Private companies running classes in state schools, DD can't go because we are poor, AIBU to complain??

[PollyPeppa]

We are below the poverty line as we have 3 DC's and DH and I are full time uni students. We worked in low paid jobs and decided enough was enough and are now hoping to get better ones after university.

DD's school had just started up after school Spanish club. We sent her along to the trial session and she loved it. We had foolishly assumed there would be a concessionary rate (as there usually is with after school clubs) but there is not as it is run by a private company so we can't afford for her to go again.

I feel this is very unfair to offer this as only children whose parents can afford to send them can go, I think it creates a divide in the 'state' system.

As a taxpayer, I have no problem with that if they are paying rent for the room and the school are using the funds for other things. If it were a private company offering after school care on the premises, do you object to that as well?

We had a private nursery in the grounds of the comp at which I taught. The school got rent, The teachers (and some of the students) had a place nearby to leave their kids. Win, win all around. You could claim the nursery had an unfair advantage because it was on school grounds and thus shouldn't take children who belonged to staff.

slavetofilofax - I have 'chosen not to work' as I had a minimum wage job, I actually have slightly more money now as a student. My choosing not to work with be of benefit to my family and society as a whole in the future. We have loans which will need to be paid back too by the way, it's not a walk in the park..

Schools are constantly advertising stuff. What about all those book company leaflets that go home advertising lower price books for children. If I am not mistaken the school library gets some rewards from these companies.
They should stop sending this advertising home in case some people dont want to say "sorry you can't have a new box set of books this month".
They had better stop all those music lessons too. They take place in school hours on school premises. Surely this is much worse?

DD's school send them home with adverts for all sorts of crap; in school, out of school, websites, book sales...

Come to think of it, spoke to a lady teaching a class at the local leisure centre who said they didn't advertise at schools because they couldn't afford what the schools charged to hand out the leaflets.

Think that might be a factor in how much shite she gets sent home with.

YANBU

The presence of these clubs means that teacher led clubs (with little or no cost attached no longer get offered.

DD's school used to have a spanish club run by a language specialist teacher (free) . Now the private enterprise has muscled in. DD would love to do it but we can not afford it along with a number of other children hence fewer children having the true opportunity to learn.

YANBU. I hope the schools are not taking any credit for this if it's nothing to do with them.

Polly, I'm sure you are doingb the right thing for your family by going to university to increase your earning potential, but it is a choice you made.

You could have stayed in a min wage job and claimed tax credits.

Personally, I think the option you have taken is far more admirable, but it is still a choice that you made, that you and yor dc will benefit from in the long term but have to make sacrifices for in teh short term.

The fact that you are doing a good thing for your family does not mean that your dd should be entitled to things that you can't afford, or that other people should have to miss out on opportunities.

I very strongly feel that schools should not be advertising the wares of private companies to the pupils at their school.

I think that is abuse of their position.

By loans I mean student loans btw, not that we have run up debts!

Thankyou SDTG, I appreciate it and you got the point I was trying (clumsily) to make.

I do think some schools get it wrong WRT the handing out of fliers etc. ALL fliers, notices and so on should make it clear that these classes have a cost, and what that cost is. If the Spanish class didn't make that clear then they are wrong for not doing so. It would not solve the way the OP is feeling, but may have stopped her sending her DD to the class.

I remember being narked when DD and her best friend came running out of Reception excitedly asking if they could go to Karate because there was a flier handed out - what was annoying was that the flier clearly stated that the classes started at age 8...so why were they handed out to 5 year olds?

DD is well aware that some of her friends have less money than her (and that some have more - her school is an eclectic mix of haves and have nots, we are somewhere in the middle). She 'shared' her birthday party last year because her best friend didn't have one and best friends mum is honest about why - result, two very happy little girls, and BF mum & me able to sit back and enjoy.

SCOTT: "You would tell your child that another child wasn't doing a class because their parents can't afford it?
SERIOUSLY?
That is appalling. You have no idea what other families can and can't afford"

Yes I did, as I said above. DD wanted XXX to go to ballet with her, XXX wanted to go. I am very good friends with XXX's mum and know fine well that she could not afford it, and the reason why. XXX is brutally honest WRT her finances and I help her when I can. The little cash she has cannot go on luxuries like ballet. I wouldn't however say it about someone I didn't know, and that I was not friends with - if DD asked I would just say "I don't know darling". Knowing that the reason XXX could not go was money meant that DD did not ask again, she understands that money cannot be counjured up from nowhere.

SCOTT - you do seem to want to think the worst of people.

polly were you made aware of the cost of the course before the taster session? How was the taster session advertised?

YABU.

I can't see why Eve is getting such a hard time here, She pointed out to her dd that she couldn't have what she wanted but she was still lucky to have more than someone else. What's so bad about that?

It could have been acompanied by a conversation about how we should never make people feel bad because they don't have things and why it's nice to share for all we know.

Im sure that written down it looks worse than it actually was.

I agree with SDTG.

A letter was sent home about it as well as a flyer and a section in the emailed newsletter. Because of the way it was put forward to us (and the children) I assumed it would be the same as all the other clubs that are run from the school and a concessionary rate would be offered. The cost was included in the letter but then they always do include this and offer a concessionary rate to those on low incomes if they sign up. So yes it was my fault for assuming, but the school seem so involved in it I thought it would be the same as teh others.

'I very strongly feel that schools should not be advertising the wares of private companies to the pupils at their school'.

I think it wholly depends on what's being advertised. Spanish classes are fine IMO and school are enabling the children to access an interesting and useful activity. It's not pole-dancing classes. It's wholly ridiculous to suggest that the possibility of some children not being able to afford it should prevent those who can from having the opportunity. And I've been the person unable to afford it.

OP you just need to say no. We can't all have what we want.

YABU - it is extra curricular.

Why on earth do you imagine that this should be subsidised? I understand your reasons for going to University but you and your DH have made the decision to do that at the same time and leaving yourselves very short of cash. Perhaps a little more forward planning would mean that your children can do whatever they want.

The school are just offering extra experiences to the children who attend their school, some will be able to do it and some will not (same with the French Club, Tennis Club at our school) - Life is like that sorry, everyone cannot have everything that want all the time.

I have to agree with journey too I'm afraid

Our school had a whole assembly devoted to the new chess club that was starting, then handed out leaflets. It worked out at £5 a session - and this was at lunchtime, so we weren't even getting the benefit of afterschool care. I complained, as I felt it was commercialism at its worst, and inappropriate.

However, in this case I assume the leaflet was handed out in the bookbags, the private teacher gave the free taster sessions at her own cost in afterschool time, and the school gained from both getting money for leaflet distribution and for hosting the classes.

The private teacher is also probably not getting a huge income, as probably only about 10 children in total from the various classes will join. (It'd be different if all the children except MissPolly joined.)

Therefore, I feel it is just one of those things, and why should anyone feel entitled to a discount - although obviously it would be nice if there were one.

Actually we had the same sort of thing come home yesterday about a drama club thing - when i googled it it was really expensive and actually too far away for us (as we have another two toddlers too), does that mean that the children who can (and we can as it goes I just don't want to) afford to go should not have that offered to them? I just said no to my DD's, they have survived.

I think that if they were doing something different with the pricing than for all other school activities, then they have handled this badly. They should have made it clear on the flyer that teh usual concessions did not apply for this course.

I think you'll have to put it down to "live and learn".

It would be worth talking to them about it (as opposed to complaining) and asking whether this is something that they are going to be increasing, have they thought about any repurcussions, will they be providing a balance of subsidised and non subsidised courses going forward etc. Is that a sort of thing for the governers? If you feel strongly then you should approach the school and see what the plans are and if you don't like them suggest alternatives etc.

talking to them = talk to the school in my previous post

Yes but this was talked about to the children, a letter was sent home to parents as well as the usual flyer in bookbag. It is being held in the school and is likely getting free use of the room if not a discounted rate than if they ran it elsewhere. They have used the school to get their little customers so perhaps they should have a responsibility to be more inclusive?

£5 to play chess in your lunch hour is bloody ridiculous unless you are being coached to be some regional champion.

The last school I worked in had a supply of chess and scrabble boards that could be played with for free. Nice on a rainy day and one nice teacher volunteered to supervise the club once a week the rest of the time. Asking for a fiver to play chess is taking the piss.

YANBU
The cost of after school clubs is quite often out of the reach of some parents- especially if you have 2/3 children. Private companies are profitting from these arrangements and i do not feel it would be unreasonable for them to subsidise a couple of places a term. and I agree with expensive pants

If you are using the club as after school childcare, could any help you get towards childcare (tax credits?) be used towards it? Just a thought, answer is probably going to be no.