To be peeved at £80 class kitty demand by class rep??

[Mrbrowncanpoocanyou]

I am pretty annoyed by this. DS is in an independent school and we can just about afford the fees. A demand was sent for £80 quid per child (10 kids on the class). £800 for gifts for teacher, TA, gifts at Christmas, flowers as a thank you after the class nativity seems ludicrously exorbitant. I would much rather buy our own presents but I feel as if I will end alienating myself and ds if we don't pay. There was no mention of it being voluntary. I don't know if this standard in schools?

[coffeeisnectar]

Thank God we don't have class reps but I do live in a rather pretentious area with kids in dds class who clearly come from extremely wealthy families.

Dds teacher is absolutely lovely and has made her move to this school so much easier so she will be getting a gift at Xmas, probably something she can use once (posh coffee, nice bath things etc) so she hasn't got to find somewhere to store more things but dd will make her a card and we will write something nice in it.

If someone demanded cash from me I'd be affronted. I'm quite capable of getting something myself.

[Hoverboard]

I feel your pain. My DD goes to a normal state primary with prep school aspirations and the demands by the class rep last year were OUTRAGEOUS.
I artfully ignored all demands and suggested we were going to do our own thing, but then the class rep did a proper corker: before Christmas, a spreadsheet was sent out to all the class parents highlighting who had paid AND WHO HADN'T.
The demand for the Christmas gift was £25 per head, then there were further demands for money for sweets for the summer fair, presents to the staff for getting ofsted results, and the end of year gift request was £30.
I stuck a tenner in the pot

[BoffinMum]

Mummyofmany, that is absolute rubbish about the comparative grades differing between independent and state maintained schools and I have no idea where you got it from. The primary difference between IGCSE and GCSE is the phrasing of the questions so they are more suitable for non native speakers. Then there are a few minor curriculum variations but the examinations are of equivalent difficulty, hence the name being very similar, apart from anything else.

in terms of projecting forwards, children from maintained schools do better statistically speaking compared to children from independent schools with the same A Level grades, also disproving your theory .....

[dayswithaY]

Don't do it! That is an obscene amount of money when charities are crying out for donations.

[RascarCapac]

Lol "fairly moneyed", not "family moneyed". Could possibly have been the latter but didn't feel like it and I never asked!

[RascarCapac]

I think there is a confusion between a good idea and a ridiculous amount.

When my DC were at primary (left now but very recently, independent school, SW London) we had the same thing of an upfront collection @ beginning of year. The collected money was to cover absolutely everything needed by the class - presents to class teachers, TA's, other staff for Christmas, an Easter Egg each and something for end of school year; joint class contribution for Xmas raffle prize; Santa presents for class part;, maybe someone in the class's parent would have a baby during the year, so small present, or someone in the class would leave, nice hardback book etc. It was about £30-£35, and anything left over would be rolled into the next year (we ended up with a v small surplus in Y6, which was good as we there are lots of things to spend it on in Y6). It was a whole lot easier than collecting a fiver on 5-6 separate occasions.

I was class rep one year and we were asked to keep - and kept - really clear basic accounts showing how much we had started with, what we collected, what we had spent it on. The whole thing was run via the PTA who decided what the annual amount was going to be and there was full discussion at an early PTA meeting in the year as to whether people felt it was too much etc.

So transparently done, I don't have a problem with this. I'd rather lob in £30 in September and not have to think of a contribution to the class hamper for the Christmas raffle. But £80 feels bonkersly expensive. FWIW, mine was a family moneyed prep and I can remember there was a lot of discussion about whether £25 or £30 was the right amount.

[Muddlewitch]

That is a ridiculous amount of money, I bet the other parents would be glad of you making a stand, you will not be the only
one thinking it's too much.

As for IGCSEs, my son is doing some. He is at a state special school for children with SEBD so I do think you have been misinformed there mummy.

[Mrbrowncanpoocanyou]

Spoke to a parent today about this today and she said she was shocked at the figure. Normally it is around 50 but as there are fewer kids in the class compared with previous years, the class rep decided to split the same budget across fewer kids. That is even more maddening!
I absolutely adore sone of the gifts you and your kids have given - paintings, half eaten boxes of chocolates.

[TTTatty]

Good point. I am thinking Edexcel. Plus their Biology iGCSE doesn't have coursework but there may be a third 'alternative to practical' paper for that one?

Sorry to move away from OP!

£80 is too much. I suspect there would be a few parents who feel the same.

[CrotchetQuaverMinim]

It's probably not all being spent at once, on one person, so there's a good chance it won't need to be declared and taxed.

(still don't agree with it, but that's a different issue).

I think there are still different boards that offer iGCSE exams. I know that some of the English ones do have coursework, as I teach a few pupils who are doing that. It seems to be quite an easy board, whichever one it is. There are likely others that don't have coursework.

[2ndSopranosRule]

Oh it was the parents!!

[Keeptrudging]

2Sopranos I would hope it was (stupid) parents rather than the teacher who judged you, that sounds like a lovely gift!

[Sansoora]

Well except that the huge number of people on here with children at private school say nothing of the sort happens at their school



Well said.

[Keeptrudging]

When I have been given expensive presents by a parent (it's happened a few times) I was quite aghast/embarrassed and went to my then Headteacher to ask what to do. I was told then that it was ok if the value was below £50 (not sure if that was a 'rule' at that time), but I'm certainly uncomfortable with getting big gifts for doing my job. Little gifts, because the pupils like giving them (as I like giving them to my pupils) were nice and went under my tree for Christmas Day.

[2ndSopranosRule]

That's bonkers!!

Some of the presents parents got at the end of last year were mad. Clearly very, very expensive. I spent the grand total of £1.80 on the Teacher/TA last year. Am I Stingy? Probably. But the £1.80 was for two clip frames into which I put two watercolour paintings dd had done. She used proper stuff, good paper and spent hours on them. The teacher was always telling her she was good at art so that's what she wanted to do.

Was I judged as we handed over these paintings? Most definitely. Do I care? Nope.

[TTTatty]

As I have already said the iGCSEs are a little harder. But not because of a course work. The English DOES NOT have course work - I am certain of this as my daughter will sit it next year and will not being doing any course work for it!

[LyndaNotLinda]

I was being very polite mummy. Your post was far from pleasant so I think you've been given a pretty gentle ride.

[bloodyteenagers]

As others have said. Doesn't matter if it's an IGCSE or a GCSE the grades are the same.
As with anything you have to check with each uni. Not all will accept the English syllabus 0510 for example.

[OVienna]

Have a quiet word with the head. It
Will make the teacher feel very uncomfortable and perhaps wondering what is expected in return. Agree will be tax and disclosure requirements. In fact she could be in a situation where she/he is asked why the heck it was accepted conceivably.

[mummyofmany5]

Wow! How rude!

[mummyofmany5]

Wow! How rude!

[Bunbaker]

DD is doing IGCSE maths and it is harder than GCSE.

[MrsSchadenfreude]

Mummyofmany - what utter cock. DD2 is at an independent school and is doing "normal" GCSEs. I agree with Lynda...

[CrotchetQuaverMinim]

is the £80 supposed to cover the teacher, and the TA, and perhaps other support staff, for both Christmas and end of year gift, and perhaps other things in the year? (after a residential, etc?) It doesn't seem quite as bad in that case, though still too much. But it wouldn't surprise me if some families who do buy gifts for teacher and one or two TAs, and other specialists, for Christmas, end of term, thank yous after a trip, etc, do end up spending £50 or more over the year. So perhaps they do appreciate having a class rep just sort it all out for them, though I agree that it takes the personal element out of it and that many teachers would rather have a card and thank you from the individual child.

Though as a teacher, I wouldn't actually mind having a clubbed together gift over several little boxes of chocolates that I shouldn't be eating, etc. More likely to get something that I might use. But I don't expect gifts and am very appreciative of any little gifts I do get, as well as cards.

As for GCSEs, I know a number of pupils at a state school who are taking iGCSE English this year, and finding it incredibly easy, compared to what they had been working on in previous years. Even they are surprised that it's as easy as it is. On the other hand, I've had some maths pupils do iGCSE in previous years who found that syllabus more difficult than the other ones. So it varies a lot with subject, and also with expected grade - I've heard that some of the iGCSEs can be easier to pass, but harder to get top grades in.

[DoreenLethal]

Batshit crazy.