Is this normal for secondary school?

[abovedecknotbelow]

I know their budgets are fucked, but is this the norm now? I've just had a flurry of emails from school requesting:

£13 contribution towards art materials
£25 contribution towards science materials
£35 contributions towards technology materials

This is on top of the £30pm/per child we have been asked told to donate to the PTA. Oh and they want it by next Friday. I can pay it, and I will happily pay it but there must be many who can't pull out over £100 with no notice (I've got two kids in the school)

Is it normal now?

Yes I think so, but for my kids there is a class budget.

I've never had that and I have one son who's just finished Y13 and another in Y9. I've only ever had to pay out for school trips.

Both my kids are at Uni now (20 & 21) but we contributed to catering and tech materials all the way through secondary school in England

Should be normal, but then i went to school in Ireland were always paid for books, and everything else.

I think it will be the new normal. It's what the Government want. People will have to contribute financilay towards education and healthcare. Free education and free healthcare are being slowly but surely dismantled. It's not being done "offically" they do it sneakily by cutting funding.

We paid £15 for DT stuff, but that included ingredients for Food Tech, which saves having to send in one tomato and a pinch of salt! PTA is not very active, so no money there.

No. I've only had to pay for trips and revision guides.

Nope, and I sure as shit wouldn’t be able to whip out even £20 with no notice, let alone £100!

We pay about £15 per year for food, but that means we never have to supply the ingredients. A win in my eyes.

We pay £25 at the start of Y7, and that covers all DT stuff for Y7/8/9.

£25 per child in this school for science each year would triple the science budget I get!!!!

Yes I had extras charges this year that I didn't have last year for home economics and technology.

We had £30 for DT/Food Tech/Art materials. To be honest I'm happier to pay the money than rustle up materials every week.

No compulsory contribution to the PTA (what do the PTA do with the money?)

We paid £25 in Y7 for arts material, it lasted until Y9.
The school pays wholesale prices and when I looked up the items, it would have cost me a lot more buying it myself.

I am quite surprised that schools provide so much. I come from a country where from Day 1 in Primary parents pay for all stationary, a fixed amount towards books, all arts material and whatever else is needed.

Here DD got expensive in Y10 when we bought her text books and revision books so she could work in them. If borrowed from the school they are not allowed to write or highlight anything.