Secondary School - 'Donations'

[smithyssister]

Have namechanged for this. DD is off to secondary school in September - a state school but an all girls grammar if that makes a difference.

We've received a welcome pack that asks us to contribute at least £15 a month, by standing order (!), to the school fund. In return we get a 'free' scientific calculator and dictionary. DD's friend is also going and her mum said to me this morning they'll be giving £50 a month Keeping up with the Jones' starts here..?!

WIBU to tell them it's not free if it costs me £180 a year?!

I don't pay because I don't have the money. I also agree with PP that this further entrenches inequality and schools should be better funded. Free education is a social benefit - well-educated kids are less likely to drift into crime and violence, and more likely to fulfill their potential in a way that benefits the rest of us.

"You are basically getting a private school education for your daughter for free. "

How does that follow?

this further entrenches inequality and schools should be better funded

Yes of course they should but in the meantime it is the children who lose out. I'm not going to make a political statement by refusing to pay. You can campaign for change AND make a contribution.

Parents who can afford to pay but refuse to do so make me really angry.

Our school funding per pupil is £4,242. Their funding will have been reduced by £636,154 between 2015 & 2020. This is why schools have got their hands out asking for contributions, without them they just can't afford to run the schools.

You are basically getting a private school education for your daughter for free.

What a pile of bollocks.

diddl

I understood that a grammar school is comparable to private education but I'm happy to be corrected if this is not the case. I'm not originally from the UK.

My husband had private schooling in England until he got into the boys grammar school. It was considered as good as, if not better, than the private school.

JustHereWithMyPopcorn

See my response above.

I used to spend a goodly part of my salary funding my classroom for pens, pencils, paper and in some cases, textbooks. This was from 2002-06. If the funds aren't there, either the kids do without, or someone has to fill the gap.

It's voluntary so you don't have to pay. We are in the same situation and I'm happy to pay £100 every month. It has absolutely nothing to do with keeping up with the Joneses, it goes towards extra specialist sports equipment that my child greatly benefits from. YANBU if you don't want to pay though.

We can afford it and will pay but I do feel put out by it and the socialist in me thinks it's inherently unfair that the local non-selective schools will never compete because they simply don't have the parental wealth to prop them up.

The government spends an average of over £6000 per year per pupil in secondary school.

No the government doesn’t, I’m afraid. For Key Stage 3 pupils (years 7-9) they get £3,735.24 per pupil. A Key Stage 4 pupil gets £4,018.65. Only Pupil Premium pupils may get just above £6000.

The IFS data is not the true picture. Look at the Funding Allocation Pack from the government.

I do a donation every month to my old school as I know money is tight. If you can afford to help out I dont know why you wouldn't. It goes towards a better education for your child, so as a point of principal it seems a little like you are cutting off your nose to spite your face to refuse.

I paid for my DS to have a private education, which I don't regret for a second, but the school still asked for donations to this that and the other and NOTHING came for free. Now after DS has moved on they are still asking for money. DS is at university, and a well-funded one at that, and now THEY are asking me for money. On top of tuition fees and accommodation.

Get used to it OP, it isn't going to stop.

I wouldn't pay it out of principle. We pay enough tax as it is. The government sent £14 billion overseas last year in aid. That is around 1/3 of the education budget. They have the money to improve our DC's education and lives in general, but they choose to spend it elsewhere.

"I understood that a grammar school is comparable to private education "

Well it would depend on the schools-I went to an all girls grammar in a small town.

Smallish school (my year was 4 classes of 30), pretty good sports facilities-but obviously nothing like you'd get at a well known private school & none of the connections for future work life.

I won't do this. If parents continue to pick up the slack, the government will continue to cut budgets. Before you know it we will be paying for private education despite paying tax. Education isn't free, it's paid for via taxation and I expect the government to use tax to fund it properly.
Already I have had to pay out for private tuition because school has failed to provide my child with decent teachers. I won't be giving them funds directly.

Until we vote this government out it’s only going to get worse.

I suppose Secondary Schools are at an unfair advantage as fundraising is expected in Primary Schools. If you can afford it then I would pay but don’t put too much store in what your friend says. You only have her word what she is paying.

I know “it’s the principle” of the thing but with all the cuts being made, if you CAN afford it why wouldn’t you?

We're in the USA so totally different system but we've always donated to our children's schools and it does make a difference. When my youngest was leaving his preschool, we decided to make a one-time donation of $500 to thank them for all the years with our children. I was surprised to hear that it meant that they'd be able to continue employing one of their part-time teachers. I presume their annual budget was just slightly short of her salary and this made the difference

Now we donate to schools when we can and also to the local library, museums, etc. These benefit the entire community so why wouldn't we.

A 'non voluntary contribution' as mentioned at the start of the thread is illegal in a state school even an academy.

I live in a Nordic country, education is good and free but at the start of each year parents receive a kit list which must be bought for the child. This includes all their stationery - exercise books, pens, pencils etc. and textbooks for most subjects. Some textbooks can be bought second hand but often they are workbooks that students write into so have to be new. Income based equipment grants are given to those who need them every year and as a system it seems to work. If a portion of pupil premium money was given over to equipment costs and all others were asked to supply their own, that would surely make a huge difference to school budgets. Of course this would require a culture shift which would undoubtably be unpopular at first.

FWIW DS's school asks for the extra money but does offer a much more enriching timetable. BUT we're always asked to fund syllabus-related trips - the letters are written in such as way as to suggest we have no choice (but I suspect that's not entirely true). Contrast with DD's school (although granted she is in her second year there) where they do precious little in the way of enriching activities, presumably to avoid a divide between the 'haves' vs 'have nots'. Indeed to date she's not done any paid for 'out of school' trips at all...

This used to piss me off most royally at my child's state grammar.

For my own satisfaction I used to write "This money not to be used for RE or the PE department" on the paperwork.

I suspect they deliberately went out and bought Bibles and footballs on my behalf

I think it is great to donate time and to try and help your school out in other ways as part of its community but I wouldn't be paying them a fixed fee every month.

I would pay in a heartbeat to support my children’s school. I wouldn’t however be able to pay 3x £15 a month so they would only get the one lot of donation from me!

I agree whynot but it's the donation thing that sparks inequality.I agree that a culture shift is needed and would happily pay a set amount for equipment but it should be the same for every family excluding those who are unable due to low income.
I feel the same about the NHS and would happily pay £5/10 to visit my GP.