Voluntary contributions for school educational trips?

[Swankyswishing]

Do you always pay these? I always have done but I was talking to a friend who said that she never pays a penny as they are educational visits, those on benefits get them for free and she doesn't see why others should have to pay too if it's to do with the curriculum.

I have to say, I do agree with her. Lots of school trips do seem overpriced too. I'm wondering if those that do pay are charged a bit extra to pay for those that don't pay?

I find the letters hard, last year we really couldn't afford to pay and it used to make my heart sink. I still felt we had to pay whatever we could.

I think you are being a bit tight really, some of the people who don't pay (or perhaps pay slightly less than requested) are people like me - my husband was at risk of redundancy and we had to account for every penny. Now things are improved we pay. My son deserves a trip too.

I don't care if I'm now subsidising someone who can;t afford it but to subsidise someone who could pay but is too busy worrying about someone else not paying to cough up, that's a depressing thought.

There are some very poor people struggling to pay. Only those on IS get them free and many working parents are currently living far beyond that level once transport has been paid for, plus meals for children which those on IS also get free but on WFTC don't

So why should the working poor subsidise the wealthier so called poor on IS. You can get free school trips with an income of 16K on income support but families with WFTC with less than this contribute the full lot. Fair ??

Imo if you don't pay regularly then your child should not be able to go.

If your short of cash a particular time then I think the school should pay once or twice for any child, but not all the time.

At the end of the day the trip is to benefit your child.

Bit of stealth boasting for you there, eh, lovingthecoast. Good for you for having the money to buy those luxuries for yourself and your children. Give yourself a pat on the back that you can afford private schools and private health care AND school trips. Some of us, that aren't on benefits BTW, find it hard to stump up £12 by the end of the week for yet another trip. Going back to your phrase, that's hardly rocket science either is it?

your school doesn't have an excess of £20k in the PTA account"

The PTA has an excess of £20k in its account.

Glad some of you have seen the point of what my post was about rather than just assuming I was being an arse with no sense of social responsibility.

The only time I ever didn't pay one of these contributions was when I genuinely didn't have the money. It was quite an expensive trip, and the money just wasn't there. I just assumed my son wouldn't be going and thought nothing of it. The school phoned me to ask for the money and I told them I didn't have it, they got shirty and "insisted" he needed to go as it was for the curriculum, and I ended up in tears on the phone and put the phone down. I was mortified and very upset. A bit later, they phoned back and said he could go as it was important and it would be ok. Then on the day of the trip, they took him to the theatre for the educational bit and actually detoured the coach full of pupils back past the school at midday and dropped him off to sit in another class doing make-work while the people who had paid went to the fun part of the trip at a play park place :(
I know the schools are legally required to not exclude people from anything because of funds (or lack of funds) and that's why they say these contributions are voluntary, but sometimes I think they just don't realise how tight money can be for some families (and not the famillies on benefits necessarily, it is often the case that families with one parent in a low paid job and the other at home, are the worst off because they don't get the free school dinners/prescriptions/no council tax to pay etc etc ad nauseum that the people on benefits get)

How the hell is it stealth boasting??? I was trying to point out that in lots of circumstances it is perfectly normal and reasonable to contribute to something you don't actually use.
If you cannot afford to contribute then speak to your school office. At no point on the thread have you suggested that you are struggling to pay only that you don't see why you should when others don't either.

Do you really think your school trips are overpriced OP?

You don't pay more to cover others quite he opposite. Ofte the trips are good value once you ake entrance, supervision and transport into the equation. The school funds can only cover so many students, whose parents would otherwise have to refuse their child going.

You have paid your share, no one elses.

YANBU to pay what you are asked to contribute if you want your child to go on the trip, as you have been doing.

Your friend is a selfish twat

Swanky, kind of unnecessary to launch into a personal attack don't you think?

I pay for school trips even though at times I can't afford it because I don't see why my dc should go for nothing and also because I couldn't affort to take the whole family to these places so if not for the trips my dc would miss out.
However, I don't pay the regular school fund amounts that ds's school keep demanding that I pay by direct debit, no matter how many snooty letters they send me.

some are, yes AVoidka. However I do understand that a coach costs money, insurance costs money etc. But to me, £12 is a lot of money, especially I am asked to pay it and hand it in 2 days after getting the letter. I know some of you will think "pah that's no amount", but to some people it is a lot

To go back to the OP - someone has to pay though, and the school doesn't have funding for trips. So it has to be funded either by the PTA / other fundraising / the parents of the children who are going.

FWIW, yes, I always pay, and would gladly pay a little more to cover the costs of those children whose parents can't or won't pay.

Ah but yes I forgot, if you are in the majority view on here you can insult the OP if you disagree with them. If you are the OP and dare to disagree with what someone has said then you cannot insult back.

You are sounding ridiculous! You have started a thread saying that a friend pointed out that she didn't pay because those on benefits didn't need to and you then said you thought she had a point! What sort of reac5tion did you expect? If you had posted that you were struggling then I would hav eposted, 'not to worry, go in a speak to someone in the office.' But no, that wasn't the premise of your post at all!

kaluki, it's really bad that the school demand that from parents. I don't blame you for refusing to set up a direct debit.

I suppose its what you get for your £12. I have paid £11 for DS1 to go and visit a local stately home's grounds to do a study. I also paid £11 for him to go to Jorvik and Dig it (in one day) which was subsidised by the PTA.

Can't speak for other schools but at ours they are only voluntary in the sense that no pay, no get

Your choice is where the voluntary bit comes in!

So much so that for the last trip the kids whose parents hadn;t paid (at least one I know where dad had just been made redundant and has since lost the house so probably bigger worries) were lined up at lunchtime (afternoon trip) for the parents to collect in full humiliating view of all the other kids- shameful.

So your problem is with the school giving short notice about the cost of the trips?

Get a few parents together and suggest they send the letter out as soon as the trip is booked.

That'll give you a while to save up the £12