Would it be wrong to only pay half of DS school trip cost?

[Shirtbuttons26]

DS is going on a school trip. Its costing 45.00. Would it be wrong if I only paid 20.00 /25.00? I am on a low income and I'm juggling things a bit at the moment. I have another child at the school as well so I have been paying out for 2 children.

The school rang me saying i need to pay by tomorrow.

It does say contribution but I feel wrong for even thinking about it.

Obviously talk to the school - as soon as possible would have been better.
Anything else is just skirting round the issue.

This

I have too. I used to have very very little and it was awful so when I had more I overpaid. Talk to the school, just be honest.

Then the trip was too expensive in the first place if it's unaffordable for half the class.

As PP said, they'd be a great deal broker without the approx £2bn Pupil Premium funding!

I think that’s too much expensive for a school trip , I wouldn’t be happy at paying all that if your on a low income, just say I can only pay this amount as a contribution, due to being on a low income, no one will mind, it’s the best you can do so never mind what anyone else says just do that as it’s what you can afford and you shouldn’t feel bad about it neither.

In our school, 50% of the cost of a trip, can come from pupil premium. Pupil premium can also be used to buy laptops, WIFI, school uniform and shoes, snacks and extra food, school equipment, bus fares, etc.

Don’t be embarrassed neither you won’t be the only one and as it’s says it voluntary so you could pay £10 , awful to put parents in that situation x

My GD, year 6, has had four trips this term, one of them residential. My DD (single parent) has had trouble paying for them but wouldn't dream of not paying if there was any way that she could. There are lots of incredibly hard up parents in the school who are likely to absorb any school funding. They're not just struggling, they simply cannot pay.

Our school allows a payment plan if any family asks for it eg £2 a week. Pupil premium money can't be spent on trips eg Alton Towers, only a compulsory part of a qualification eg the theatre studies live performance visit or geography field work. Many schools also have hardship funds.

I didn't say that anyone else should be responsible for your children but your attitude is completely ignorant that you can't see how someone could have fallen on hard times, and that people's circumstances change. Schools receive extra funding for children from low income families, that's what pupil premium is- to enable children from these families to access the same opportunities as others more fortunate.

In my DD's school the PTA raised money gets used to subsidise trips if the pupil premium can't cover the shortfall.

My point is that anyone could go through a life changing event tomorrow that stops them from working and they find themselves in this situation the OP is in. You are clearly living in a privileged world to not be able to comprehend this.

How privileged some of you are. Do you not realise that £45 is the total weekly food bill of some families? Don't worry though just carry on with your judgement.
OP if you are struggling, please have a quiet word with someone at school. There will be someone who can and will help you with the funding. Don't let anyone on here make you feel bad for just trying your best.

Zero chance £45 would cover a whole family's weekly food bill.

😳 for some families it will be. Snsome it may be half regardless they go short of food. Could be half their fuel bill

The cost od transport massively increased.
That explains a lot. At our school a lot.of things were cancelled due to that, sometimes there is no other option. I wpuld speak with school. It all depends where you live and how many people paid only half.
The other thing is if you are a single mum or.meet other criteria the school gets extra funding for your son.

Speak to the school. There was another thread recently about parents being asked to send in more money because other parents hadn’t paid/paid enough. The school said the trip couldn’t go ahead unless they received the balance. How much notice were you given? Maybe in the future, you should have a school trip fund where you put away £3-5 a week, given you have two kids?

Im actually stunned how unpleasant a lot of people are being. £45 is a lot of money - even for those with a decent income - to find at the moment. People are being really judgy. You’d be quick enough to write when op says she can’t afford food because she over spent this month. Being forced to spend money on something you have no choice about is so hard.

ex school governor - op ring school and just say I am under the impression that as my child gets pp funding I only need to pay 50% of the trip . I’m really hoping this is the case as it’s really unaffordable for me at the moment I’m afraid and I feel awkward bringing this up.

it doesn’t sound like a very supportive school not providing the food vouchers when other posters get upset about a teacher dropping off a reward certificate after work hours!! Massive disparity in levels of being a supportive school.

I know it probably feels really awkward but you’re not asking for the money - it’s money that is provided for your child to the school.

In that case I would let them know what you can pay, so they can work out the budget. You probably wouldn't have to pay the full amount if it's a suggested contribution one, but they probably need to know if it can go ahead

I paid some of it. I sent an email i just said that money is tight at the moment so I can only pay half. And said please contact me if they need to.

Fwiw I think that was the right thing to do @Shirtbuttons26

Me too.

That isn’t what taxation is for. Taxation is to provide public services, for everyone. It provides schools with a budget from which they run the services, but this won’t stretch to paying out for extras. Do you expect tax payers to fund school trips?

I am concerned that some posters may have given you false hope of free/ heavily discounted trips. Not every school uses PP in that way. Our school doesn't any more. It is spent on additional interventions (academic and emotional) to support the child in school.
We offer parents the option of paying over time if needed, but if we don't have the full amount, the trip doesn't go ahead. The whole year misses out.
We have a high proportion of PP children, and a trip cannot be paid for out of our (already highly stretched) budget.
On a more positive note, our PP children's attainment is really good. This is primarily due to our allocation of PP funds.

They already do! Maybe not ones to theme parks but some of the £2bn Pupil Premium spend goes on enrichment, and with the government now (madly) introducing enrichment benchmarks, you can be sure that will continue.

I think that given that many schools DO use PP to discount educational trips, it is at least worth asking the question.

I taught at a grammar that did not use PP in that way (and indeed did not have sufficient PP funds to do so) but on every trip letter there was prominent mention of the hardship fund (funded by the PTA) for families that were in difficulties.