to think a voluntary contribution of £25 a month per child to dd's primary school is excessive?

[ineverthoughtidsaythis]

We're new to all this but they're talking about needing to keep class sizes at their current level (30) and improving the school's foyer. It's a great school and we're keen to support it in any way we can, and can afford the amount, but it's an affluent area and we just feel like they're being a bit cheeky...if everyone paid that amount they be £120k up.

YANBU. Every other school manages to keep class sizes down without demanding payments from the parents - in fact by law they have to keep the infant classes at that size anyway.

Maybe suggest the PTA rallies round to help do up the foyer?

Well it i IS voluntary. Just ignore.

(But yes, v. v. cheeky of them.)

I know schools that do this and I find it really insulting. That is what we all pay tax for! They should not need to ask for more.

I would refuse.

I thought they weren't allowed to do this ? Our reception class got in trouble for asking for a voluntary donation of fifty pence per week for craft supplies .

Clue is in the name - voluntary - don't pay, we pay for everything else - support all activities (which are numerous) but rarely pay the voluntary contribution - not always deliberate - often forget and lose the letter!

Dd teacher is the only teacher in the whole school that asks for voluntary contribution of £1 per week.

Every day the children get a snack, she even bought a fridge to keep water bottles and the snacks in.

She is an amazing teacher.

But £25 is rather steep

YANBU - they should manage their resources to keep class sizes to an appropriate level and an improved foyer is a "nice to have" but I'd doubt the impact of it on your DC's education.

£25 per child per month?? are you sure? so if you had 3 DC in the school that's £75 a month or over £2 a day.

ye gods - till a couple of years ago it was £5 a family per year at our school - and they stopped asking for even that as so few paid it.

even at DDs secondary its only £15 a year, again voluntary

Ours is £25 per term, per family. The school has been expanding recently, my dd got a place because of that expansion. But the school needs to self fund 10% of the building costs. I'm happy to pay this contribution.

Our schools requested contribution is £5 per month per family. I have 2 DC at school, £5.

Yep! A month!! Per child!!! I'd be more ok with it if it was going towards books, computers etc etc (although they seem pretty well resourced as it is) but the argument that a new foyer will somehow affect children's expectations and work ethic is pure projection. What 11 year old cares about the foyer (which looks perfectly fine to me)?
It just feels very greedy and I know it will alienate the vast majority of parents, leaving just a few who will contribute.

If they never, ever asked for anything else (snack money, trips, swimming, music lessons, fundraising bake sales, sponsored wotsits, fetes, concert programmes, ice cream fridays, non-uniform days etc etc then maybe, just maybe.

But only if the familes who contribute time (helping with trips, hearing kids read, gardening etc etc) were recognised as having made their contribution already.

Bloody hell. There's no way I would pay that money.

For me that would cost £75 per month. There's no way I would pay it. Has the school a fund raising committee ? Our school raises extra funds through various fundraisers throughout the year.

Agree with MissyMayhem totally!

I never heard of this! I certainly won't be paying £50 a month for my two children to attend state primary.

They have a very active fundraising committee. Plus I'm sending £11 tomorrow for a school trip and buying a £20 family ticket to the summer fair next month. Plus I volunteer to help out at every available opportunity. And very happy to do all the above. But relieved to hear I'm not being a miserly old bugger and that the VC is an unusually high amount.

No way would I pay. They are trying it on!

I will be charged the same for new PTA. I'd rather have a bloody foyer tbh. I don't win tombola...

I would pay this without hesitation to keep my DC's class size down. It's not ideal that you're being asked but schools are massively underfunded and increasing their income is likely to improve provision. Your child gets one childhood to enjoy and big classes are difficult places to be. Plus life is a lot less challenging if you succeed academically first time round. I would pay in a heartbeat for these reasons.

weird, we don't have any such contributions & our avg class size (KS1 & kS2) is about 27. It must be financially possible.

I used to pay that per year at my eldest DC's secondary school. I didn't mind as it was for extras.

No way per month!

Madness!

Maybe I'm being thick here but how does it help them to keep class sizes down if parents pay money? Surely they can just say 'we have no more spaces' once they are full?

Ok. Just veered into the tapeworm thread in discussions of the day. Which has kind of put my problems into perspective.

Our school manages to keep class sizes under 30 with no voluntary contribution.

We have the usual non uniform, Christmas/summer fair etc.

No way would I pay £25 per month, I couldn't afford it.