Did you have to pay for revision guides?

Savvy_Sue

Spendless wrote: »

I thought I'd done with school expenses for this month!

:rotfl: Spendless, the one thing you should know by now, is that you have NEVER done with school expenses ...

There were always extra bits to buy, but a colleague told me today that the school is now charging £3 for the planners they all use. This is the planner they write all their homework in, and parents are supposed to sign it off weekly, and then tutors sign it weekly too. I got to the stage where if I asked to see the planner, and it wasn't brought to me, I wouldn't ask twice. Especially as all enquiries about what was written in it and whether the tasks had been completed or were being progressed with met with grunts or 'doesn't matter's.

So then I had the letter home saying how important it was for me to sign it every week. I started signing it every week, but did comment that if I had to do it, it would be good if the tutor also signed it - gap of several weeks when it didn't happen!

Sorry, rant over. Let's just say I'm glad their school days are over!!! Although I'll probably cry when DS3 graduates next summer ...

peachyprice

We were given the option to buy revision guides through the school, not loan them. I would find out first what guides they are.

Somewhere in the back of my mind there's a distant memory of some legal ruling that says schools can't charge pupils to rent/loan anything, it came to light at our school when they wanted to charge an annual rental fee for lockers, which they then had to abolish because it was illegal.

Spendless

peachyprice wrote: »

We were given the option to buy revision guides through the school, not loan them. I would find out first what guides they are.

Somewhere in the back of my mind there's a distant memory of some legal ruling that says schools can't charge pupils to rent/loan anything, it came to light at our school when they wanted to charge an annual rental fee for lockers, which they then had to abolish because it was illegal.

Ahhhhh it's worded 'a voluntary contribution to help the Science department with the cost'

faith2009uk

We sell revision guides for most subjects at our school, including Maths, Science (double and triple), History and Geography.

Science ones are £2.75 and the most expensive ones are £5.99 History ones.

I'm surprised they would charge to rent them when they are relatively cheap to purchase via the school discount. We have to sell them at cost (no profit) as for all equipment.

Also it's not compulsory which helps (although you find loads go especially towards the beginning of GCSE time!)

peachyprice

But I bet if you don't give the voluntary contribution you don't get the books :rotfl:

If you buy them from the science department you'll still be helping them with the costs. I doubt very much of the same revision guides will be used in three years time anyway, the curriculum is constantly changing.

Lunar_Eclipse

I think this is fairly typical practice, although it's more common to be offered them as supplementary guides to buy, at a discount from RRP. Even our primary school did this in the run up to Y6 SATS. (We declined.)

Personally, I'd buy them. Amazon usually has a good supply of used guides in good condition. The GCP ones are excellent if it's those. DD2 came home with one yesterday ...

Spendless

I don't know which ones they are, so I can't look up the prices elsewhere.

peachyprice

Can't you hang on until some of the children have paid for them and ask your son to jot down which ones they are?

Although, if they're charging £2.75 they're likely to be the CGP guides.

Molly41

I always bought them second hand off Am@zon and sold them too.

busiscoming2

I've never had to 'borrow' them from school before. I've been able to buy them via the school or I ask on Freecycle etc and then recycle them again afterwards.