School constantly asking for money

[Blurry29]

I'll admit this is a moan....

I always pay up. I always volunteer to help class when a trip is on but.....

In the last week school have asked for;

£2 science visit (held at school)
£2 another science visit (held at school)
50p easter egg hunt
All kids to take money in for cakes
£13.50 zoo trip

It seems to be getting more and more each week. It doesn't help that all the kids are informed of these events at assembly so of course get excited etc

Isn't that alot to ask for in one week??

X

Yes my dd school have asked us all to send our children into school dressed as kings and queens for the jubillee but must be homemade.iv done the charity pay. World book day.photo s .snack etc and then feel shamed into it. Thank goodness my children are away for jubillee as was panicking about making costume.

You were panicking about making a cardboard crown with sequins stuck on it?Seriously?

I feel fortunate that my children are in a school where costs are kept to a minimum. I assume the head knows that there are high levels of deprivation in the area and it wouldn't be appropriate to keep asking for money. Ds did have a vist from the animal man recently which cost us £3.50 and dd watched a play, for which we were asked to contribute £1. I think the last time we were asked for money was £2 each for Santa's grotto.

Other than that, it's just occasional raffle tickets (at 50p for 8!), one trip a year (about £10) and two or three non-uniform days, for a contribution of 30p a time.

It's true that they don't have all the enrichment experiences that children at other schools benefit from. But then neither did we! I do wonder whether some kids get overloaded with exciting experiences/days out, both inside and outside of school, so that they no longer appreciate the simple things. Although my daughter was very excited this morning about watching the raffle draw today!

I think what is most annoying is when they don't give you enough notice for it all.

We were told yesterday that for today all children needed to take in a hard boiled egg (for egg and spoon race) plus £1 to join in the fun day and easter egg hunt.

Not a problem BUT they said if children did not bring in the £1 then they could not join in.

OK for me as I only have 1 in school and we always keep change in the house for things like that.

But some parents have 3-4 children at the school and it all adds up.

Plus with only giving 1 days notice there were people who had to rush out and buy eggs and some did struggle to find the money.

I also feel sorry for ones who were not in school yesterday and may have come today with no money or egg as they would not have known about it.

I know I don't take my purse with me on school run unless I am going shopping straight after. But luckily I live close enough to pop home and back if needs be.

I am wondering how many parents whose children are eligible for Free School Meals query where their children's pupil premiums go? (It's £600 per child this coming year. That's additional to the normal per-pupil funding for the school.)

"Not a problem BUT they said if children did not bring in the £1 then they could not join in."

If they said that in those terms then you should challenge them.

yes, it is not legal for schools to require a compulsory contribution in order to take part in a curriculum activity during school time. You should definitely complain about that.

Yes, it seems wrong that children who are attracting extra funding to the school might be excluded in some way from a school activity for being from the very backgrounds that attract the extra funding.

What did the letter actually say?