AIBU to feel annoyed at school for selling us our children's pictures?

[Minibird]

Our school had an art exhibition on the same night as parents evening and displayed a framed piece of art from each child which we could purchase for £7.50 each as a fund raiser. Kids have made loads of effort and the exhibition was lovely to see. I feel that this is a commercial enterprise (on the part of the framers) marketed with a good dose of emotional blackmail. Tonight I dealt with 2 upset kids because I didnt want to pay £15 for their pictures in naff black frames. They are worried that their art will be thrown away (I keep everything in a keep box in true soppy mum style and they know this). The parents association organise lots of really good events to raise funds but AIBU to feel that this is not one of them?

Absolutely agree with you. When ds was in Yr6, they tried this - didn't go down well with a lot of parents methinks, as they didn't do it again. I hate this kind of emotional blackmailing of parents, tbh.

Hmmm... I can see both sides. The fund raising volunteers have come up with what they thought was a good idea, you think it's not such a good idea. I can't say for sure what my own take on it is, without knowing more about what mark-up the frame providers were working to, at £7.50 the frames I guess were prob. just bought in bulk from Wilko or somewhere cheap.

It's fair enough for you to choose not to buy them, and you could explain it to your DC as a lesson in budgeting, as in your £15.00 is better spent elsewhere.

Personally I get annoyed by the constant, imaginative ways our school volunteers are asking for my money, I'd really rather just pay a fixed sum per term or year, as a fee, and be spared the bother of wine tombola, hanging basket creation, lucky dip hampers or whatever other time consuming wheeze has been dreamt up.

I do however appreciate the great equipment etc. that the funds buys!

YANBU our school only did this once, it was not popular!

My dcs school did this recently to raise money for a trip. There were five or six art pieces each but we decided how much we wanted to pay. Almost everyone paid £1 for each thing.

YANBU. I would probably have paid, but I only have one.
Some time ago, DD was at school in Switzerland. They had a whole class art thing that went to auction.
DD was super pissed off that I only bid 1000 GBP. I knew the sculpture would go for at least 10k.
I was right.

I should add, I opened the bidding safe in the knowledge that someone else would take it much higher.
Fuck knows what I'd have done had I won it. We wouldn't have eaten that month.

We have to buy the things our kids make at christmas. Each thing is £1 and they had framed pictures the kids had made in the hall. They were selling those for £10 each. Those who's kids picture hadn't been bought actually got phonecalls from reception to remind them about buying those bloody pictures.

i think yab a bit u. You dont have to buy the artwork

It's a fairly common fundraising event. You don't have to buy them, but it's a bit precious to then complain the your dc will be devastated that their scrawl will be lost to posterity if you don't.

I've never known anything like this, and agree it's a ridiculous idea. I tend to say a blanket 'no' to this kind of thing from my DCs schools.

The fundraising committee isn't there just to piss you off . They are actually raising funds to support the school your DC attends and provide things the state funding can't stretch too. Ask them what the money goes on. It's usually playground toys, subsidising fun trips etc

Then think about whether the fundraising is for valid projects. If so get on the committee and think some projects up that you think are better!

Or.... go the other route that is also hated om MN. a " voluntary donation" each year/term .... I personally would rather do this but I'm probably in the minority.

Or..... think stuff 'em and have to pay realistic rates for the fun trips eg to splash pools /seaside or what ever your year 6 have etc. THese will be so expensive due to coach hire that not enough people will pay and they wont happen...

Doubt the 'framers' wil have made any money? They are probably frames from ikea and put in by their teachers.
Personally think it's a nice way of making some money for school.
You get something that you can cherish and they make few quid to pay for equipment and books.
If you don't want it don't buy it.
When my school did this we took all the unsold pictures out of the frames and sent them home at the end of the year.

YANBU. DC's old school did something similar and had the children make 'family portraits' and after paying £5 for DD's lower school creation I was astounded to find DS's upper school creation (on same paper with same materials) priced at £15 . DH asked if there had been a mistake as the little ones were £10 cheaper, the head of PTA piped up 'these are worth more as created by seniors!'.

They had placed the lower school portraits just as you entered the hall and the senior school at the far end... I was very .

Ps. We do donate to the school but felt this was very underhand.

YANBU. It's outrageous that schools or PTAs think its ok to charge us for our own children's work. Our school did it once, and thankfully the picture was 'only' £8.00 but I thought even that was a pisstake.

I'm all for parents having a minimal amount of pressure put on them to contribute to their school, either with time or money, but that's for the parents to deal with, to the children. Yet it's children that are likely to be upset if their framed artwork doesn't get bought, especially when they make such a big deal out of it during school time.

It's not actually compulsory, clouds, you know?
You could always demand they release your child's scribble from the frame and give it back to you free of charge, if it's really so important to you.

How are they the school's to sell? Surely they are your child's intellectual property?

Our schools latest wheeze was a glam letter home saying "congratulations, your childs poem has been selected for entry in a national anthology of childrens poems, please pay £15 for the privilege of ordering a copy, don't forget the grandparents you mug"

A few Weeks letter the original handwritten poem arrived home, something I'd far rather have to keep, even if it was obviously written to a formula.

Strikeout fail. And "a few weeks later"

Obviously. Blinking phone.

No, it's not compulsory, it that is spectacularly missing the point. The fact is that there are some children that will end up disappointed that their parents can't or won't buy the pictures. Even if they are old enough to understand the value of money, there will still be children that feel disappointed. They will still end up feeling that their parent can't or won't support something that they have been working on in school that has been discussed by their teachers. That is not a positive message to send to children, and it is not fair to put parents in that position. Especially when PTAs by their very nature have much easier access to successful fundraising than any other small charity has. They have no need to do this, and when it is virtually guaranteed that at least one child will be disappointed as a direct result of what they are doing, PTAs that insist on this kind of lazy fundraising should be ashamed of themselves.

That sounds much nicer Matilda, but you weren't charged a ridiculous price, and you were made aware that you would still get your child's artwork back if you don't buy. That is the fundamental difference.

Very well put Clouds (post at 10:16:33)