to ask the head to stop allowing this (warning: trivial)

[parakeet]

We seem to get quite a lot of leaflets put in the children's bookbags for sports clubs, art classes, language clubs, that sort of thing. Some of them are held on the school premises (although privately run), some held elsewhere. We get at least one every half term for a football club called "Make me a professional" (even the name gets up my nose).

Would I be unreasonable to ask the head to stop all this? I am on the telephone preference service that's supposed to stop cold calls (much good that it does me), the equivalent one for direct mail and have a sign on my letterbox asking for no junk mail. But I have no opt-out for the junk mail in the book bags!

YABU in that your DC may want to go to one of the clubs at some point. Tis trivial though just stick them in the recycling?

Look- its just people trying to make a living, just like the rest of us. If you don't want to buy, don't.

I'd leave it to be honest and just recycle them.

I'd also leave it, you don't want to be known as one of those mothers.

As the title says - trivial. Save your energy for battles that are worth fighting.

My children may well go to one of the clubs in future. But I'm not asking her to stop the clubs, merely to stop the continual advertising. It's junk mail. Physical spam, you might say.

I guess the school makes some money off delivering junk mail through the children though?

How else are you going to find out about the clubs? I think the head prob has better things to worry about.

YABU.

Ignore them if you're not interested, but don't prevent other people from finding out about things they might be interested in.

As someone who helps stuff book bags at the end if the school day, I'm fairly certain that even if you opted out, you would still get leaflets home sometimes because of parent helpers and TAs that have more to think about at 2.55 than ensuring you aren't inconvenienced by a piece of paper.

Is the school an Academy by any chance? We have this too and I grumble about it, but I didn't experience anything even remotely like it until my children moved to an Academy. I presume the school make money from allowing the advertisers to pass on gumpf to parents via the children.

After school clubs rely very heavily on book bags to get customers. Most of these companies work on really small profits and couldnt afford other types of advertising. If you want your children to have a choice of after school activities at a reasonable price then you will have to put up with leaflets in book bags!

How else do companies advertise things wonderstuff - posters, websites etc.

YANBallthatU... we get a few of these, but the head limits it to about 1 per term (for each type of group) and the PTA are looking into paying the administrator one evening of overtime per term to put all the various details on ONE letter. Things do get overlooked amongst the junkmail.

I don't mind a bit, and yes it's just people earning a living though I think it should be within a reasonable limit in a school reading folder/book bag.

I also pmsl when my son received about 5 business cards in a party bag, it's not good advertising, it's pissing in the wind and pissing people off.

YABU if you're considering a request that it ALL stops, but YANBU to offer an alternative. Many of these advertised clubs are things that some parents want to know about.

(Our PTA also has a noticeboard it uses for these adverts)

Well they can't go to the clubs if you don't know about the clubs.

Btw the companies don't pay the school, but in exchange for giving out the leaflets they might go in to schools and give free lessons during school hours.

Often the leaflets come from parents advertising their own new little businesses, or they come from clubs that already operate in the school who need to keep numbers up and to introduce themselves to new children.

Or they come from Small local businesses that support the PTA Christmas bazaar or Summer fete with raffle donations or by buying a stand.

I think it's great to know what's available. And if a few from the same class/school sign up it's lovely.

I like them, I find out what's on.

Feel free.. TA here and it's the fucking Bain of my life putting this in the book bags every Friday..

YANBU. And as a teacher, it hacks me off to have to act as post-lady for these things. I'm sometimes just leave them in a pile by the door and vaguely tell the children to take one if they want. Important letters from the school are put straight into their hands and sent directly to the cloakroom. Mind you, there are only 3 in the class who get paper copies nowadays, but there are always 30 of these blasted leaflets.

Or you could always do what I do with junk mail delivered to the house and re-post them in the post box.

I can see that it's annoying at times but yes, what's usually the case is that Local Tennis Club, for example, will come into school and give some free sessions of coaching in exchange for the school taking and distributing the flyers. So you get an irritating piece of paper home but a year group or whoever will have had some quality coaching they wouldn't otherwise have had.

I've never yet had the benefit of any free coaching.

Clam, some clubs do carry out free coaching in school hours, usually they will take x amount of pe lessons.

How about suggesting a weekly/fortnightly newsletter (if you don't already have one) and combing it with advertisement?

The school could either charge or advertise in exchange for goods (with a minimal charge for printng costs). Keeps it all in one place and is more likely to be read than a leaflet with no other information you might find relevant.

If a newsletter is too 20th century the concept copies over to emails easily enough.

If they don't have any type of bulk newsletter they should consider it anyway, saves everyone time and resources to send out general info for the school/particular years rather than everyone dealing with their own bits and bobs.