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AIBU?

to think PTA fund-raising should be kept out of the classroom?

20 replies

affinia · 27/03/2014 16:10

Today our school held a Mothers Day sale at school. The children were taken into choose during lesson time and sent home with an 'invoice' for what they spent and they'll bring the gifts tomorrow.

All the gifts were £2 so my invoice is for £4 so its not a huge amount but I think its wrong to put children under pressure to spend their parents money when they aren't even there, however nice it seems. Our PTA is pretty active and I'm not normally complainer but there seems to be a flood of requests at the moment.

Will send a friendly message to the Head so I'm not just moaning on here but is this normal?

OP posts:

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WooWooOwl · 27/03/2014 16:13

That's a lovely idea, but wrong if parents weren't asked permission for their children to go to the sale.

As long as permission was sought, I don't see the problem.

I don't have an issue with PTA fundraising being done through the classroom because the children are the direct beneficiaries, and it's good that parents are encouraged to support their school.

I very much object to fundraising for other charities being done through the classroom though.

TheBitterBoy · 27/03/2014 16:15

Our school PTA does something similar at Christmas, but it is advertised beforehand and the parents send the children in with money to spend, rather than an invoice (that seems like a lot of faff). PTA fundraising is spent within the school so I don't see a problem raising money within the school. We also do cake sales. I'm not surprised there are a lot of requests at the moment as the new national curriculum is coming in with no additional money for resources. Our PTA is funding a big chunk of the new material needed for history as this is completely changing.

WilsonFrickett · 27/03/2014 16:17

If you gave your permission, I suppose it's OK. If you didn't, it's soooo not.

Nocomet · 27/03/2014 16:20

That's a bit naughty, we'd always have sent fliers home in advance if we planed anything like that.

Not that all off them ever got home, but we would try.

"I very much object to fundraising for other charities being done through the classroom though." I totally agree, we had various joint sponsored school gets half random charity gets half.

The forms for those got lost.

HappyAgainOneDay · 27/03/2014 16:57

Well, you have a choice. You have an 'invoice' and the gift will be collected only when the money is received. Just write on the 'invoice' that you do not want the gift because you were not present to warrant the use of your money.

Scholes34 · 27/03/2014 17:02

The OP has acknowledged she can afford the £4, am I guess she feels she would be being petty not to pay it. The issue has to be that it was done without permission or knowledge of parents and it's that, however small the amount of money involved, that's wrong.

tobiasfunke · 27/03/2014 17:04

I actually think this is awful. The kids pick something nice for their Mum and then the parents don't want it or can't afford it.
I'm on a PTA and we would never do something like that.
It would be slightly different if a letter was sent out and all the kids were sent into school with £2 to spend but even that is horrible for the kids who don't have the money.

affinia · 27/03/2014 17:04

Yes I could refuse to pay, I'm just not that curmudgeonly really! There was a flyer. I didn't pay enough attention and even so wouldn't have been the person standing at the gate saying my DC couldn't take part. I do support the PTA.

I was involved in PTA before we moved and chair was really emphatic about goodwill being dependent on people feeling like they had a choice so was a bit taken aback by this one. There's choice and there's choice.

But will accept its pretty normal!

OP posts:

halfwayupthehill · 27/03/2014 17:13

The school is encouraging kids to choose presents for parents who then have to reject them if they don't want to pay for them. It i emotional and financial blackmail.

justmyview · 27/03/2014 17:20

Our school takes children in to a classroom to choose the books they like, so that at parents evening two days later, the children can badger us to pay for the books they would like to have. I think it's really cheeky and don't buy the books on principle

Mintyy · 27/03/2014 17:23

Yanbu. That is awful!

Oblomov · 27/03/2014 17:29

I hate it. Feel obliged and hate the tat that comes home.

LongPieceofString · 27/03/2014 17:31

I was the Child Without A Mum when I was at school and all the Mother's Day stuff made a sad situation even more miserable.

I would be cross about it for that reason more so than the fundraising, even so, the fundraising is bloody cheeky.

TheGreatHunt · 27/03/2014 17:33

Can someone explain why PTAs need to do fundraising? Is this because governments are too tight? Or do they run social events? hopelessly baive

Goblinchild · 27/03/2014 17:36

Halfway, it's not the school, it's the PTA.
That's who you have the scrap with.

WilsonFrickett · 27/03/2014 17:39

It's the sort of thing that never would have happened in our old school (v deprived area yet v. v. active PTA). Although that school did always make a huge effort for Children in Need which used to make me more than a bit cross. The children in need were right there in the school.

But I digress. It's cheeky.

Also, in our current school (leafy village) there's one family with four kids at the school - £8 would be a big hit to take.

TheGreat PTAs are supposed to fundraise for 'extras' but obviously in today's climate one woman's extras are another's essential supplies. In our first school the PTA fund-raised to cover all the trips, because otherwise around half the school would never have gone. It worked really well.

nobutreally · 27/03/2014 17:41

Ex PTA chair here - I think anything where the parents don't give express permission (ie send in the money/sign up in advance) isn't on, and actually I'm not keen on things that happen in school time either. I think Mother's day present sale is a lovely idea, but would have done it after school as a drop in (whilst parents wait somewhere with tea). Our school used to do a book sale & the teachers decided to take all the kids to see the books in lesson time, so they came out of school with a slip saying which book they'd chosen. Very hard to say no when your dc has picked a book (although I managed it) I seem to remember telling them that the PTA wouldn't provide cover for the stall if they continued with that practice, even if it did push up sales....

Also, it's a logistical nightmare: what will they do if people don't cough up/have they kept records of who spent what, if they need to chase?

mumminio · 27/03/2014 17:46

yanbu what a horrible thing for the PTA to do. Very underhand.

Sunnymeg · 27/03/2014 17:48

I believe that there are companies who market this sort of thing to PTA's and it is seen as a easy fundraiser as the gifts come ready wrapped and examples are shown to the children who choose what they want to buy. I am amazed that the PTA are issuing invoices rather than asking for the money at the start. Our primary never did this as we were a small school and the costings didn't work. The PTA will have got permission to do this by the school, so I think you can quite reasonably complain to the head in my opinion.

figgieroll · 27/03/2014 19:31

Our PTA does this sort of thing all the time. Ours was particularly demanding in December and July. All the parents were so sick of being cornered in to spending money and many have complained to the head/PTA.

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