To give less to the school 'voluntary' contribution

[mosschops30]

Ds1 primary (catholic) ask for a voluntary donation every year, suggestion is £15 per family.
Last year they put in the newsletter they were very disappointed with the donations.

WIBU to just give a cheque for £10 instead

No, of course not. I expect they would be far more pleased with your donation of £10 than the high numbers of people who think 'I can't / don't want to give that much, so I won't give at all'

I guess it depends what the purpose of the donation is and how able you are to afford it. You have to weigh up which need is greater - your need or whatever need the school has for it. If they are just asking for money 'blindly' then I do not see why you should just be expected to pay up. Similarly if you can spare it and they use it to subsidise uniforms for poorer children etc you should.

It depends on your reason for sending a £10 cheque

What is the donation for?

What isthe voluntary donation for? Do they specify particular projects etc? Is there a PTA?
Give what you can reasonably afford and want to give. They shouldn't be guilt-tripping people.

No, sounds fine.

are they disappointed in the overall contribution as in not everyone paid? or that they only got the suggested 15? if the latter i'd give a fiver.

If you could easily afford it, and you send your child to the school because of all the extras they are able to provide with the money, or you appreciate the extras then YABU.

If you struggle to pay £10 then of course YANBU.

In the context of a whole year, an extra £5 would cost you 10p a week.

I never contributed to my dc's school fund even though I was a governor there - its voluntary after all. YANBU to decrease the sum if you so choose.

our "voluntary" contribution is 90 quid, and you have to pay it. As well as 50 for art supplies and 100 for books....

Some schools are very under funded. Inner London boroughs get loads of money but some of the outer boroughs are given considerably less. Schools in some areas really struggle to get equipment. From what I know about school funding I think £15 is fair.
Unless you can't afford it in which case don't pay it

Yes disappointed that a lot of families didnt contribute.
Its says its for the building and maintenance fund.
I have no idea what they spend the money on but we do pay out during the year for PTA events, cake sales, mufti days, school trips (£8 to local castle )

I'd be interested in how much they accrued and what it's been spent on before commenting.

Be interesting to know what they spent the part of their budget on that is allocated for building and maintenance then?

manicbmc

Very much so.

Is it a volutary aided school? If it is did you choose it for the Catholic education and for the fact that they have a bit more freedom to operate as they see fit? If you did and you can afford it then you should pay.

Do they have a nice building? Is it well maintained? Is it nicer and better maintained than other schools in the area? Was this part of the reason you chose it? If it is and you can afford it then you should pay.

How would you feel if building work needed to be done, but the school didn't have the funds to do it? How would you feel it is wasn't well maintained? If you would be annoyed/complaining/unhappy that your child is being educated in a substandard building then you should pay (if you can afford it).

We pay £105 per year, £15 seems cheap :-(

blimey youve just reminded me that we are meant to give a voluntary contribution too....

i think DD must bin the letters.
i havent written a cheque for this for ages....i had completely forgotten. id best send something and say a few hail marys....

Yes, it's true that Catholic schools have to raise 10% of their funding themselves. We pay £60 per year at the Catholic secondary school which I know is pretty cheap for a Church school.

I don't think £15 per year for the primary school is too much, really, unless you really, really can't pay it at all.

£15 is only 2.50 a week and that taking out 6 weeks holiday and half terms

I pay £10 a month per child plus 25 a year towards the gardening and building decor so £15 a year seem very reasonable. and i don't mind because my children get the benefit

Voluntary means NOT compulsory.

A lot of Church Schools are 'Voluntary Aided' which means they have to find (I think it's) 10% of the budget for buildings and maintenance themselves, hence the request for people to contribute, and a suggested amount, so they can budget around that.
Surely £15 a year is only 38.5p per week, McHappy ?
When you put it like that, it's not a lot really - when I started teaching (in a very deprived area) 24 years ago the school used to ask for 50p a week for 'school fund'. Think about how other prices have gone up from the 1980s (check out the thread on 'first jobs'), then a contribution of less than that 50p seems a bargain!

sorry my figures was way out, however if the OP can afford spa days for her DD 16th birthday and spending money for a hoilday plus new clothes then £15 is not alot if you ask me

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/1477032-To-think-that-150-for-a-prom-dress-is-ridiculous