To think that school is taking the Mickey a little bit?

[TheSpokenNerd]

This week I have paid 2.50 for a party for DD2...2.00 to see my DD1 in a dance festival, 2.50 for a special England Meal (which ALL the children will want so if yours has sandwiches, please consider letting them have school lunch on this day)

and have been asked to take in....One huge plastic cup full of sweets/small toys for tombola, a toy with a "summer theme for the nursery raffle hamper...new please"...

1 bottle for bottle stall, cuddly toys for cuddly toy stall AND pay a pound for non uniform day....they want this bounty ALL together on Friday.

I do contribute...always run a stall at fairs and help when I can generally...I just think they don't really consider that all these pounds mount up...as do the "toys and sweets for the fair"!

I now have to go out, buy sweets and small toys AND bottle as we don't drink and I simply do not have "spare bottles" of anything in the house...I also had to spend money I haven't budgeted for on all these pounds for this and that! AIBU to think they need to reign it in a bit?

You don't have to do anything you know.

Being asked to do something and having to do it are not the same thing at all.

I have 3 kids....I so know this

YANBU!! That is ridiculous. I would have to say no to most of it. Well, payday tomorrow, so would have had to say no last week, could manage this week but it would make next week harder!

I hate the end of the summer term - it's so expensive then there will also be the cost of the school trip - I've got 3 in primary and it all really adds up

Plus it is the ONLY week in which we may order school uniform (not available anywhere to buy) and pay for it too and my thngs come to thirty pounds! And that is with only buying the very minimum!

I can't afford 2 logo sweatshirts at 12 pounds each and 2 logo tops for pe and two logo polos and a special frigging bag for DD2! what the eff are we meant to do?

Well you could start by not paying for things they are asking for and stop assuming they're telling you to pay them.

Do they insist on logo'd uniforms or do you get a choice?

I know some schools don't give a choice but some school's do.

Like worra says you don't have to do any of it!

No idea on the uniform conundrum though!
Why can you only order things now? What happens if the children grow mid-year? Can you not buy bigger stuff?

At our school you can order all year round, plus logo uniform is optional. Cheap Tesco/Asda/wherever stuff is allowed too.

YANBU. However it gets worse. DS in Y7 and had to pay £3.50 per seat to watch what is effectively his assembly. Big family so bill came to £17.50. Used fancy automatic online ordering system but tickets have to be one price so no concessions for 2 x grannies and DD DD goes into Y7 this Sept so I'll have two lots to pay next year. Crazy!

they don't insist Worra but the newsletter sometimes has snotty little reminders like "Please do not send children in any clothing with sportswear logos on them...we know not everyone can buy school issue clothing and we can't insist they do but plain is acceptable only"

And that makes you feel they look down on you if you get an Asda cardigan! I never send mine in sportswear btw but the school things are SO expensive in comparison.

nickname you have to go into the office and ask if they have anything left over from past orders and if not, just buy from M&S or Tesco or whatever. they do one order a term...not a half term but a term...so that's three!

You don't have to do anything you know.

Trouble is your kids don't want to be the ones that don't bring anything in, that's how the school's get you their not daft.
My granddaughter's school have stuff left right and centre and it costs a fortune it's ridiculous.

I agree with Worral, you don't need to do half the stuff, if you can help, help, I can't I work full time, if you can supply bottles, I did a 2 for 1 offer on fairy liquid last time, each child took them in, embarrassingly we won 3 bottles of very Nice wine.
teachers don't keep a book on who did what, I think they have enough on.
do you see what I did I read bottles and didn't thing wine, they are asking for bottles of anything hopeing some people will only think wine.

So you don't have to buy the logo'd stuff either but you feel they'll look down on your if you don't?

Seriously, teachers generally don't give a shiny shite whether the uniform is logo'd or not as long as it's within the uniform policy and functional.

I think this is more about your need to relax than the school being out of order. No-one is going to know (nor care) what you did/didn't donate and if your child isn't bothered about having a school dinner, don't buy them one.

If you started saying no instead of doing it because you "feel you have to" then it would be fine. If you can't afford school uniform, suggest a second hand sale to sell on your stuff.

Our school only do a school uniform order 3 times a year, October, February and May. So you're not alone there.

I know I need to chill....as a kid I often had the wrong things or didn't bring tings in when I was meant to...Mum sometimes forgot when I was meant to bring something special in....she worked a lot and did her best but I always felt odd out.

I reckon it has made me paranoid and I try too hard to make sure I tick ALL the boxes.

WRT bring a bottle - you will find lots of people take in a bottle of pop.

I don't see the problem with the sporting logos not being allowed. It's not because school looks down on you if you can't afford the logo sweatshirts - it's because they don't want Nike and Adidas logos strewn all over. Plain looks much better.

You don't have to contribute so much to the school fairs - they are asking not demanding and their won't be anyone sitting ticking names off a list and saying 'so and so's mum only brought in a packet of skittles'.

manic I know and I quite agree about the sports logos....I have just been to B&M bargains for the 1st time and got a good few things for very little. Valium I don't know if it is my school but last year, the table was loaded with good wine and not ONE bubble bath or cruddy handwash amongst them!

I'm a bit surprised that you arecomplaining about this. Is it £5000 a year it costs the government to educate each pupil at a state school? And you're quibbling over less than £20 and uniform costs?

I'm sorry, I'm not trying to annoy you but I just really don't understand how you cab receive a (good, presumably) FREE education for your child but complain about extra which presumably go to the school to pay for extras/boost their funds.

If you really can't afford these things then be selective and say no to some of then.

But honestly, I have lived in rural Uganda where parents sacrifice EVERYTHING to pay for their children to go to school. At least 50% of their income. No free state schools in the areas I lived in.

Again, really don't mean to cause offence. Sorry if it sounds harsh, but you're paying these extra amounts to support your child's education. It's worth it isn't it?!

Just re-read your op. £8 is the total they're asking for. The donations to the school fair are surely non-compulsory? Is £8 REALLY so shocking?

Disclaimer - i earn so little that I pay virtually no tax. Seriously not much at all. And £8 doesn't seem that steep to me....

Talking about schools taking the mickey, we got a letter a couple of weeks ago saying DD's class and another class are going to the zoo and they were doing a sponsored walk to raise funds. Great idea I thought, that gets round the asking for a 'voluntary' contirbution thing, people will just give what they can afford in a non-embarrassing way. So DH and I and both sets of DGPs sponsored her. As normal, when it came to paying up, I had to cover all of it as no-one else was about so I paid out £15. Yesterday I get a permission form syaing thanks for all the great fundraising, the cost of the trip is £7 a head. So I'll have paid £22 (and that's without spending money) for DD to go to the zoo! The entrance ticket doesn't cost even half of that!!!!

max I can see how that would be annoying. Because it sounds like the school weren't clear. But they are asking you to pay for transport presumably, not just her entrance fee?