to tell school that I think they are charging parents too much for Christmas concert tickets & cup cakes?!

[monkina]

I have twin 3 year old daughters who started nursery in a local primary school this year.

We have their Christmas Concert next week, for which I was asked to provide 2 Angel costumes.

My gripe is that they are charging parents £3 per person to attend, plus £2 for a photo of child &another £2 for the programme.

This comes after the Christmas Fayre last week at which we were charged £1 admission, and a tiny home made cup cake or small slice of cake cost £1 a piece!

To some people that might not sound a lot, but I do not live in an affluent area, and I know that myself and some of the parents do not have a lot of disposable income.

I know that some of the parents at the school are considerably better off than the rest of us, and this includes some of those on the Governing Body.

I told the nursery class teacher that I thought £3 per ticket on top of having to provide costumes was too much, and she was apathetic ( she is a very young supply teacher - maybe irrelevant, but a fact!) just said nothing to do with us, tell the office) so I went home and e-mailed the governing body a letter including the following:

"To my mind, the Christmas Concert at *** seems to have become more about raising money for the school than about the pleasure of watching the children have their first school concert, and I find that incredibly sad and depressing.

Since joining the school in Easter 2013 we have supported the school by attending the Summer Fayre, and more recently, the Christmas Fayre. At the Christmas Fayre we were charged the £1 entrance fee (for adults), and once inside I found everything to be over-priced. I bought 3 small cup-cakes for my daughters and I , and I was unpleasantly surprised when the lady selling them asked me for £3! I paid, but to me, £1 per (very small cupcake) is excessive and unreasonable. 50p per cake would have been a much more reasonable amount. I also do not agree with a £1 entrance fee - if you really want to charge, again, 50p would have been more appropriate.

* is not an affluent borough, and in the current economic climate many families are struggling to manage on whatever income they have. I would just ask that as Governors you re-consider the amounts £ that you are deciding to charge parents at "fund-raising" events.

Not all families have enough disposable income to waste it, not everyone has a "middle-class" life-style, and I would appeal to you as Governors to please re-think your community values and try and put families first and profit second.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I look forward to your considered response."

So, what do you think?...am I right to stand up for myself and other parents on lower incomes? Or will they think I'm just a nutty Scrooge?

PS- I know that schools have to try and raise extra funds, and I support that - I'm just not in favour of over-charging parents who can't easily afford it.

our school has always charged two quid

never thought twice about it tbh

it costs to put it on and they might decide not to do it next year if they cant cover costs

we don't pay for outfits though

our school is in a poor area. everyone goes. just don't buy the rest of the stuff.

I don't think admission charge is reasonable but charging for extras is fine.

I do see where you are coming from, that is expensive, especially when you have two. I teach in a secondary and we charge £2.50 adults & £1.50 concessions for our concert. The money raised pays for programmes which are handed out for free and usually covers the performance rights for the summer production. We charge the same for the summer production and the ticket money buys the costumes. Ticket sales are the only way we can afford to do the shows. It does sound like your dcs school is taking liberties though!

YANBU.

I hate the whole concept of schools becoming money-making machines.

They should be focusing on involving families in their child's education and welcoming you into the school...not charging you!

Even if I could afford it I would be cross, let alone if money was tight.

Good for you for challenging them.

No charge for our primary plays. Limited tickets per family though which is fair enough. Free creche for toddlers. Any donations go to a charity the children/ school council have chosen.
20 pence entrance for adults I think for xmas Fayres.
YANBU.

And let's face it, even if they charged 20p for a fairy cake they would be making a profit.

I feel your pain, and am rather glad that mine are no longer at primary school, as at secondary school round here there seem to be far fewer of these "little" extras. What there is is expensive, but overall I think I am now paying much less.

Yours is not the worst I have ever come across though. Our local primary school once teamed up with a travelling circus which set up in our town. This came into school and began coaching the children with some circus tricks, apparently free of charge. Then came the killer blow - the children were "selected" to take part in one of the main weekend shows, with parents invited to come and watch their child - for an entry fee of £15 each!!!! I was furious, as it meant a minimum spend of £30 for us plus I and most other parents felt we had been hoodwinked into what was essentially a bums-on-seats exercise by the circus, with probably some cut for the school too. Noticeably, they never repeated that one as there were so many complaints.

DDs school doesn't charge for plays. Entrance to fayres is £1 for adults and free for children. Cakes are three for £1 or 40p each. Large cupcakes are 50p each.

I agree that schools should be sensitive to costs, but parents should be sensitive to how tight school budgets are. These donations are not exactly being spaffed on champagne for the staff Christmas party.

They shouldn't charge to see the nativity but everything is fair enough.

20p for a cupcake doesn't even cover the cost of ingredients which means most decent bakers not bothering to donate anything which results in raising about £18. If you put up the prices you will get so much more people donating cakes and raise about £400. Sorry, I used to help staff the PTA cake stall and this is how that exact same scenario panned out.

You only need a performance licence for public performances with an open box office. Presumably this is for family and friends on school premises. OP , your dc are still very young and while you may have grounds, will learn in time to pick your battles otherwise you will find life very stressful and frequently be at loggerheads with the school. To change things become a pta committee member or governor. Whatever you do don't enrol your dds in dance classes as those costs will be way more.

Thanks for all the replies :)

It's good to hear different thoughts and share experiences of these things!

I realise that schools have tight budgets and need extra cash, I just wish that mine would realise that for some parents a donation instead of a set "fee" might be more appropriate when it comes to the tickets.

It's embarrassing to have to speak out and explain if you really can't afford to buy the costumes or pay the full ticket price.

As for the cup cake thing, I realise that they are just extras - I just got rather a nasty shock at the Christmas Fayre when I asked the lady for 3 teeny tiny cakes (no bigger than an egg each) and she asked me for £3!! (If they had been large, decorated cup cakes I agree that a £1 would have been fine).

Topseyt - that circus "trick" sounds terrible, what a cheek!!

I learnt at school fayres never, ever buy anything for yourself to help keep costs down...unless it's tickets for the alcohol tombola near the end of the afternoon and only if there are quite a few bottles left. It doesn't feel as bad spending a tenner on crap if you then went home with a bottle of dodgy wine.

Agree with you entirely monkina.

Schools should definitely only ask for donations, not charge a set fee. That way, people give what they can afford and want to give which might be a substantial amount, or might be nothing. It is the only way to ensure that individuals are not excluded.

I never like feeling obliged to give a specific amount to any cause, worthy or not.

Charging £3 for 3 very small cup cakes is excessive.

It sure was a cheek. They were under a new headmistress at the time, so maybe she got hoodwinked by the circus company too. It never happened again.

Ours is an affluent area but we are not charged for school performances. We are charged a nominal amount for tea and cakes. The HT suggests parents may like to donate more if they are able and some parents bung in a bit extra or tell them to keep the change.

I hate the whole concept of schools becoming money-making machines

^^
This.

Sick to death of our school nagging us for money and being harangued by PTA harridans.
Christmas Fair was an overpriced uninspiring fiasco as per usual. Thankfully they don't charge for Xmas shows but it is probably just a matter of time.
I don't even know what the school do with the money that is raised.

Our Christmas concerts are free, then when it has finished, at the doorways sweet lovely children stand with buckets to collect donations.

Schools need to fundraise. The LA budget barely covers the basics. (Different if an academy)

If you want your child to experience a rich and interesting school experience, have extra curricula activities, with decent capable staff then fundraising is the answer.

Ours funded iPads (dd spent all afternoon on one designing roman posters) and play equipment (dd had fun playing on today). We also have a forest school and inspiring forest school leader which the kids adore. Highlight of week for most of the kids. None of this would be funded by local authority. Agree charging to watch show not on but your other moans sound small minded and mean. If you think something is overpriced don't buy it. Go along to PTA meetings and say your piece rather than sniping from the sidelines.

Monkina - it might be worth pointing out to the school that when people get into something for free, this creates a feeling of benevolence and happiness, that often leads to them spending more once they are there.

My mum used to run an Open Garden fundraiser, and the committee made the decision not to charge for parking or entrance - and lots of people told them that they spent more at the plant stalls than they had 'saved' by not paying an entrance price or parking fee.

no not at all. used to be free to go to concert but then about 50p to help towards the stage.

I think at school events things shouldn't be overly dear.

Hmm I realy struggle with this TBH. I can see both sides, I am a member of the PTA. I always argue to set prices low, it breaks my heart to see the little ones who haven't got the money for cakes at the fayre its supposed to be a lovely experience for the children. What drives me to absolute distraction is the way the money raised is squandered, it should realy be spent on supporting those pupils who need it.

Fair enough to charge for extras which are actual fund raising activities but a bit nuts to charge parents to watch nativity. This is the kind of thing that the general fund raising should fund.

If they want parents to discretely provide a suggested donation I think that's also ok. However, making a formal charge for tickets is tactless.

I think the tone of the email was a bit overly harsh but YANBU in principle. I'd say 50p was a reasonable charge for each of those things, more for the photos.

I have the opposite problem in that DS's (big) preschool doesn't charge enough :o At the summer fair I overpaid for everything as it felt dishonest to pay the prices they were asking!