Paying to do compulsory subjects at school

[SideOfFoot]

DD has been asked to contribute £25 towards home economics at school. Considering she is at a state school and doing this subject is compulsory AIBU to think that it is cheeky to ask for money.

What are the consequences of not paying?

I think it depends what the £25 covers, if it means you don't have to provide ingredients for the entire school year then I'd say it's worth it.

It's for ingredients. The country voted Tory and this is what we get. Food tech will be gone altogether soon, and instead we'll have lessons on British values.

£25 for home economics? I hope that covers the whole year?

Ours also charges buy it covers all ingredients and containers to bring stuff home in. Doesn't bother me tbh

But*

If it's for ingredients then pay it it's awesome to not have to shop for them every week

Fwiw we had to bring our own ingredients 20 years ago for food tech so hardly a recent innovation

I would rather that than a list of ingredients home each week to buy!

As long as they have a system to ensure those who can't afford it aren't penalised.

Free here in Scotland in my neck of the woods.

Mind you, we don't actually have a teacher. She retired and hasn't been replaced.

Then I think it's fair enough, schools have always sent lists home of ingredients needed for the next lesson, I don't see how asking for a contribution is any different (surely it just ensures students don't forget their stuff). Maybe the school had lots of complaints about parents having to rush out to buy ingredients and thought this would make life easier.

We have to supply every single ingredient, down to pinches of salt. I'd be delighted to just have to pay - probably cheaper than all the last minute visits to the corner shop too.

I'm in Scotland and ours charges

£1.50 each practical lesson here - Scotland

No, of course it isn't cheeky. I think that is pretty cheap. Why should the school pay for the ingredients? Funding for state schools has been cut and many schools can't stay within their budgets any more. The alternative is to not offer cooker lessons at school at all.

When I was at school in the 1970s we had to take all ingredients in for home economics lessons. No-one expected the school to pay for the food. After all the food gets taken home to be consumed there.

Well, free in my school (Highland).

£25 seems good value tbh.

If they are asking for money you should have a breakdown of what it covers and for how long.
Schools can't fund ingredients for every child and the outcomes should be something a family can eat so parents/carers providing ingredients is the norm.
If the £25 is for all ingredients I would say that's fine. If it's for herbs, spices, containers and other bits and bobs to save parents buying whole jars of items they never use I would say that £25 is 3 years worth.
My daughters school asks for £9 a year with parents providing main ingredients for half a year of lessons.
Am also a FT teacher too so am so careful to plan practical work that is affordable and mainstream and charge £7.50 per year for herbs, spices etc. Parents seem to appreciate this.

We used to bring in 50p everytime we made something. This was 2003-2008

I did O levels almost 40 years ago and even then we either had to provide our own ingredients or pay school in advance and they would get them for us. When my DCs did cooking it was the same. I think it's standard in technology lessons - both mine did graphics and resistant materials at gcse - cost a fortune but I did get an amazing items of furniture from one of them.

Saves you having to bother about buying things like flour and taking it in to school

Is that all?

We get asked to pay for Food Tech, art supplies, maths instruments, design kits and fabric etc etc

Upshot is Schools can no longer afford to provide these things. So they either stop teaching subjects in a way that requires such investment or ask parents to fund.

Loads of issues recently about subsidised bus services being under threat and parents potentially having to pay hundreds re:transport.

I cough up without complaint TBH. It's a bloody good state school and my son is lucky to have a place there.

That's a great price

This is where I roll out my 7 or 8 year old story of the £8 I had to spend on fruit salad ingredients for food technology! - fucking winter, fucking pineapple, fucking coconut, fucking strawberries

Seriously

Bargain if that includes ingredients for even just autumn term.

If I want to do cooking/food prep with my class (Primary) I end up paying for the food myself as we really have no budget.

Last year I asked every child to bring in a vegetable for soup and another time a piece of fruit for fruit salad. It saved me a small fortune.

DD(13) always gives me ingredients lists the night before but they are usually store cupboard staples, fortunately.

I'd prefer your system that ours which is to bring in ingredients. She had to take in stuff like a tablespoon of milk or a pinch of herbs which is annoying.