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

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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.

Most school have a budget for this, so don't worry. Explain you can't afford the full amount. I used to be a intervention tutor in a primary school (low income area) and 70% of the parents paid less.

Most posts are in the past tense. "Used to" "worked" "when my child" etc.
Almost every school DID this in the past. But (with increasing targets based upon increasing the academic levels of the disadvantaged) cannot afford this NOW.
I am not trying to make anyone feel guilty. The PP fund in there for a good reason but it has to be spent where it is most needed: to support the child academically and emotionally. School leaders have to choose where best to use it, and for most, the priority isn't on a day trip.

Then schools need to change their school trips to align with the changing times.
Stop running expensive day trips. They must know the demographic of the parents. £45 for a school day trip is a lot. And if the letter says 'voluntary contribution' and 'if we don't get enough £ we can't go', then don't get the office staff to phone parents demanding they pay.
It makes already struggling parents who already feel guilty that yet again their kids miss out even worse.

Then the issue is there won't be many trips at all. The coat of transport alone is a killer. Which is what it is, but then we can't complain there are no trips we tx

Just checked our latest trip letters. It says if you have PP do not pay, fill in a consent form and the school will pay for the trip.

I also know they pay for the starter pack (this is stuff like a calculator, safety goggles, first school trip) and they pay for something like the first £150 of new uniform and a limited number of replacements over the years.

It’s a shame not all schools can afford to do that as it must be a huge help. Our primary school definitely also helps with trips. Not sure about uniform.

I guess it never hurts to ask anyway. Glad you made a decision OP.

FSm funding for trips has changed recently. Last year, I was told to prioritise FSM students whereas normally, good behaviour is rewarded. They received £300 of the £400+ cost (foreign residential). This year, there is no funding for non-curriculum based trips, so if you can’t afford it, the child doesn’t go. This is the way of it, unfortunate, but this is what happened to me and my DH as students, our parents couldn’t afford it, so we just didn’t go.

Our PTA funding is, as above, for the benefit of all children. Why shouldn’t those with parents on a decent income have access to headphones for language lessons etc?

Most children don't go on the non-curriculum based trips in secondary (I assume you're talking secondary with foreign residential trips).
Neither of my kids went on any ski trips or those adventure ones, or helping to build resources in developing counties. Most parents can't stump up a few grand for these trips. I don't think PP students should feel hard done by (in this respect). It's usually about 1/10th of a years cohort that go on those trips, if that.

Schools have discretion to use PP funds as they want within guidelines. About 30% use some of them on trips. The problem is the more disadvantaged areas can't as so much else to pay for AND they often don't have strong PTAs (the 30% figure is from a government report on PP).

Absolutely don’t pay more than you can afford. my kids went to a huge primary school that was very mixed in terms of incomes. I was fortunate to be able to afford trips for them and I always paid extra and said I wanted the money to be used to help fund kids whose families were under financial pressure. I know other people did this too. I assume this happens in a lot of schools. Other parents, not all, will be happy to help.

True. I take 40 (next Friday!) but had a lot of complaints re the low number allowed, but I can’t take more staff who are needed to run the school. We’re not a school who takes parents on trips, unless there’s a serious medical need. I took one parent so her child could come camping last year but that was an exception.

A colleague tried to organise another foreign residential but hasn’t managed to recruit enough students and she realistically can’t increase the price so is going back to the standard trip that’s been in place for years.

The problem with that suggestion is that it comes from a privileged position. That £3-5 a week isn't 'spare' money - it will have to be taken away from another area of the family budget.

If you do it diligently, you will often be in a position where you're having to cut back on essentials, go without putting any gas or electricity on your meter, deny your kids little treats when they ask for them... all so that you can divert it to a pot of money that the school effectively control and which may or may not be asked for at some point - and to pay for something that is a luxury, which you're being told to prioritise over basic essentials.

Even then, if you've been ultra disciplined, made a lot of sacrifices and somehow managed to save up £100... and then they send out an email asking for 'a contribution of' £110 for the next trip/couple of trips, with the usual 'you don't have to pay this amount, but if you don't, the whole year will miss out'... how is that going to make you feel?

Then that's how it must be. To be honest, I think that the idea of school trips is something that middle class people hold dear and look upon fondly as a lovely opportunity; but to many people on low incomes, it's just another burden and another call on their already tight budgets, and one which they could well do without.

Of course, school trips are great, as are so many things in life... but they are luxuries that, if you simply can't afford them, are nowhere near as great as being able to keep your kids fed and the house warm.

It seems grossly unfair if we get to a point where poor people are being made to feel crap in having to find money that doesn't exist - or otherwise be ascribed guilt for stopping the whole year from going - to pay for a luxury treat... just to make the parents happy who could easily take their families themselves on the same trip in the holidays or at the weekend with hardly a second thought.

It's not just people on low incomes or poor people, it's people on incomes that comfortably support their families yet don't have endless £ for the extras - school trips, hoodies, discos etc.

No, indeed. Plenty of people have enough for what they need, but they don't have an arbitrary £20/£50/£100 spare for frivolous extras - whether it's that they would have liked them or just that the school/organisation is going from the assumption that everybody wants and can easily afford them.

It's one thing when you see adverts everywhere trying to entice you to buy luxury products - many of which a lot of people could never hope to afford; but you would hope that school might be a safe space that's free from those social pressures, and not seeking to add to them.

When I said used to, yes past tense, however still in similar job where I do know. Most schools budget for those who cannot afford trips. It is against school policy to not be inclusive of those financially disadvantaged. A £45 trip is a lot to ask of anyone, especially those already struggling.

I’ve been a PTA chair for the last 7 years. We were never approached by school for using our funds in this way and we are in a deprived area.
if the school had asked us we would have agreed because we took the view that the school knew best where to allocate the funds but all the things we funded went towards all the things that a school couldn’t buy but which enriched the curriculum: tablets, school garden, instruments etc.
we are sadly closing our PTA because the last 4 years have been a nightmare of people just not wanting to give or moaning about what minimal fundraising we ended up doing. I can only imagine what a can of worms funding these situations would have opened.

Speak to the school. Most (if not all) schools have a hardship fund for exactly This situation. Often no need to be on FSM

So many posts on MN are nasty about school PTAs. But just look how many on here are saying " the PT a will contribute" " that's what the PTA is for" " the PTA will always make sure no child misses out". I hope all the PTA haters remember this next time they are moaning about being asked to put in a couple of hours of volunteering at the next fundraiser .

Always the same. The ones who moan the most are the ones who do the least.

That’s really sad, but I believe you. Luckily the small primary schools round here raise tens of thousands, but when pupils move on to secondary school, it is very hard to get parents to engage.

Pleas don’t t let anyone in this platform Guilt or pressure you to live beyond your means. You clearly stated you cannot afford the full payment. Definitely speak to the school as they will have a school fund for this sort of thing.
i have had to let my child’s shill know I couldn’t afford a trip, they clearly stayed on the trip email if we had issues paying to let them know as they have a fund and may be able to help.
i have already paid for 2 £30 trips and a £450 trip plus spending money this year alone so I didn’t have it at the time. School covered the cost and I’m grateful.
i hope your child has a lovely time.

Schools are an absolute joke the amount of money they ask of people. Demand you go there but then ask you to fund trips they decided to go on. 45 bloody pound like from each child? Say they got it from everyone and the class had 23 which is what the average class size is. They're going away on a day trip having charged over a grand. It's just not on.