Mr and Mrs K's New Journey to a Debt Free Life.

AlexLK

mum2one wrote: »

Bless her, how would she cope if the policy comes in that all children in primary school have free school dinners.

To be honest 19% is a low figure - one school I knew was 50% free meals xx

Emigrate to the IoM?

I don't think she was any the wiser to be honest, she just cottoned onto the "high proportion of scum" (her words not mine) before being baffled about the levels of attainment measures (so am I). Mind, we all cringe when she mentions she's been on "the computer".

The musical senior school was 5% but there are nigh on 1500 children attend. The primary has less children than I thought (in the 30s).

Any idea who actually gets these free school meals, Mrs. PTA?

mum2one

the free school meals - parents on Employment support allowance, Child Tax credits, Income Support.

At least your mother goes on a computer, mine can't even turn one on, as far my dad, he's only just learnt how to read text messages xx

AlexLK

mum2one wrote: »

the free school meals - parents on Employment support allowance, Child Tax credits, Income Support.

At least your mother goes on a computer, mine can't even turn one on, as far my dad, he's only just learnt how to read text messages xx

Doesn't necessarily mean families that live entirely from the government's purse as a lifestyle choice, then.

I do know for a fact there are a lot of people on very low incomes close by. Not horrible people, just quite poor. There's also plenty with 2 / 3 generations living on one smallholding.

EchoDelta

FSM = scum?! Nice, really bloody nice. :mad:

Yes isn't it devastating that a few pounds of "her" tax go towards giving children a meal, perhaps their only decent meal of the day. :mad:

Poor kids being judged on the basis of their household income.

EchoDelta

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/education-24142901

Guess she had better start packing

daisystar

AlexLK wrote: »

Mrs. K. and I are not exactly on the best of terms this evening.


Sorry to hear this. I can understand how finding out about the cards you weren't aware of will have unsettled things.

:rotfl: So you reckon you could deal with a 70-odd year old, 5'nothing, considerably richer than yaaaw battle axe then? I love my mother really, honest.

Yup - I'd love for her to meet me - a real life free school meal eating girl from a 'scum' background I wonder if I'd be everything she expects??!! I'm thinking possibly not................

AlexLK wrote: »

Any idea who actually gets these free school meals, Mrs. PTA?

ME!!! I did!! And your mother would be reassured to know I have since worked and paid quite enough myself in taxes to cover all those meals Crikey, she sounds like such a delight!!

LannieDuck

EchoDelta wrote: »

FSM = scum?! Nice, really bloody nice. :mad:

Yes isn't it devastating that a few pounds of "her" tax go towards giving children a meal, perhaps their only decent meal of the day. :mad:

Poor kids being judged on the basis of their household income.

I was going to say the same. To me, scum = child molesters and people who talk in the theatre (with apologies to Whedon :P). Children who's only crime is to have relatively poor parents don't deserve any sort of pejorative label. Those are circumstances totally outwith their control.

How can she label children as 'scum'? That's... well, I won't tell you my opinion on what sort of person that makes her, because she's your mother and I don't want to upset you. I'll just say that I think it's a rather nasty opinion to hold and leave it at that.

AlexLK

I'm not so sure it's the children as the parents of said children. Anyhow, I'm going to have a word with her today. Looking back she didn't quite seem herself yesterday, kept me hanging on the 'phone, ranting on and on and on. My wife thinks she's struggling to cope with looking after my father (her mother is a nurse and said people behave in funny ways).

On the plus side, the statements for the cards are almost clear.

EchoDelta

Well I don't think it's very much better to label parents with low incomes "scum" either. She sounds entirely lacking in imagination, humanity and empathy. Lots of very decent people indeed have low paid jobs, bereavements, illness, redundancy, all manner of things that screw up the finances. And even if they really are the "lifestyle benefit claimants" of Daily Mail fame then a few pence on a meal for their kids so they can concentrate and not be disrupt class is money well spent. Honestly I'm disgusted with her attitude.

Glad about the cards though.

Granariesgirl

AlexLK wrote: »

:rotfl: She was talking about the percentage who had free school meals, which started a whole other rant about where her tax is going.

Here is some information that might surprise your Mum:

As has been previously stated, FSM provision is not just for life's scroungers: there are many 2 parent working families or single mums / dads in low-paid jobs - people who do the jobs that keep this country running like delivery drivers, cashiers, binmen, farm workers etc.; people who have lost their jobs through companies relocating to other countries to avoid UK tax; disabled parents; some Service / ex-Service families (is a squaddy who got their limbs blown off in Afghanistan & can no longer work "scum" to your Mum?)... these are the overwhelming majority.

Quite a few families would probably be better off living on benefits & doing bog-all during the day but the parents have a work ethic & personal pride & get up at ungodly hours to go & work for a pittance (& I quote this from one such parent) "to be able to look at myself in the mirror without shame & to set a good example to my kids".

Kids on FSM also give the school access to Pupil Premiums to help the school close the money gap & help them realise their full potential.

A primary school gets roughly £1,000 extra finance per annum for each FSM or Ever 6 FSM (registered even once in the last 6 years for FSM) pupil - not to be sniffed at in these days of cutbacks & a huge boost to a small village school.

In our local schools this has helped poorer kids take music lessons, go to After School clubs (while parents work at their low paid jobs) & pays for their places on whole class educational trips. For kids whose parents can't give them the support that more highly educated parents do at home, this gives them 1 to 1 support so they don't fall behind in lessons & so that the class teacher can push ahead with more challenging lessons for all the class (thus benefiting everyone). Just a few examples of how the PP money is spent...

Of course there are a few of the stereotypical "benefits scroungers" or "serial sprog-droppers" (otherwise who would go on Jeremy Kyle? ) but I guess that they cost your Mum a lot less than the tax cheating companies like the Big 6 energy giants; Amazon & co.; the property "flipping", expenses fiddling politicians; the non-dom life peers (yes, they vote on OUR taxes but "avoid" paying themselves); & the overpaid executives who screw up monumentally but STILL get their big fat pensions & bonuses... how about she starts attacking them instead? These are the REAL scum in my opinion! :mad:
She'd get my FULL support for going at these rich tax [STRIKE]cheats[/STRIKE] avoiders, I'll even sharpen up my battle-axe & line up to help! :cool: