To think families on free school dinners should not be expected to make voluntary contributions to school outings

[reallytired]

I think that schools should use the pupil prenium for children on free school dinners to pay the costs of a child who is entitled to free school dinners to pay for school outing costs.

I think they should get rid of voluntary contributions. It is wrong the current system where someone on 50K can refuse to pay for the cost of an outing, but their child still gets to go, but someone on a low income will struggle to find the money.

We need a fairer system for funding outings.

My kids get free school meals, which I am entirely grateful for as I wouldn't be able to budget the cost of them on a weekly basis. I have always paid for school trips though. Always. The only person I personally know of who doesn't pay/contribute for them is in a position to budget for both easily, but chooses not to. Each to their own.

Luckily school doesn't do stupidly expensive trips, until they get to year six and there is the option to go on the residential trip. This is the only trip school organises which you cannot go on unless you have paid in full. The used to be a subsidy, but with budget cuts it had to be axed. There is talk of next year being the last year of the residential, as even with six months notice and a scheme in place for people to pay weekly a lot of people couldn't/wouldn't make the payments.

"That's why it would be fairer to have a 'level of income below which you are entitled to assistance', rather than an 'if you are on x benefit you are entitled to assistance' system."

I do agree with you, but schools don't have the resources to do means testing. I suppose with families recieving universal credit in the future it might be easier to see which families need help.

We have never once been asked to pay for a school trip, except the week long Yr6 residential. They use public transport, and the school fundraising or subject budgets pay the rest.

A letter at the beginning fo each year would be helpful

They could never be that organised, lol.

I think the tax "burden" in places like Sweden, Germany, is very much higher than here. UK taxpayers are too short-sighted to accept the trade off.

I think most expensive primary school day trip DC ever had cost about 14 quid, most in last 2 years have been around 7-9 quid, some cost less. y5-y6 there are residential trips, too, that cost in the region of 50/day.

Op... Do you include secondary trips to Flanders/Aushwitz/Berlin etc in this?

Or just kittle kids?

Every term then :o Anything except 2 weeks' notice for a trip the day before payday would be nice. Or the school ringing ou the day before cross that you haven't returned permission slip & payment for a trip that you didn't know about because DC had screwed it up at the bottom of their bag and forgotten about it.

What utter balls me and oh both work and we get less than a family on four that's on benefits

It makes me sick to know some of these chavs mothers spend £30 a week on fags but put in nothing for trips and outings.

At my sons primary school all children who parents are on the dole got the trip for free which ment they doubled the price for all the working parents.

We couldn't afford the £200 trip that was upped to £400 to fund those who can't get off their arse so my son didn't get to go.

As usual the hard working get punished and the lazy get rewarded

None get trips for free at our school.

In fact despite being working very low income we offfered to pay some money towards ds1's resi- he only went for one day and we drove him there (becuase of his ASD) but we offered and we paid a % of the trip.

There has never been a mention of voluntary costs either: if you pay your child goes.

If not don't bring them oin or they line them up in yard and call you to collect them.

This school is VA and has different rules so not sure how that works but annoyes me immensely.

Many parents who can'ty pay with a week's notice can with a few to clear the debt; many like me would appreciate the chance to pay trips over the eyar at a few quid a month, or would happily sahre out fundraising for trip costs- not an option at our aplce though.

'As usual the hard working get punished and the lazy get rewarded
yes that's right everybody on benefits is lazy. And smokes £30 worth of fags a week. And everybody who works is an angel and all pigs fly and the earth is flat. And never the twain shall meet and my mate's PHd educated DH who gets his cards this week and will be on benefits doesn't exist. Natch.

DD's school sent home letters for a £1,200 ski trip to canada, a £1,350 science trip to the Florida theme parks (Science??) and a £1,100 trip to Iceland within the last year.

We just fell about laughing, she is at a bog standard comp. We honestly thought that no one at all would be going but in the event only about 5 kids didnt go.

All the kids from low income families went for free. Their mothers were truly shocked that our DD couldnt afford to go.

What exactly does this teach my DD? That hard work doesnt pay?

OMG Serin, the costs of those trips are ridiculous! My DD also goes to a bog standard comp. Before she went we had heard from other parents that they offer lots of expensive trips and holidays and that there is a lot of pressure to go. But so far in two years the only holiday letter she has brought home is for a trip to Euro Disney, which at £400 or so is a lot more affordable than the ridiculous amounts you have been asked for. I still didn't let DD go though as her school are very hot on no holidays in term time because they will miss lessons, and I didn't feel a Euro Disney trip was particularly educational.

DH teaches Science at another school, he was just stunned that DD's school would think the Florida theme parks suitable for a science trip!

Verynice if you happen to be a teacher at DDs though, and going for free

the law of the land for state schools is that paying for non-residential trips in school time is voluntary.Nobody on here should be whining they can't/don't want to pay for a trip.Just don't pay and drop a note to the school that you will not be paying in accordance with your legal rights.

serin The 'free' aspect is misleading. They're in loco parents for a bunch of kids while away. Working 24 hours a day for the duration of the trip. Having to deal with anything and everything that comes up. A close friend worked two European trips in the last three years. On one she had to deal with idiotic drunken thirteen year olds, on the other she had to deal with a child learning of a family bereavement:(

maypole Fuck off. Generalisations like yours are ill-informed codswollop. Your school might have a crap attitude toward the residential. But here's an idea. Instead of just bitching and spouting Daily Mail-worthy bullshit why not try to do something constructive about it? This year the fundraisers at my school managed to raise about a thousand pounds to give a small subsidy to every child going on the residential, not just those with parents in financial hardship. Right now I am saving so that I can afford to send my own child on residential in just under a year. I've never not paid for a trip, and despite the opinion you have of me and mine, never will.

Wow. My kids get FSM because I'm a lone parent and student midwife. It's nice to read that some people here think I'm a freeloading chav. Cheers.

Don't worry about it hellsbells. These threads always end up the same. Some people just have no clue at all.

FWIW my dc have had fsm on and off and I have always paid for trips etc.

Sorry but just because you work does not mean that you have spare cash kicking about. If the families on free school dinners didn't pay anything then the cost would rise for the rest of us.

I think It would be a better idea for the whole income to be considered instead of just those on IS and JSA getting everything free and the rest having to pay full costs.

I work 20 hours a week. Am at uni part time also so can't work any more. I am also a single mum who relies on a childminder and my mum so kids don't see much of me as it is really. I have to provide pack lunches, pay rent and council tax and never have a spare penny yet my friend on IS always has spare cash and drives a nice car (mine is a banger!) She gets all rent and council tax paid and gets free school dinners, as well as £700 a month maintenence. She is a lovely person so I don't feel jealous but do think that it is a little unfair that by being in receipt of free school dinners your child automatically gets more opportunities than a child with working parents eg free music lessons and free after school clubs

I pay for music lessons alphabetti :) Going by things that are said on here, it would appear that it is a school lottery for these mysterious benefits.

Can't say I know of any school that does free music lesson or after school clubs for children on fsm.

I agree that it needs to be looked at though.

when my kids got fsm i still had to pay for trips,not once was i ever told it could be covered,we just paid,in england wtc doesnt count for fsm,i take it in other parts of the UK it does?

"This is one thing I love about Sweden. Schools and children are a high priority and are properly funded. All children get free school meals, all children get school trips paid for, all children get all materials needed for their education paid for (pencils, calucators, paper etc)."

And how is that funded...?

alphabetti, how many people claiming free school meals or other benefits actually get £700 a month maintenence though? Not very many I should have thought. I hate the stereotypes on thsi thread, ooo she's on benefits and drives a nice car. It's not the benefits that pay for that, it's her ex husband. I can't see how anyone can afford to run a car on income support, and for the most I suspect that they don't. As for a £30 a week fag habit, that's just bad parenting and budgeting, benefits or not, if it comes at the expense of the dcs school trips.

I think there does need to be something fairer put in place, as there does seem to be (at least judging by MN threads!) an increasing tide of resentment that if you work but receive a modest income you are being taken for a mug.

Those in receipt of benefits always seem to assume that everyone else has so much more than they do, as if there's no middle ground between being on benefits and being an investment banker.

Free school meals are important, but I am iffy about their being used to decide eligibility for other things. I'm particularly thinking about university fees.

Yabvu.

Why should I, on my low income, have to subsidise people on benefits? I am not bashing anyone on benefits, I have been there myself and it's crap. But when I look at some people like my friend (both parents and eldest dd on jsa, all of whom are able to work) that benefit from free school meals and more recently the free laptop scheme, it makes me mad that I would potentially have to pay for their school trips while they spend money on booze and moan they are skint.

If my dc want to go on a trip it has to be budgeted for and so far we have been lucky that it's only been small scale.

I understand that not everyone on benefits are like my friend, but it pisses me off that because I am working, it is considered that I can afford it when the reality is I am probably worse of than them some weeks.

Back in the day.....

one little girl got free school dinners and dare not mention a school trip to her widowed mom.

Trips are not necessary but meals are.