Two tier education within state schools?

[Katapolt]

DD is starting state secondary in September.

We are not well off, I'm a single parent of three DC.

The school is very big on drama and performing arts, which DD loves.


Reading through the welcome pack today there is a performing arts school during school hours. Pupils attend during normal lesson hours.

Most of the pupils attend, it has lots of benefits apparently, extra ucas points being one and getting further ahead in the subject being another.

The problem is it is £300 a year...

I just feel it's giving pupils of wealthier families a distinct advantage in the subject. fair enough having a club after school, but this is during the school day.

Aibu?

[Katapolt]

I'm going to call them after half term. I only had the chance to read through the welcome pack yesterday evening.

[monkeysox]

AFAIK parents don't choose how pp funding is spent.

[BertrandRussell]

Hmm. I'm a bit torn about this now. That's how music lessons work in secondary schools-there is class music and individual lessons you pay for. I think I would want yo be sure that the people doing the extra drama were doing something completely different to the exam syllabus. And I'd also want to know how many were doing it and how many weren't.

[lljkk]

Reading through the welcome pack today there is a performing arts school during school hours. Pupils attend during normal lesson hours.

DD had school violin lessons on rota, but that was 15-20 minutes maximum once a week missing part of a regular lesson for individual music tuition. I can't see performing arts sessions working in 15-20 minute individual blocs. Music lessons were £360 a yr, so I suppose the cost is similar.

DD's school does BIG musicals & every part of them is after hours, even though 75% of pupils are bussed to school so parents have to fetch or deliver out of hours. Their productions are to a very high standard. We pay About £50 for costume & script costs. Would OP's DD still have a good chance to be in performances without going to the £300 programme?

Can you write to the governors about no subsidy for low income kids? Would they pay attention to a parent's letter if it is an academy??

[Yeeeoooo]

It's only £8 per week op, is there nothing you can cut back on to fund this yourself? Perhaps look to retrain or increase your earning potential for the future years when your other kids start? Will all your kids want to do this?

[fleecyjumper]

As you mentioned UCAS points it sounds to me like this is for LAMDA drama and speech exams. This would be just like peripatetic music lessons. My son's school does this and so does his drama school. Even at the drama school those that want to do the LAMDA exams have to pay extra for the LAMDA prep lessons. Their UCAS worth is minimal and only for a few universities that offer on points. Most universities are only interested in A level exam grades.

[irretating]

It's only £8 per week op

Pretend you've got no money, how does £8 a week sound now?

YANBU OP, there should be provision for students from low income families. It does give an advantage to better off students and in a state school this is absolutely not on.

[fleecyjumper]

As you mentioned UCAS points it sounds to me like this is for LAMDA (or equivalent) drama and speech exams. This would be just like peripatetic music lessons. My son's school does this and so does his drama school. Even at the drama school those that do the LAMDA exams have to pay extra for the LAMDA prep lessons. Their UCAS worth is minimal and only for the universities that offer on points. Most universities are only interested in A level exam grades. It is no necessary to do LAMDA exams at all and it won't stop her from being in all of the other drama stuff at school.

[fleecyjumper]

Sorry for the double post.

[alltouchedout]

All the "it's cheap" and "surely you can afford this" comments... The OP has said she could likely stretch for one dc if she budgeted hard. To some of you it likely comes as a shock that £8 a week can be very hard to find. When your income is very low that £8 may as well be £50 and it's really, really annoying when people don't understand that.

[whois]

"Lessons take place during the school day in a rota system. Students will be given a timetable at the start of term. They should write these in their journals as may be asked to show their teacher before they come out of lesson"

Right so it's actually just like a normal music lesson. These have been going on during school timetable on a rota so you miss a little bit of different lessons each week for bleeding years. It's not some special academy for rich kids.

Stop moaning OP. If you can't afford music / drama / dance lessons that's that. Like you say, maybe you could have paid for one child but not three. Your choice.

[BoGrainger]

Who has said pp can't be used for this? This is exactly what it was introduced for.

[Yeeeoooo]

Typical of modern society, only advice of how to get others to fund your life will be deemed acceptable, why not just struggle through with funding the first child yourself and look to plan for later children by retraining/looking to increase earning potential? I assume there will be a few years gap between? Why is the goto response "look to see how you can get others to fund your life choices hun"

To be fair I am not coming from a position of luxury here, very recently turned down a new phone and went sim only to help fund an activity my DD wants to do.

Sorry if this is goddy etc but it's obvious the first and basically only advise people receive here is "look into how you can get others to fund it" and it contentious to remotely suggest self sufficiency.

[andintothefire]

Stop moaning OP. If you can't afford music / drama / dance lessons that's that. Like you say, maybe you could have paid for one child but not three. Your choice.

That's not fair. The OP is quite rightly (a) trying to do the best for her child and work out how she can get help to pay for the opportunity, and (b) pointing out an inequality that lots of people on this thread clearly agree is not OK.

I only had music lessons because I had a brilliant head of music who offered to teach me for free for a couple of terms. My parents simply could not have found the money on top of everything else. By the time I came to take my grade 8 exam, they were in a better position to pay for lessons fortunately. But without that kindness at the start I would have been deprived of a skill that has not only earned me a bit of money in my life (not enough to pay for the lessons admittedly!) but has given me so much enjoyment and opportunity. I feel so strongly that all children should have that chance, and that as a country we deprive ourselves of lots of talent if we don't support that.

And actually, LAMDA exam lessons can be brilliant and should not be dismissed - IME they can greatly improve confidence and give more opportunity to work on individual performing skills than group lessons or school plays alone. No wonder so many working class actors are struggling to make it if the inequality starts not just when trying to fund drama school fees and living costs, but in schools themselves.

[BertrandRussell]

Or, in other words. Poor person, know your place.

[TheWindInThePillows]

This is what we pay for individual music tuition in school hours, about £300 or slightly more a year. I didn't pay for several years because we couldn't afford it, now a relative of mine has paid for two years, but this is stopping and I can't continue the payment.

I have to be honest, it hasn't occurred to me that it is bad to say to a child that they can't do something for money reasons, mine don't do many extra clubs as they cost money, we tend to only do free school activities like netball!

It is a bit different if it is something pretty much all the children do, but if they are running ordinary lessons, presumably they don't all do it.

I would pay for the first child if you can manage it, see if it is worth it/any good, and ask if there are any hardship funds for the second/third. It may be your other children are not that fussed about drama/music anyway.

It won't harm to ask if there's any discretion about the payments.

[BoGrainger]

What a horrible couple of posters.

[Yeeeoooo]

Or in other words l. Poor person, don't get caught in this never ending cycle of benefits for this, payments for that, meetings about this fund or days filling in forms and stressing about what to claim and how to do it, nothing will ever improve and you will still be looking funding from others until the end.

Set out a 4 year plan, certainly avail of funding to do a NVQ course at a local tech, don't make excuses and help yourself, you can do it!!!

[BoGrainger]

£300 a year for individual music lessons will be subsidised somewhere. Hope this isn't the case in these drama activities. That would be doubly unfair.

[lljkk]

DD did lamba, after school & at lunch times. We were never charged.
I gather DD enjoyed it but didn't bother after yr8.

[m0therofdragons]

"Only £8 a week"? Right but the op has pointed out that with all three dc there it's going to be £24 a week. Either way, if you don't have it you don't have it. Some comments on this thread are very ignorant! There are people in this country who are genuinely living hand to mouth but it seems some Mnetters live in their own world with their rose-tinted glasses. Op it sucks but chat to the school and see what they say.

[AuntieStella]

In our school, both music and LAMBDA lessons are paid-for and scheduled as OP described (rolling programme, so they don't keep missing the same lesson). Also. Some of the after schools clubs (where external coaches are used) are also paid for.

I suppose the answer has to be that if they cannot be provided free to all pupils, then they should no longer be provided.

Those with parents who can pay will continue to use providers outside school hours. Which may be more expensive and certainly is less convenient. The barrier remains, making it even more exclusive.

You can't level the playing field in terms of coaching/achievement, but you can take it off school premises.

[situatedknowledge]

OP you need to talk to the school and explain your situation. It is entirely possible that the school allocates funds to cover those in genuine need. The question would be if you have genuine need, rather than it being something one of your kids quite fancies.

[CalleighDoodle]

Actually thats as ignorant as youre claiming others to be. Many, many single parents retrain or increase their hours at work to cover extras such as swimming, dance and music lessons. The first question should always be what can i do? I dont think it is at all rude or ignorant to ask if everything had been done. And yea that does include working mord or changing jobs.

[Pico2]

Have a look for the school's policy on charges. It might be called 'charges and remissions'. Our school does pay for instrumental lessons for children who qualify for pupil premium and I'm sure that's pretty common.

I don't know the ins and outs of your situation, but if you qualify for pupil premium then it seems entirely reasonable to me that finding £24 a week wouldn't be easy. It might also be problematic if it has to be paid for as a lump sum.