I can't afford anymore!

[MiddleClassPerm]

This is a wwyd as well as aibu.

I'm a lp with 3 dc's although my eldest is early 20's and working. DS is on his 2nd year of GCSE's and DD has just started hers. I work ft but I earn less than £18k.

So far since they went back to school I've paid:
£150 deposit school trip 1
£40 deposit school trip 2
£60 art
£25 HE
£10 maths
£5 Spanish
The odd £2/3 for lessons I can't even remember now.

I've just received the email for the school fund, £150 for the 2 of them. I didn't pay it last year as I had similar amounts to pay out and received about 10 'reminder' emails throughout the year. I'm dreading getting the same ones again this year and feel really bad about it. It's not compulsory but I still feel I should be paying.

Would you pay in my position, should I maybe contact the school and tell them I can't afford it, or just ignore the emails again this year?

Wwyd?

[aspoonfulofyourownmedicine]

I wouldn't pay........ £150 seems a lot for a school fund though.

I pay into DS's school fund. It's 50p a week or we can pay per term/year. Works out as around £20 for the whole year per child. This includes all school trips paid for, visitors into school, extra treats etc in school. I don't mind paying it and gladly give £1 a week or more if and when I have a bit extra in my purse, but not all the time.

Is the £150 for anything specific, especially if you're paying for trips yourself.

[Petronius16]

Good to know Sausage I'm not the only one feeling the same way, unfortunately UK voters are far too docile to protest and best not start on how many billions the Catholic Church has in its coffers.

[MiddleClassPerm]

Do you mean they expect you to do that and also pay £150 per child into a fund each year?
Yes
Are you in Northern Ireland ?
Yes.

I've sent an email so I'll see what happens. I hope they don't take it the wrong way

[PurpleTigerLove]

Are you in Northern Ireland ? School fees for grammars here are very common and can run into several hundreds of pounds .

[SausageOnAFork]

Thank you Petronius.
I’m always shocked that no one seems to care about the way the academy program is taking money out of education to pay for a whole extra layer of wages that simply don’t need to exist.
Hopefully now it is starting to hit people in their pockets they might start to get upset.

[DownAndUnder]

My mum pays £150 a year each for my brother and sister at a catholic school. Iirc religious schools get less funding. My mum struggles to pay it but won’t say no as apparently it goes towards essential things like repairing the roof

[bringbacksideburns]

Eh??

Never heard of it. We pay as we go along for school trips and lesson stuff on parent pay that comes up for the odd subject and that's it.

Do you mean they expect you to do that and also pay £150 per child into a fund each year?

It should go on earnings in that case and as you say it's voluntary tell them you can't afford it as a LP!

[HelenaDove]

"It amazes me that some posters (not OP) don't realise the teachers might be single parents making the same large contributions to their own childrens schools"


And it amazes me that people dont think that should make them more understanding not less.

[Petronius16]

SausageOnaFork spot on with that link. If all the money that had been spent setting up Academies and the money taken out by individuals had been spent on our 'free' education service there wouldn't be this problem. Though when teaching in the 1970's occasionally we dipped into our own pockets to help some kids.

[Notmethistimehonest]

Schools have to publish what they spend the pupil premium money on on their website.

OP it is worth looking at where your school spends it. It is several thousand pounds per eligible child each year. Most schools spend a portion subsidising school trips for eligible children.

[Trampire]

I've never heard of a school fund.

We have to pay (well, if we want our D.C. to go obviously!) on school trips but we're not asked for many other things.

One thing we're are reminded of constantly is shopping online through a website like EasyFundraising so it costs us nothing but the school get a tiny contribution from the sale.

Or getting involved with the schools version of PTA for fundraising. They're very hot on that.

[MeteorGarden]

OP, I think you should ring the school and set out what you have in your OP!

It sounds to me like the ‘school fund’ is there to help with things like the stuff you’ve already been paying for...compulsory trips etc.

If the whole class is going to see a play for drama for example, and 2 kids parents simply can’t pay, I’m pretty sure it’s this ‘fund’ that steps in and pays.

If you talk to the school;
A) They should remove you from the mailing list asking for more money.
B) You may actually get some help with costs moving forward. (They’re unlikely to be forthcoming about it but stress ‘I can’t afford to pay for things so if it’s ‘compulsory’ you either provide it or my kids aren’t doing it’.

If a school makes a trip/exercise ‘compulsory’ they have to provide it for students. They ask parents to pay because most will but those who don’t have to be covered.

[LittleBookofCalm]

See if they have a bursary?

[YerAuntFanny]

@ThistleAmore, my eldest has just started secondary and we have been asked for money but not to this extent!

£25 for home economics, £5 for art, £30 for guitar lessons (this one is voluntary though and very cheap Vs outside tuition) there is also a £600 end of year trip (again voluntary).

Other than a £6 tie our uniform can be sourced from anywhere thankfully and all they ask for is that pupils arrive with a basic set of stationary so much less of a financial worry.

[LokiBear]

Contact the school, explain and ask for the emails to stop. If you are a lp, are your children on the 'pupil premium' list? If you are in reciept of free school meals, they should be. If not, check your entitlement. The school will be givem an extra £2000 per child per year for your girls. You cam ask that this money be used to pay for things like extra classes, easter school, revision guides, art equipment and even part of the residential trip. The school will be grateful to you for applying.

[Girlsnightin]

@MiddleClassPerm

If your children get fsm then the school a child be getting pp. This is a big grant paid to the school per pp child. The money tends to be used to fund various school things rather than going directly to pp children. However, it should mean that the pp children get subsidised school trips and other things. I'd get in touch with the school to see if they are classing your kids as pp and how they can assist you. Probably the first thing is stop hounding you for money!!!!

[actualpuffins]

We pay £10 a month into DD1's school fund, but are both on good salaries and don't go to PTA events (there aren't so many anyway at secondary school). I have never paid into DD1's former primary school/DD2's current school fund because I was on the PTA for five years and have raised money for the school and donate through events.

They should not be badgering you for contributions, OP, though I guess it is a generic email. I still get emails about the school fund from secondary school even though we do contribute. I know some parents give a lot more than we do, but many of the pupils went to a private prep school previously so the parents are used to paying for education and can afford it. Whereas I think education should be free and funded by fair taxation but am happy to contribute (something) towards paying for extras.

[Bloodyfucksake]

ThistleAmore its not so bad in Scotland. There are still plenty of teachers buying food/ supplying pens for children but I think they are from families who are truly struggling.

There are expensive school trips offered but its a small percentage of the kids who go and no stigma if parents can't / don't want to pay.

I thank my lucky stars to be Scottish when I read comments like 'what are the teachers contributing' because I think culturally its not a demand Scottish parents would be likely to make.

It amazes me that some posters (not OP) don't realise the teachers might be single parents making the same large contributions to their own childrens schools.

Anyway OP, don't feel worried about this. You have paid a lot already. If you want to explain to the school why you are not giving more, they will understand. If you don't want to explain, you are still well within your rights.

[1forAll74]

What is a school fund? well needless to say, I don't know what goes on in schools these days, but glad I don't. i don't remember having to pay out for things, apart from the odd school trip years ago..

[Rebecca36]

Why do you have to pay for maths, a language and art? I thought they were all normal school subjects.

[ThistleAmore]

Hello!

I'm Scottish, don't have any kids, genuinely very happy to pay taxes for schools, early learning etc though.

Could a Scottish teacher or parent PLEASE tell me this isn't a thing up here? This is horrific!

[somewhereovertherain]

Fancy supporting your kids through school. Terrible and people wonder why the English system is fucked.

It’s a voluntary fund. Key is in voluntary. If you can’t pay don’t.

[MiddleClassPerm]

Girls no I don't get help for trips, again I've never heard of that.

[HelenaDove]

Schools want parents to understand that there have been cutbacks and the school is on a budget

but its not reciprocated when it comes to pricey school uniform that parents cant afford to pay for. Schools dont seem to want to recognize that parents are on a budget too.

School then sticks the kid in isolation. There is a lot of hypocrisy

Im not a parent but i can see the "one rule for the school and another for the parents" attitude going on.

[SD1978]

Tell them that financially you can not contribute voluntary fees, and to be taken off any future mailing lists regarding it. I paid mine- but turns out barely anyone does, hence the multiple reminders. Explain that it's stressful to receive them. And that you will let them know if circumstances change and you can afford them.