RANT - Charidee days in schools

barbiedoll

Oh this used to get on my wick when DS was at primary school.

For "Pirate Day" (l got a weeks notice), I sent him in an old stripy t-shirt of mine, he had a pirate hook, hat and eyepatch from a pirate comic bought weeks earlier (not planned, he just loved pirates at the time) and I cut down a pair of old trousers to give them a ragged hem. I think that half of the kids in his year all turned up in identical pirate outfits from Woolworths.

For "A character from a film", I cut up an old top to make a black cape, bought a wizard hat and broom from the £1 shop and drew a scar on his head. An old pair of DH's glasses minus the lenses and voila! Harry Potter!

I must admit...yellow day stumped me completely. The only yellow item of clothing in the house was my yellow bra. He eventually went to school wearing an orange "Diggerland" t-shirt!

My colleague asked me yesterday if I had any ideas how to dress her 6 year old who has to go to school in something from "World War 1". :eek:

Spendless

meritaten wrote: »

lol - what the heck is 'enrichment day'? doesn't sound much like a charity day. do enlighten us Spendless.

It's not,it's off the curriculum activities. Sometimes there's a charge depending on what they are doing. Usually they don't wear uniform to it. Yesterday's was based round WW1. I was more thinking of the lack of notice of clarification to what the kids were wearing rather than the charity aspect- sorry.

sulphate

tom9980 wrote: »

Why the personal attack? Relax.

If you don't want people's opinions don't start a thread, isn't the point to discuss the problem? Is it wrong for me to point out that at least a few sets of parents dont read the start of term newsletter with vital information, or the weekly one that always gives at least weeks notice as a reminder?

Maybe your daughter missed it and is blaming the school. Maybe the school are not organised? Maybe the teacher forgot because they were dealing with a traumatised DV victim whose child's behaviour has been worsened by witnessing it? There are lots of reasonable explanations.

It is so easy to judge others from afar yet have no desire to extend a hand and see if you can help improve things for the benefit of everyone.

It doesn't really matter what the explanation is, if the school genuinely only gave 2 days notice then it is unrealistic and unreasonable to expect parents to come up with an outfit in that length of time.

I agree that it is backwards that parents spend £5 or more on an outfit the child may only wear once, and £1 goes to the charity. If, say, they just had a non uniform day and £1.50 was the recommended donation, the parents wouldn't have to fork out so much, and the charity gets more. Everyone wins, surely.

valk_scot

When my kids were in primary school they had a huge dressing up box between them just for playing with, filled with charity shop finds, old clothes of mine and their dad's, some shop bought accessories like plastic swords etc and bits of old sheets, belts, junk jewellery and all the rest. It was worth it's weight in gold on a daily basis just for playing but it was also invaluable for school dressing up days, I very seldom had to do much more than have a rummage around in the box. Do kids not still do dressing up, or is it all bought themed costumes these days?


Come to think of it the box is still there now they're teenagers/students. I bought a 50p bow tie in a charity shop a few weeks ago for the box. The kids still love dressing up!

gayleygoo

My children's school does occasional things for charity, I wish they were doing something for Children in Need. But I suppose they had the poppy appeal last week, a shoebox item collection before that (you could spend as little as a pound for that really), and are doing Cash for Clobber in the next few weeks (take old stuff in that they get bought off them by clothing resale companies.)

When they do dressing up days we get loads of notice, and the note usually says not go to out and buy anything special. They had "wear something yellow" day, and "wear something with a number on it" day recently, but that was easy. Last year, "Silly Sock Day" could be sending them in odd socks (although I knitted crazy socks for DD), and Christmas jumper day, they just said to put something Christmassy on an old jumper or just improvise rather than buying an actual Christmas jumper.

I know too that I am fortunate to be able to sew and have a stash of scrap fabric and stuff so that I can usually get away with something hashed together into a costume, and unpick the stitching late if needs be, but not all parents have the time or resources for this these days.

OP if your grandchildrens' school genuinely didn't give much notice, then the school should expect a polite note to explain that more notice is needed and that the letter home should say that parents shouldn't buy anything new for a "charity" day.

tom9980

Have child wear all black, use eyeliner to draw whiskers on face. Cut out ears and stick to hair band. Cut out mask for eyes and attach with string to child. Instant cat woman superhero.

Why sit for hours making a costume? Why spend money on costumes? Simple adaptions are easy and cheap.

I certainly agree less than a weeks notice is too little however in most schools much more is given, certainly none expect parents to do more than very simple dress up. Gayleygoo hit the nail on the head IMO in her final paragraph.

Buzzybee90

We only did dressing up for Red Nose Day at primary school and never at secondary (unless it was a school trip)

DigForVictory

Some schools do make it easier than others - better communication, better support.

Some families manage it easier than others - the old dressing up box can save a lot of blushes, time & money. As well as being a superb way of disappearing clothes you never want to see worn again. Says she with a sister's "injudicious" metallic miniskirt deftly repurposed into breastplates for soldiers....

Also, my lot are into history - so "story characters" promptly become find-the-character-we-can-dress & a mixture of army surplus & assorted tunics & cloaks covers it. (But then lads were always easier than lassies.)

I think this sort of challenge would be so much easier if the dressing up box was a bigger feature in parenting. A 10 pence dog blanket chops up into two cloaks for under 14s. An old duvet cover makes several petticoats which don't just add shape & drape to a fancy dress but also fend off pneumonia.

Blinking little notice is a chore, but seeing your child beaming is *usually* worth the Very Uncharitable Thoughts.

Running_On_Empty

It's not that people want to indulge in teacher bashing but more that many of us can see that teachers work a shorter day than in the past; that exams have become much easier and that still there are children leaving school without the basic skills of numeracy and literacy. So when teachers, or their apologists, come along whinging then many of us get irritated by that and wonder aloud what the reason is for having an easy day, to quote Tom.
As for teaching children about charity giving, just let them watch the television from about 7pm on Friday evening, no need to spend a precious school day on the subject.
I really wish that less energy was spent whinging about their unhappy lot and more on improving numeracy and literacy standards .

indsty

Lieja wrote: »

I agree, especially about having to buy stuff rather than donate!

My office is doing 'Christmas Jumper Day' this year, and I've found myself looking to spend at least a tenner on a jumper when that money could be going to the charity!

Not sure I actually agree with all the charity 'day' stuff anyway. It's a bit peer pressurey when people might be happily donating all year round to their chosen causes and not have money for all these added days! It also cheapens the whole thing a bit when donations only come with a silly outfit.

We did this once (much to my horror). My option was to take a totally plain black jumper and attach tinsel, baubles and all sorts of christmas tat to it. Much cheaper than buying a new jumper you will never wear again. I thought mine was much the best as well !!!