to think we shouldn't have to buy the set book for GCSE English Lit?

[chomalungma]

We have been asked to buy the book that DS is currently studying for GCSE Eng Lit.

Yes - I can afford it. But that's not the point. There are many families who are on tight budgets. Apparently other subjects require the parents to buy equipment as well.

English is a compulsory GCSE. The school should have sets available to read.

I know that schools are on very tight budgets. I am not blaming the school at all. It's not an academy.

I blame the Conservative party. I hope people remember these cuts and the effect they have had on their children for the last 10 years when it comes to the election.

But never fear Boris Johnson has promised copious amounts of money ( not) for education if you just vote for him and a no deal Brexit!

What on earth does annotated mean? Off to Google I did my GCSEs 19 years ago and have never heard this word.

We were expected to buy books back then too.

@leghairdontcare

I don’t think it’s acceptable that one part of the country is heavily subsidised by the rest. Wales gets a shit load more cash than it pays in.

We were expected to buy books back then too

But obviously you never annotated them

Why do children need to annotate their own copy? We had school copies when I was at school in the 80s, never annotated them and got an A in both my O grade and Higher English.

I got Bs in my English Lang and Lit GCSEs without being able to annotate as it was bought in bulk by teh school and handed back at the end of the school year. I clearly suffered by not being able to annotate. I used the school's An Inspector Calls, then as an adult bought my version that I re-read from time to time, imagine my surprise when it was still on the curriculum for my DS's GCSEs.

It's one book.

In Ireland parents have to buy a whole set of books every year. They're given a list.

School budgets are at breaking point. They already provide the vast majority of books and supplies.

I don't see a problem with the odd book.

I'm 35 and back in 1999/2000 we bought our books as we were permitted to annotate them for the exam. If you can afford it then what's the problem, your child is getting a good education for free (making an assumption here), more than many many children around the world.

I assume you chose to have a child.....?

@06chomalungma just found out what it meant we just called that making notes. Then again I got d for English as I'm thick as shit.

What on earth does annotated mean? Off to Google I did my GCSEs 19 years ago and have never heard this word

I did mine the same time as you and could annotate them ie write notes in our books for English Lit. I still have some of mine, especially the heavy handed Shakepeare ones like Winters Tale (yikes that book gives me the chills)

In the US, not only do parents get a list of all the stuff they need for their child’s education, like books and pens, they’re asked for donations for classroom and school stuff too like whiteboard pens and toilet tissue.

It's called society @lovelyupnorth. Still waiting to hear what tax should be spent on.

Stop voting fir parties that are under funding education in real terms then. Deal with it and pay up

Surely if you have kids then you know that you're going to need to buy stuff for them. I wouldn't hesitate to put my hand in my pocket for my kids education. As others have said, everyone in this country wants something for nothing.

School budgets are at breaking point.

Isn't that the whole point of OP's post? School budgets shouldn't be so tight that they can't even afford to buy set texts for pupils. After all, by providing education we are investing in everyone's futures, not just those of the pupils concerned.

I paid for my own books in 1989 with my wages from working a till at the Co-op - a heady £14.50 a week.

My “father” refused to buy me any of the school books. Or stationery. Or anything else as it was the “schools job”. All our money went on gambling and down the pub.

It was fucking awful being the only kid with the dog eared school copy.

It isn’t one book.

We never had to buy any books in the 90's in our school, I did have to buy a scientific calculator and that was expensive back in the day.

My English dept. lose £4K worth of stock every year that our yr11/13s don’t return. Our entire budget isn’t much more than this and we have to replace the stock somehow. The exams are now closed book so they don’t bring the books to the exams with them like they did 3+yrs ago.

And we advise students to buy their own so they can annotate/engage because we want them to do the best they can. As English graduates and experienced teachers, we have a good idea how students study and learn literature.

And surely it’s not a waste when it’s studied for two years for arguably the most important exams for the majority of people. How many people buy books they read once and never again?

25 years ago my school provided all the books. Obviously we didn't write in them, but that didn't seem to cause any issues.

@MrsJacksonAvery but surely this can be done with flash cards that have notes and pages written on them, sticky notes/tabs, and written notes.

We've been asked if we can provide a text for our children in KS2. Fortunately for me, it's a much loved classic and I've got my aged copy hoarded away in decent condition.

I've just bought him a set of exercise books with coloured paper for his visual stress. I bought his tinted glasses a couple of years ago (not covered by NHS voucher) for the same reason. Particular brands of pencils and crayons that don't hurt his hands. A laptop as recommended in his report. One look at the teacher's slow, whirring breeze blocks told me where the budget stood on that... As for the recommended TA support, none with his class this year as it's a low priority year group and no critical SNs. I'm giving up about 7 hours of my time per week to support SN interventions and swimming as there isn't the budget/ staffing to enable them to get by without voluntary parental support.

The novel is the least of it.

I don’t think anyone’s mentioned this but you can request things on Freegle and Freecycle. I passed on my daughters literature books that way, and was pleased to, as they weren't in good enough condition for the charity shop.

People might not think to list them, but seeing someone’s request would remind them to dig them out.

By the way I did O levels in 1987, and had to provide my own books. Some had been my brothers who is 4 years older. This isn’t anything new.

I read a story in the paper today about a mum saying the school should have to provide uniforms if they’re going to be so fussy.

Another one for the 'youd love Ireland then'. Book costs are ridiculous. New textbooks each year for each child, workbooks, texts, art supplies, photocopies, all stationary and the completely not at all voluntary contributions to the school for anything the school cant afford under the guise of locker fees, pe fees etc.

Theres a payment for low income which doesnt cover all the expenses- doenst come close to it. Every year theres a fuss about so many parents having to take out loans to send kids back to school and the SVP helps out.

Its very depressing actually.

We were given them when I studied gcse/a level. I kept the books I liked, the handmaids tale and the glass menagerie I still have now, I haven't reread for some time but when I do, I quite like seeing the bits I picked out at 17 and the bits I missed. I wouldn't have a problem purchasing books for my own childs education. Things are a bit different 15 years on.