Are you finding fund raising a problem?

Spendless

double_mummy wrote: »

i had the best one today

myself and a group of other parents/carers were told about an overnight trip next month by the teacher and advised the letter was in kids bookbag and not to worry about the date on the letter they forgot to give it out in january but that it doesnt need to be paid until the end of this month so it should be fine!

This happened to me when my youngest was in yr6. A residential was mentioned and a meeting set about it in the summer, we were then told a questionnaire would go out and we'd be told if the trip was going ahead the following week. Nothing was mentioned and the school broke up for the summer. On the first week back in Autumn school announced trip was going ahead at the beginning of the next month and we had 2-3 weeks to pay it! I later made a complaint about it!

Slinky

Our school should have mourned when we left it. My Dad used to work in a factory and he loved a challenge. He was the biggest seller of raffle tickets for the school and most of the prizes seemed to go to the factory workers, just down to the sheer volume he sold I think, which must have made it easier for him to sell them the following year as lots of people knew somebody who'd won something.

Indie_Kid

I remember when I was in 6th form, being told there was a compulsory trip that was rather expensive. To which my dad replied "well, if that's the case, why aren't they (school) paying for it?"

I don't ever remember it being quite as bad as people have mentioned on here.

AmyTurtle

I know my mum struggled with this when I was small.
At 11 ( in 1995) I went to grammar school - got free school lunches and one of the only girls from a single parent family. The school had a thing called the 'school fund' where they asked parents to donate £80 a year for the first child and £40 for every subsequent child at the school - (the money was meant to be used so less well off girls could still attend school trips etc). The teachers used to read everyone's name out in registration and make you stand up and explain every day why your parents hadn't paid it yet! Ridiculous since a) I was on free school meals so they must have known we were a low income family and b) Despite being on a low income my mum's applications to it were never successful!
They used to also do lots of fund raising on top of that to build new arts centres etc and just assumed all the parents were rolling in cash.

AmyTurtle

double_mummy wrote: »

i had the best one today

myself and a group of other parents/carers were told about an overnight trip next month by the teacher and advised the letter was in kids bookbag and not to worry about the date on the letter they forgot to give it out in january but that it doesnt need to be paid until the end of this month so it should be fine!

also a quick reminder about eco day on friday where they need to take in recyclables and bring in healthy foods for a picnic lunch -(the big one i pay for school dinners the little one gets them free as she is in reception)

Yes, these 'impoverished and poorly paid' teachers clearly all have more disposable income than most of the parents otherwise they might think. At my secondary school the staff car park was full of Audis & Porsches!

Eenymeeny

zippychick wrote: »

Hi, we move threads if we think they’ll get more help elsewhere (please read the forum rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com."]forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com.[/EMAIL]

Thanks Zippychick, I don't usually move far from 'Old Style' Looks like an interesting board, thanks for pointing me in that direction
Thanks to all of the posters too, obviously strikes a chord with a few of us. I remember getting notes from school and not showing them to my parents as I know that they couldn't afford it and we always had the policy that it wasn't fair for one to get a treat if the others weren't getting it too.
It only came to light when my Mum spoke to one of the parents of someone who had been on one of the educational cruises they used to run...:eek:

jackyann

Lots of good ideas. Can I also suggest that parents write to the school Governors + copy to the Head, asking if there is a policy about fundraising / charitable giving, and if not, please can they ask parents / PTA to join them in drawing one up?
It is worth pointing out that deciding where to donate whatever one can afford to give is a worthwhile exercise in financial management. Better for children to think carefully about what they want to support than hear parents moan or even be distressed.
I was a governor some years ago, and our policy was something like this:

Draw up events well in advance, send out at the beginning of the school year, and repeat in every newsletter (+I imagine these days, on the school website)
3 fundraising events, one per term: one for the school (fete), one for an external charity, chosen by the pupils, one local good cause (usually in conjunction with them)
No "prizes" for most amount of money raised.
If pupils wanted to respond, to say a disaster, or organise a Blue Peter sale or similar, they were supported to do so using school premises, but it was very clear that this was not a "school" thing and parents / adults had to be responsible. We also limited those.

I think these days I would encourage the older kids to do research around the activities of the big charities.

We had a lot of parents who objected to raffles, but at another of my kids' schools, they did a sort of "100 club" and parents paid by Direct Debit, so the kids never really knew who paid in & who didn't.

I also think that Governors' need to draw up a school trip policy. I have been astonished at the school trips described on here, that are in no way educational.
An acquaintance described to me how he had challenged a New York trip organised by his child's school which extolled the virtues of visiting the NY Stock Exchange. he asked why they didn't just make the hour-long trip to the London one!

Kaye1

Interesting post.


Our school have had some good ideas.


We had a crazy hair day for Red Nose Day- so the children just had to have crazy hair- so I just filled her hair with hair clips which we already had. We were then asked for a donation- most parents sent in a pound.


For World Book Day they were just asked to bring in their favourite bear and they all had to tell a story about their favourite bear. No cost there!


For non uniform day, they were asked to bring in something chocolatey for the tombola, so I sent in some chocolates for £2.


At Christmas, we are asked if we have any spare prizes for the Tombola- but this is not compulsory. I had been given some wine but I don't drink, so I sent that in. They were really pleased with that.


On another point regarding money, my MIL is a school secretary. She said that there are a group of people who firmly believe that they shouldn't contribute to school trips/anything for the school as it is the governments job. She has a few very well off parents who won't pay for the transport for swimming etc. They have told her directly that is they should have to pay the £2 to go swimming as the school should cover everything.


Our school had been given free cinema tickets for a end of term treat for the children. We had a letter saying the transport would cost £2 per child, which I was happy to pay. We then had a follow up letter saying so few people had contributed that the trip was not able to go ahead. It is a small school so they don't have a large fund they can draw from I guess. It did go ahead in the end as the PTA made up the shortfall.

wannabe_sybil

When bear was in Reception I counted up all the 'asks'. Not for uniform or school dinners or anything like that but sponsorship, non uniform days etc.

It came to £150 for the year.

And don't get me started on lack of notice for costumes and dress up - my language would be harsh!

Edited to add - we are in an area where there isn't that much money, either.

Jagraf

The best ones I remember were where you dressed up and then donated £1 to school / charity.

The most horrendous thing about it was that parents would spend a fortune on the outfit, of which the charity didn't see a penny.

Mostly it was for the school to say they did it, and for the kids to enjoy themselves. Hardly anyone cared about the charity.

Oh, and bake a cake to help starving countries, so that kids can eat until they are sick in return for £1 for essential water and rice. I wonder how much the kids are really educated on that one!