Schools asking for parental contributions

We had a very active PTA in primary but some parents made it known that they didn’t want to feel compelled to attend fundraising events in their precious spare time and would prefer to make a donation instead. I bet in most schools it will be the same families supporting PTA fundraisers - and the same families not, yet they benefit equally from the funds. Obviously in some cases that will be because they just don’t have the spare money but in others it is lack of desire to get involved, and they would rather just give cash. Maybe that is the reaaon behind jt, and it people may be more likely to contribute if the school asks for it?

No, PP is not irrelevant. Many dc don't necessarily need any extra funding at all as they are not behind. However others are but the schools have some send funding too. Theres no school that feels well off though. Many have asked for parental continuations for decades! My school did for a tennis court surface in the 60s!!!! It’s not unusual.

Do both. Lobbying for an increase in school funding won't achieve any quick results. Donate towards immediate costs.

Don't however let donations become a permanent feature. In Ireland the "voluntary contribution" to schools is anything but voluntary.

School fund has always been a thing in some schools. Parents pay £50 for the year or something. But not all schools. I think more are doing it now.

I will never pay it, even though I can afford to. Parents/volunteers/donations/teachers good will should not be used to cover up and fix the government's failure to adequately fund education. And the more we prop it up out of our own pockets, the more they can get away with underfunding.

I was a teacher for 15 years and have DC in ks1-GCSE ages. I firmly believe the education system needs to collapse so government are actually forced to do something, and the sooner the better. I left last July because underfunding made the job impossible. Too many children are being failed and it's not the school or the teacher's fault.

It's not a new thing. Most schools used to have a thing called a School Fund, collected every week. I started school in 1961 and, every Monday morning, we took in the week's Dinner Money (5 bob) and our School Fund (a penny, so half a p). I assume it was used for nice extras though like the Christmas party and the leavers' party, rather than materials. Trips were paid for by parents but I do wonder if it was also used as a sort of hardship fund to subsidise those who couldn't pay, because I don't remember anyone ever being left behind.

Yes, this is the situation at our school.

It's around £2bn p.a. I believe. If it wasn't there it would make a heck of a difference, although I take your general point about Rolls Royce expectations on a Nissan Micra budget.

The least well funded school I ever worked in was a state grammar in a "leafy" part of the home counties. They were entirely reliant on parental contributions and fundraising.

My kids’ school ask for £10 / month per child, and £40 per year / child for equipment for DT. We provide cooking ingredients, stationery and anything else they need. We’re in affluent area and I know some people donate more.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5432829-to-feel-offended-by-this-email-from-the-school?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=app_share

This thread made interesting reading - some knowledgeable posters really delved into the funding of schools linked to (mostjy) the socioeconomic status of the students and some practical and moral problems that arise. I found it really informative. School funding does NOT work how many people think.

I'm not sure its a new concept. Back when I was school an annual £50 was asked for as a voluntary donation. That was in the late 80s when a Mars bars was less than 20p.

Conversely, schools in affluent areas have far worse government funding. At least, this is what our head has told parents. We’re in a v affluent area with very few “free school meals” pupils so the funding is much less than in deprived areas. So the school needs those affluent parents’ contributions just to bring them up to par - it won’t provide an advantage.

That's irrelevant. The schools that get more PP are just as underfunded as the ones that don't. Being given £900,000 to achieve something that would take £1,200,000 to do to a good standard isn't intrinsically a more fortunate position to be put in than being given £675,000 to achieve something that would take £900,000 to do to a good standard.

Yes, I'm not disputing that the majority of the funds are from the public purse. That doesn't change the fact that the school will be unable to survive in its current form if the funding model doesn't change very soon.

This is such a huge conflict of interest surely. When one child’s parents make a sizeable donation the school will be likely to let that child get away with anything. It’s just wrong!! I’m surprised that the local authority allow this. Asking if you can send your own child in with some stationary is a different thing.

Unfortuntaely there's only 160 on roll, it's undersubscribed due to the falling birth rate.

We use Wish Lists at our (Catholic) High School, for example we were setting up an outdoor learning area, so we did a list of tools and plants .. we got a new library, so did a list of books..we needed new interments for music etc We find it’s the Alumni that often want to contribute. Nobody is forced to give anything.

Well, the church also gave my mum money for school uniform at the end of every summer. I think we also went on a free holiday once to a caravan they owned near the seaside. So it almost equaled itself out.

Oh, but either way it’s the public purse, for want of a better word.

We aren't funded by the LA. Our funding comes direct from central government.

I’ll try not to get a rant on this 😂 but as another catholic school goer my parents were paying contributions to both the school and the church, in the context of a massively wealthy Catholic Church. It’s disgraceful and shouldn’t be accepted in the way catholics used to.

Our sons are in their 30’s now and we were asked for £7 per month each for these reasons over 20 years ago. Nothing new.

Pupil Premium is worth billions a year and the more deprived a catchment, the more funding from that source the school gets.

There was an interesting and very informative thread about Pupil Premium on here a few months back. I'll try to find it.

The assuming it’s an average sized primary school that’s not that bad. £55k isn’t that much.

@MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBack I totally understand joining an academy chain isn’t the best thing for your school from many points of view, but academies are still funded my the LA so the LA aren’t letting it go “bankrupt” (for want of a better word!) busy applying new model to spend.

That's outrageous!