£800 'hidden cost' of sending a child to a state school - your experiences?

And yes to needing a decent computer/laptop with office suite or suitable equivalent on - we already had this but others I know had to buy when their children went to high school. The amount of research and work done on computers now was an eye opener!

And before anyone shouts "use the Library", our was closed due to cuts.

TalkinPeace: Don't know how to PM from my phone but I'm in South Fulham.

We qualify for free school meals and a clothing grant, the clothing grant doesn't even cover shoes unless we buy them from a supermarket, also with one starting nursery in January and one in year 2, I only get the grant for one child per year. Not to mention, we have to buy the jumpers, polo shirts and PE polo shirts with the school badge on. I also object to being pressured to buy cakes for cake sales when I can't afford to feed us all.

I was shocked by the £220 uniform bill for secondary - that was just for the compulsory bits (trousers shirts shoes etc on top). Most if it for various parts of the PE kit. Ds2 is now year 8 & there are still unworn bits in there

My eldest son has just started state grammar year 8 (n Ireland)
So far we have spent
School fees "voluntary" - £400
Pe kit - £150
Uniform £120
class "bonding"school trip £70
Just short of £750 and we are only 8 weeks in
Cannot bring myself to add in lunches

But it's not cheaper at the more junior level

Twin daughters at state nursery school compulsory school dinner every day and weekly snack money

£1200 for the school year!!

I have no objection to the trips. DS1 has been to the Menin Gate this year and is off to Berlin next year. Not holiday destinations for the Sparkling family, but good for his GCSEs in History/German.

Our kids are at one of the top state schools in the county

All the uniform is generic except the tie and a badge which can be sewn onto a generic blazer .

There are Logo PE shirts and PE hoodies but they are not compulsory .

All expensive trips have been optional and only a small minority of children go on them. There is a day out at the end of term and there are always very low cost options eg £10.

Music tuition is free if the pupil is taking music as an option .

We've had to buy about one extra item per year eg apron for HE, scientific calculator , French dictionary , so about £10 pa.

Any fundraising events are about £5 per ticket and are for charity , not the school eg Christmas carol concert for Mary's meals, daffodil event for Macmillan . Again they are optional

The only donations requested have been for non uniform days, so £1 , three times per year. Again it's for charity . No one checks if the kids have paid the " fine" for not wearing uniform. The school raises enough, so I assume those who can afford it send a fiver

I am shocked to hear about the extortionate costs some parents are having to find. It's unreasonable and unfair. If our schools can do it, why can't others ?

I don't see how most of these costs contribute to the children's education anyway. They don't perform better in expensive kit or learn more on expensive trips. It's discriminatory IM not very HO

Yep. I think it's probably cheaper to buy a new printer each time.

At the moment, we only have a working black and white laser printer. Suddenly DS has 'discovered' that in fact it's possible to email work to school and print it there. Hmm...

Oh actually yes I forgot all about the printer ink manky that's £800 on it's own i think.

And don't forget the printer ink - I can't believe how much we have gone through since DS started Secondary - the dreaded "Mood Boards" and ICT homework have taken their toll!

I can believe £800 is reasonable. School dinners are £2 a day, so £390 a year.
Logoed PE kit, polo top, blazer, school tie comes to about £60, plus generic shirts etc.
School trips are at least £200 a year, more this year with DD in Y6, an extra £250 for the Year 6 residential.
That's easily £800 before the non-uniform days, school fair, PTA fundraisers, school discos, presents for teachers...

I hadn't thought about the computer costs, but yes, they are expected to do pretty much everything on the computer (often online, in fact), and as there are three of them competing for it in the evenings, that means in practice that we need more than one computer. Plus printer paper for the inevitable 'do a mood board on....' -- we seem to go through a lot of that.

I've just started adding up what it costs to send my 2 children to their state school .
If I don't add the "voluntary extras" like music lessons , or a computer (a good 75% of my children's homework is computer based) Then I am paying nearly £2k per year , per child .

I haven't included any school trips or clubs in this figure .
This is purely (branded) uniform , bus fares , lunches , school equipment (the cost of equipment the school has requested the children have - ie art supplies , scientific calculators etc) , photocopying fee per term , "voluntary" contribution (which is actually aggressively pursued every year) .

We are on a very low income as a family .
Husband earns £18k , works 6 days per week .
I have cancer and can't work .
But we are not entitled to any benefits apart from tax credits .

This is not a poor me moan .
This is just a post to say this is how it is for a lot of families .
We ARE the working poor .

Recovering
YES, yes, yes
there are lots of charities all over the country that support needy families for things like school trips and music lessons and sports memberships
once you are willing to ask and start to look they are out there

PM me the first four digits of your postcode and I'll find one local to you.

Well non generic at dd's secondary are shirts, jumpers, kilts, pe kits. All logoed and expensive.

Other secondaries round here similar. Those that have generic trousers and skirts have fancy blazers (£60-80).

It all adds up and it is a retrograde step from when I went to school locally and all items barring blazer and tie were generic. And even with the blazer, you could buy a badge to sew onto a generic one!

I'm not sure about the uniform. Most schools have uniform and I think it is naive of parents to not expect to pay for uniform. Most primary schools tend to be happy with generic jumpers/trousers/skirts etc. At DD's high school the only non generic items are blazers and ties, plus PE kit. I can buy shirts trousers and skirts from anywhere provided they meet the uniform criteria.

I think the expectation of parents to pay for iPads is outrageous though.

No, the report itself (linked in the OP) says it's an annual cost.

I think there's some confusion here. Tthe OP isn't entirely clear, but I think they're talking about putting a child through school costing £800 in total, not per year.

And I do think that uniform is a hidden cost, because you do not find out how much it will cost until you join the school, and it is not instead of ordinary clothes but as well as.

It is the purchase of iPads for school that I really object to. At a state secondary, but appears to be compulsory. The iPads are apparently "necessary" for their work but the parents have to buy them themselves.

THAT is a hidden cost. No way would I have expected to have to pay for an iPad for school, in the same way my parents would have never expected to have to pay for excercise books.

'switched one'?? Gah. Switched on. Unlike her mother.

Ah yes, the reversible rugby shirts...

We inherited ours from a friend's child. After two years at the school, DS mentioned in some bafflement that his was the only one that reversed to blue-and-black instead of blue-and-white. Apparently the rugby uniform had changed some years previously, but this shirt had kept on going.

DD (rather more switched one child) has just thwarted my attempts to pass it on to her as well.

lance DS school jumper is £26 too, and we are nt allowed any other , it must be that style with logo! And his compulsory reversible rugby shirt for games is £30! ....indoor kit is £20 for the top, never mind the two different shorts we need for them both!

Ah we haven't got to secondary yet shudder.

God, no, very bog-standard secondary! And frankly a relief only to have to buy overpriced jumpers after after the logo-on-everything-including-aprons nonsense at my older son's (state) school.

Is that private Lance? Surely they cant insist on £26 school jumpers?!

We pay something like £6 for 2 in sainsburys.