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.

I've never worked in a school where parents were charged to watch their own kids performing. Is that fairly normal?

I've paid £5 per ticket for the school play!

Have you sent your email? You may have a point about charging to watch a performance but you are embarrassing yourself with the rest of it. Those fairs are set up and manned by volunteers trying to raise funds for the school your children attend. They will be really ticked off to hear your complaints. Would you rather no events like this took place? Bet you would complain about that too. Join the organising committee if you are that exercised about it.

I work in a deprived area and at our school we are this year asking for a tin of food instead of money for a ticket. The food will be donated to a local homeless shelter that the school has links with.

I get pissed off making cakes for fundraising and then they change a ridiculously small amount of money for them - often 20p. I've stopped baking now, would rather just hand them a few quid and save my time for something else.

Every (secondary) school I worked in (all in deprived areas) charged for the school performance. Refreshments were available at a nominal charge. I don't see what the problem is.

I get pissed off making cakes for fundraising and then they change a ridiculously small amount of money for them - often 20p.

It doesn't bother me at all, 2 dozen cakes makes nearly £5. Parents won't/can't pay more than 20p a cake so the PTA wouldn't make any money if they put the prices up.

I think charging for secondary school performances is different to charging for primary school shows.

My son brought back the cake (small loaf size) one year for £2.50.

Yanbu. Look on the bright side though - at least you pay one admission charge to watch both your daughters. You could be paying to watch the nursery one and the reception one!
Don't buy cupcakes or programmes.

Alldirection as the person who wastes an evening makes good quality chocolate cupcakes which I'm sure probably cost me £5 in ingredients (not including my time - and I'm self-employed and charge clients by the hour). I would absolutely prefer to give the PTA £5 and have an evening free.

As it is our PTA charge 50p which means they make probably double the money it costs me and hopefully people feel they are getting something worth the money (judging by what is left ie nothing).

CHarging 20p is as much as a kick in the teeth for those who made cakes as charging £1 for a pathetic cup cake (we would give two very small cupcakes for 50p) is for those who end up paying that.

Our school nativity takes place at our local church and is free to everyone to attend. Standard costumes are reused year after year (although parents can buy or make their own if they want). We have some pupils with buckets for a voluntary charity collection at the end of the nativity.

When I was at school secondary school performances were extra curricula unless part of drama/theatre studies. IME primary nativities are a non optional part of the school day.

Re: cakes sales, easiest pricing option is 1 or 2 blanket prices which means that some you win some you lose depending on the cakes donated. (Also if price doesn't vary from sale to sale people know how much is reasonable to spend on ingredients).

Our school charge £1-50 per ticket for the Christmas play. They then donate all the cash raised to their charity of the year. It is to stop people grabbing loads of tickets that they don't use. The school are also very approach able if anyone couldn't manage the price. Programmes are 20p. Costumes are mostly supplied by school unless it is something simple like a plain tee shirt etc.

I love our school.

Submit a bill for your DC's labour during the performance... and yours during the making of the costumes if you did have to make; otherwise, for a paid performance they're responsible for supplying costumes. YANBU on the main point -- schools shouldn't charge you to watch your own child.

While I see that schools like to raise £££ for themselves or charity in these austerity days, mandatory fees to watch your children are a form of blackmail.
I'd say, speak up, email the head and the governors: remember you're not speaking only for yourself but also for other parents who can't pay. If there's a charge it should be optional.
Those of us who can afford it can optionally choose to pay more -- that's what I do at DS2's school, which caters to special needs, and therefore has the full range of income groups.