their parents?

OP, regarding baby clothes, babies don't care what they're dressed in so ask for those boy's clothes. My son was dressed almost entirely from car boot sales and charity shops with my friends daughter's's hand me down pink baby grows at night (and sometimes during the day if he'd been particularly leaky.)

Can somebody tell me what DLP is, please?

meer53

FatVonD wrote: »

Even if the OP has failed to get her priorities right why should her daughter be punished for her failings? Would it be right for the children of alcoholic/drug addicted/scumbag parents (not you OP!) to never go on a school trip because of the sins of their parents?

OP, regarding baby clothes, babies don't care what they're dressed in so ask for those boy's clothes. My son was dressed almost entirely from car boot sales and charity shops with my friends daughter's's hand me down pink baby grows at night (and sometimes during the day if he'd been particularly leaky.)

Can somebody tell me what DLP is, please?

Disneyland Paris.

Desperado99

Wow, this has turned into a bit of a heated thread!

OP, I hope things improve for you financially soon.

As others have suggested freegle/freecycle is a good place to look for baby stuff and if you're on facebook, there maybe a local sale group where you can pick up stuff (sometimes really really cheap as a lot of people just want rid of things).

My DD's school have never pushed for 'voluntary contributions' and I do know that some parents have managed to get their kids all the way through school without paying for a single trip, so I understand the position that the school is in (also I'm on the PTA and we only contribute £1 per child per year for school trips). But I do think your school could have been more discreet about how they went about asking.

jellyhead

emweaver wrote: »

had we been paid as normal (wages was due Friday) it would not be an issue to pay for the trip I keep stating this over but this point is always ignored.

So you could pay next week then, when the bank situation is sorted?