To not want to pay the school’s voluntary contribution

[Millie2016]

This is light hearted because I will pay it, but AIBU to think the school asking for a voluntary contribution of £40 a year is a bit cheeky?
Last year my child attended 3 hours a day at the nursery and we were asked to pay it. It is an electronic payment against the child’s name so they know who has made it.
I reasoned it helped the school, improved resources etc.
Every week in the newsletter they published how much had been donated and how ‘short’ the fund was i.e. how many parents had not paid.
The thing is, with last years experience under my belt I now know that the school constantly asks for money/stuff. Weekly! Dress down days, PTA cake sales and even £5 to buy a piece of my daughter’s art work.... the list was endless and relentless.
So I’m left wondering, does every school do this? Am I just being a bit tight or are they taking the P?

We didn't pay the monthly Direct Debit as requested by DS's then DD's secondary schools because when they gave the initial presentations requesting it they gave examples of what the money had been spent on. AstroTurf and tarting up sports changing rooms from what I remember. Not exactly priorities. I also didn't want to fund the football team's coaches for away matches (but did pay for my son's rugby team's minibuses). Why subsidise other (comfortably off) people's DC's extra curricular activities? Photocopying money, buying DDs own textbooks etc, not a problem.

At the same time I was a Part Time Teaching Assistant at a primary school and brought in milk and fruit for a couple of the DC in my class that were hungry and also bought Asda pumps for those that had to do PE in school shoes or wellies.

@BarbaraStrozzi "Re how much do the budget cuts actually mean - my DC's school is down about half a million over the four year period. I reckon (allowing for things like employer's NI and pension contributions) that's somewhere between two and four teaching posts depending on level of seniority. And that's set against a steady increase in pupil numbers (extra 30 this year alone due to bulge in the birthrate)."
Av salary per FTE at primary level is just under £39,000, and just under £40,000 at secondary. Plus 40% for pension and employers' NI. So a half million cut is nearly 9 teachers gone...

(you can see how much your individual school pays its av staff member by looking at the Compare School Performance page.)

The clue is that it's 'voluntary'.

What does the fund pay for? I pay £1 a week into my son's school fund (voluntary). The school ask for a 50p donation every friday, but as I save my small change, keep £1 coins in the car and my purse and I can afford it at the moment, it's easier to give him a quid. He's at school 40 weeks a year, so £40, or £20 if giving the 50p per child donation.

This money goes into the school fund which pays for offsite trips, visitors to the school to aide learning and compliment topic work, treats such as popcorn and ice cream to have for a 'movie day', rewards for children who receive awards or merits, cinema trips. I haven't had to pay for a school trip at all for the 3 years he's attended this school, he has even travelled to York for the day (we're on the North East Coast), had numerous treats and rewards and has lots of trips throughout the years. Now imagine paying £5+ per trip out or children missing out on visitors or experts to aide their learning. I think YABU if you can afford it and are choosing not to give. Thankfully, both DS school and the one I work at will not exclude a child if their parents are unable to pay or choose not to pay, they simply reduce the amount of trips or visitors to accommode the costs.

I think it's a low amount and you should pay (as I think you said you would.) For context I am in the US and have children both in the private and state sectors. We have spent around $300 on school supplies in total. Even in private schools each child is expected to bring both their own supplies and "community supplies" such as glue sticks, tissues and antibacterial wipes. Everyone just accepts this as standard practice - although in our experience the schools are very sympathetic to families who are struggling and will discreetly assist those who need it.

My high school did not have anything like this and it was an inner city comp. My primary school was in a nicer area and parents were asked for a donation of 50p a week per child and my dad always gave it. That was in the 90s. In 2019 they ask for £2 a week per child which unless you are on the bread line really isn't a huge amount, unless of course you have 4+ kids. There is a huge deficit in funding and if we as parents can help even a little why not?

No, it's not great asking parents for money.

That said, as a teacher, i've been told not to expect the payrise ( didn't get the last one either). No money. I've got no TA and 36 in the class. No money. I've got no gluesticks, not enough books, or pencils, and no working whiteboard and it's only September. My school has a foodbank, washing machines, a uniform bank and is thinking about how to cope with homeless families. How bad does it have to be before people don't vote for the sods that are doing this? How stupid do you have to be not to directly relate schools asking for money to the absolutely massive cuts impinged upon them?

Honestly, you have no idea what I and many other teachers see every day, and deal with every day.

I donate what I can to my own kids school because it's not their fault the government are arseholes: they do an excellent job with bugger all money.

If more people pushed back then things would change.

Hahahahaha

😡 as a teacher in a deprived area I refuse to pay these for my own kids school. I work in one of the worst funded counties in the country, we are short staffed and end up buying resources (out of our own pockets, as school can’t afford it)to help engage kids with limited parental support and guidance.

My child has all the parental support they could wish for and we send her to school fully equipped and pay for any extras they wish. I do however refuse to throw £30/40/50 into a pot for the school to do whatever they wish with.

They need to manage their budget better is the view of my child’s school as they do not have the major disadvantage gap to bridge (and before you say it I know schools in disadvantaged areas can get PP, but how many of those kids parents can fill out the form? Or even know about it?)

My DC school ask for €5 per month, they do a monthly draw one family will win €100, there is no pressure or notes home if unpaid.
They often host sponsored walks or bake sales etc the money is spent on extra sports equipment or tablets.
Things are getting tighter for all school, I pay €100 a year book rental, this year they removed the whiteboards and water bottles from the list they must be purchased separately.
It all adds up but it is a worthy expense.

I know schools in disadvantaged areas can get PP, but how many of those kids parents can fill out the form?

I can’t believe a teacher would think (a) that only pupils in disadvantaged areas have pupils who are eligible for pupil premium and (b) that PP is something a parent has to fill out a form for.

I coupon and get really good deals on pritt sticks so buy them for the class. I also get books for the class. I get good prizes for a stall for the Christmas/Summer Fayre. I won amazing outdoor equipment in a competition and donated it to the school. The school had tea and cake to thank parents who helped at school and I didn't get an invite.......

@FamilyOfAliens I’m not saying it’s only in disadvantaged areas but we have around 80% PP in our school, so that’s a massive amount compared to 10% at DDs school.

And of course a form needs filling out, else how would the school know to include the child on the census to claim PP! Pretty sure admin don’t just guess who receives the eligible benefits to claim PP or if their parents work in the armed services 🙄

Depends - my DC attend a school that is specifically a 'voluntary aided' primary school

It's in their name and is made very clear before you make the choice of school

I pay it because I chose to send my DC there after I had that info

Trickier if you are not told in advance...

I can’t believe a teacher would think (a) that only pupils in disadvantaged areas have pupils who are eligible for pupil premium and (b) that PP is something a parent has to fill out a form for.
They're partially correct.
Even if a household income would meet the FSM criteria, a parent not claiming FSM would mean the child doesn't go on the PP list and so no funding would be given.
Other information is from the school census.

I can’t believe a teacher would think (a) that only pupils in disadvantaged areas have pupils who are eligible for pupil premium and (b) that PP is something a parent has to fill out a form for.

I am the administrator that has to check for PP entitlement. A parent DOES have to fill in a form as without it we don’t have their permission to run the checks. If the parent doesn’t let me know I won’t know that the child was previously looked after, or that Dad is in the army or that the family has a low income.

jackstini
That's awful. What are they trying to become? A private school, but 99.9% funded by the taxpayer? The whole concept of doing it that way is regressive, offensive, outrageous.

I'd delight in signing up and then not paying it. Bring it on.

I never pay it.

We end up paying so much for their afterschool club, PTA events and trips that to be honest, they free up had enough out of me!

It's odd to see so many people so proud of the fact that they won't pay (even though they can) to result in their own children and their friends having a better time at school. It could be made in to a comedy sketch a la the old gits on Harry Enfield. 'Meh, you don't want pencils to write with, you can use your own blood. Meh.'

I think it's the delight of getting one over on the bullies.

Where they ask nicely, and that's it, there will be no delight at all.

But, genuinely, how are you getting one over on the bullies? The only people it affects is your own children.

Whatever the rights or wrongs of paying or not paying, it is worth remembering that Pupil Premium funding should only be used for those children entitled to it and for activities/strategies for closing the gap in attainment between them and their none disadvantaged peers. It really shouldn't be used to fund anything else. Schools in individual Local Authorities each have the same base funding per pupil and if there is no PP funding, it means by the set criteria, there are no significantly disadvantaged pupils. If a pupil moves into the school who is PP, then the PP funding they bring should be spent on them, not on subsiding the whole school budget or providing for pupils who are not disadvantaged.

Sad but not surprised that office and support staff are buying supplies. Our lowest paid and least appreciated team members. Also so many hard working and dedicated teachers. Never seem to hear so much about SLT and Heads..... Strange that, I think I would buy a some small supplies for the office if I was earning between £70k and £170k a year.

By standing up to them.

They have every right to ask nicely. But persistent hounding?, publishing how 'short' they are to shame people?, stipulating it when people apply? That's bullying, and I stand against it.

And I can guarantee you no children will suffer whether I do or do not donate the equivalent of 8p per pupil.

On one point I agree with you, the 'persistent hounding' that some posters have spoken of, is not acceptable at all.

I was talking more generally as per the op of those schools who simply request the donation, then leave it there.

The only school I know about is my own dcs primary school. It is a voluntary aided church school. Everyone knows this when they sign up. 90% of their funds come from the council, and 10% are to be made up from the diocese/parents. It's voluntary. It is no way shape or form a private school, like you mentioned below, it's a normal state school, open to everyone. There are only a couple of children receiving pupil premium. Couple that with the 90%, and the school NEED the parents who can to donate. This isn't for luxuries like astroturfs or climbing walls; it's for things like the school roof and pens and paper on the tables.
Whether we should be having to fund it or not; the bottom line is, if we don't, it is absolutely our own children who miss out.
I pay it. I think it's an excellent school, and it wouldn't sit well with me at all if I knew that our lovely teachers were buying the pens out of their own money (and they absolutely would be) because I was trying to make a political point.

And, it's not bullying to tell people beforehand it's a VA school. There are plenty of schools in the area and people are welcome to choose another one.