To start refusing to “contribute” to preschool ?

[MrsA2015]

Sick and tired of almost daily texts and “kind requests to contribute” something to DDs preschool, she attends 15hrs and has two lunches plus snacks a week that I pay for which is fine. We’re also required to pay an additional £40 a term for alphabet club and sporty club (glorified hour in the playground with a coach). Only reason I pay for the extras is because for two terms she was the only child not attending and was feeling very left out. This is all fine I’m happy to pay for it.

Now here comes the whinge every sodding day almost there’s a classroom event (think special card making ) or holiday themed session or special trip to park across the road to collect leaves that ALWAYS requires a contribution £1-£3. Im completely at a loss as to why we need to pay for activities that are basic in preschools? I’ve Evaded payment some days as after all it isn’t compulsory but then you get badgered till you have to say I don’t want to pay, then I just feel like a selfish cow. I totaled up how much extra I contributed last two terms that was almost £50! They do a few random class picnic days where staff will buy picnic type food and ask us to contribute £5 instead of food.

Does anybody else have this issue? I’m prepared for a flaming but just getting fed up with the constant asking.

None of my friends in RL have this issue and are very surprised

Funding and fees for playgroups generally don’t cover the costs. So the shortfall has to be made up by fundraising.

They aren’t run to make a profit, just to make enough to pay all expenses (and that is frankly hard enough)

Meant pre school not play groups .

I'm not surprised. The government funding for the free hours doesn't cover the cost of providing the hours. So nurseries have to find the money elsewhere. Some charge for a trapped lunch hour (mines £4 for half an hour per day). Others do what your place does, charge little and often for spurious things. If you can afford it, please pay up. The nursery desperately needs the money.

think special card making
special trip to park across the road to collect leaves that ALWAYS requires a contribution £1-£3.

I would be making an appointment with the manager, being harassed to pay for common activities like these is bonkers.

I was never asked for contributions when my DD was in preschool so YANBU. And how would a toddler eat £5 worth of picnic food?!

Is the money actually being spent on the activities or is it used to top up general funds? It does sound a lot.

If money is tight, you should absolutely tell that you can’t afford it. That would be too much pressure on someone struggling.

This is ridiculous, both my kids went to pre-school and apart from the odd charity event, we were never asked to pay for daily activities. I'm sorry but I would just refuse to pay. Back then, I couldn't afford to spend £50 on a regular basis just on glitter glue and bits of card.
Say you cant afford it- what are they going to counter that with?!
Theres no answer to that so thats what I'd say

The only donation my kids preschool have ever asked for was an actual fundraiser event for the school, raffle tickles and prizes, games activities etc. That's only once or twice a year. My kids make holiday stuff regularly without donations it does sound like a bit much.

As others have said it is to cover the funding shortfall. Many nurseries etc have closed or can’t offer free childcare due to this. Will be even more problematic when the minimum wage goes up.

It is because of a cut in funding. I'm secondary but I've just spent nearly £60 on highlighters, card to make flash cards, 100 black biros, a few pencil cases for kids that don't and can't afford them etc. We are a huge science department but in the last 6 years our budget has dropped from £31k to £24. And that includes everything, including all printing and mock exam papers for a 2300 student school.

I think the Pre school is wrong to ask for contributions so frequently.

Are they committee run? Can you speak to the chair?

I would as a parent respect a letter from them detailing their need and then at the start of term you could pay upfront.

Lots of settings are shutting down as they just can not afford to be open as the government funded hours are not enough.

Write to your local MP about that ⬆️

How odd? I've never been asked for any money from my daughters preschool? I'd be very annoyed too OP - sounds like bog standard activities you're being asked to contribute towards.

I think it is sometimes the frequency of requests that is annoying, If they added £20 pr term for 'incidentals' it would be less annoying but the drip drip of requesting £2 here and £3 there is annoying.

£50 over 2 terms is about a £1 a week? I'd just pay it tbh.

DC's pre-school used to ask for "voluntary contributions" of a 50p-£1 a week (and this was 10 years ago). They made it very clear that this was because funding didn't cover more than absolute basics.

You will find you have to pay a lot more "voluntary" things when your DC gets to school!

Well I don't imagine they'll stop so either put up or move her to a nursery that doesn't charge top ups. (The ones your RL friends use)

Never been asked for contributions. I expect the fees to cover arts and crafts etc.

Charity run pre-schools (as opposed to school nursery classes and private nurseries) are struggling to remain open. The issue is the amount of funds the government provide for your 15 hours do not cover the actual costs of running 15 hours of sessions. Without your contribution these places will (and have been in massive numbers) close. You can choose to pay or not. Our choice. However, be mindful the provision may go if they can't afford to stay open.

Do you want her to still attend or do you want to move her to another setting?

If she’s staying there, suck it up and pay. Preschool funding isn’t enough to cover the real costs and each setting has its own way of trying to raise the rest of the money to keep going.

If it's an independent charity preschool then it will be run by a committee of parents. As a parent you are allowed to go to any meetings and ask questions and get involved.
When my kids were little we were forever fundraising for all the bits and pieces the preschool couldn't otherwise afford. This is only possible if the parents join in which i know is really hard when you've got young kids and working!
Maybe other parents feel the same as you or maybe they are happier to pay for things and not have to get involved.
I agree that you shouldn't feel you have to pay. Sounds like the staff are assuming people are happy to go along with it. You need to raise it as an issue and see what happens

I can understand your frustration but our lovely preschool is closing at half term due to a lack of funds. They simply cannot get enough kids in the door to make it viable - the funding the 3 year olds doesn't cover costs and there's not enough paying two year olds. So tbh if you can afford it, I would pay because you may turn around one day and the parents committee decides to close it from under your feet.... Not only is this really sad, the staff lose their jobs and we have to find alternative childcare.

It might be worth requesting a proper discussion with the committee. Ours let the problem go on a while before they decided to act so perhaps get on top of them before the Bank balance reaches £0

Sounds like they are really struggling. Presumably you get the 15 hours for free? Just contribute what you can, but bear in mind, the living wage is soon to go up, and in our area, early years funding hasn't gone up for several years. Tell me where that money should come from?

I think the answer to this depends entirely on whether your pre-school is a privately run commercial operation or a group run with a voluntary parental management committee. If the latter, then as many PPs have said it will be down to a shortfall in funding that needs to be made up. I chaired one such pre-school for two years (around 15 years ago) and it is a tough job to try to make ends meet, particularly with constant changes in legislation - minimum wage increases, staff pension provision etc... and the people running it and balancing the books are usually just parents volunteering their time. We took the decision eventually to put the hourly rate up as opposed to keep begging for additional contributions on a regular basis but it wasn't a popular decision with the parents initially. Obviously if the pre-school is a commercially run one then that's a different matter and I wouldn't expect to pay for anything additionally except for special days out or particular activities above what you would normally expect.

Agree with PP - if you are unable to pay, move your child to one of the nurseries your friends’ children attend, where everything is free.

And the thing about paying for food instead of sending in your own could be for the same reason as our nursery provides all the food - we have children with life-threatening conditions which mean all food Is prepared on site because it has to be safe for all the children.

They are trying to make your child have a lovely time on minimal funding. Preschools are massively underfunded. Friends work for our local one and frankly the wage they receive is rubbish for the hours they put in but they do it for the love of the children.

Of course they SHOULDNT have to come to you for funding. But there is no money and they are desperately trying to give her the experience she deserves. Mumdiva99 is right charity preschools are struggling particularly with the 30 hour funding to survive.

So the question is do you like it or are there other options

Pre schools make very little money and often rely on charities and parent contributions for extras and buying equipment. This situation sounds a little extreme. Paying for a walk to the park? Thats insane. DD went to a pre school which went to the local park nearby every time it was sunny.

It does sound a little extreme to be honest and I’d be annoyed too.

Our local pre school do fundraisers instead. They have a Christmas and summer fayre where parents can donate a raffle prize which I didn’t mind doing at all. I quite often had unwanted brand new gifts to donate anyway. You take the kids to the fayre and they spend a few pounds to have fun. They also did sponsored walks with the children once a year.

What did annoy me at ours was that the whole pre school had a group photo done. I wanted to buy one for DD. It was the same company who did the local primary class photos where they charged around £10 per photo which you ordered. Instead the pre school ordered a load in and sold them on for a profit at £20 each for a photo. Insane.

I don’t re call ever being asked for donations like you’ve explained though. Funding might be tight but often money for parents is tight too.