School asking parents to subsidise cookery lessons

[jcoc147]

DS attends a special needs primary school with approximately 7 students per class.
The school have sent out a letter to all parents advising that they can no longer subsidise they children's weekly cookery class and asking for parents to pay £20 a term. This I have no problem with and completely understand how underfunded schools are etc, but the letter then goes on to say that if a child receives free school meals parents do not need to pay. Failure to pay for children who don't receive free school meals means that although they can participate in the lesson they will not be allowed to taste any of the food they make or bring any home.
We live in quite a deprived area and I know that every child in Ds class receives free school meals apart from my ds.
I am a single parent and earn just above the amount to be entitled to any help but money is very tight.

Sorry for the long story but my question is AIBU to think all parents should have to pay a smaller amount rather than the few parents who's children do not qualify for free meals being asked to pay.

Yes that is extremely unfair. Can you contact the school and explain to them your situation?

In general I would think that it was fair. The school would probably use the funding from FSM to pay for some of the food. However, being the only person to contribute feels a bit harsh.

FSM is a clear boundary for schools. They get extra money ('pupil premium') for children on FSM, so they can allocate some of that budget to cover the cost of ingredients.

So I don't on the face of it think it is unreasonable.

However, they should have something about 'if you have trouble paying please contact the school' and allow a payment plan or something.

It must be annoying that you are the only one that needs to pay. But asa general principle it seems reasonable to me.

We always had to provide ingredients. I'd far rather they'd asked for a contribution.
No, more buying a jar of something you never use, to use 1/2 teaspoon of it to produce food the family doesn't eat, and then the jar sits in the cupboard until you throw it away because it's gone out of date.

I think it is fair. Your £20 won't be funding the other dc, their £20 will be coming out of their pupil premium.

Do they not get extra funding for these things being a special needs school? My son also attends a special school and they have all sorts of extra funding for activities.

Sorry but yabu.
What you've described is common practice for schools in Scotland and has been for over 30 years

We always had to pay for ingredients for home economics when I was at school.
What I do think is unfair as that those kids won’t be allowed to take the food home? So what happens to it? That doesn’t seem right

It's a very normal policy and probably used across the school. (Just unfortunate in your case you feel its aimed at you.)

YABU l thought all ingredients is always payed for by the child’s family? Plus it’s only £20 a term

Ir seems unfair that you are the only person paying a d just because you earn enough to not qualify for free school meals doesn't mean that things aren't tight.

Can you pay in installments? £20 a term works out at just over £1 per week.

Personally I’d pay £20 to not have to have the products of my child’s cookery class brought home!

The problem is a lot of parents who's children qualify for free school meals don't have any spare money. I remember me and my husband being out of work and qualifying but still having to use a payment plan for any extras.
As said the money for the others will come from PP. It's only unfair if you can't afford it in which case I'd contact the school. It does seem really harsh to say they can't taste the food of they don't pay though.

I can understand why it seems so unfair. If you earned slightly less you'd be better off, which doesn't seem right. But your £20 won't be subsidising the others, the pupil premium funding will be. I do think it's very unreasonable of the school to say they will allow a child to participate in cookery but then snatch what they've made away from them, it's not like they can use it for anything else and the money would have been spent anyway! Imagine having to explain that to a small child! It just seems unnecessarily aggressive to say that on the initial letter.

How much over the free school meals threshold are you? If it is less than the total cost of school meals plus cookery class subsidies then I think you would be perfectly reasonable to point this out.

It's absolutely normal. There has to be a cut off somewhere, and sadly there are always people like you, just in the wrong side of it.

As has already been explained, free school meals is the clear one, as the school has funding to cover the cost. You are not subsidising those families with your money.

YABU. That’s fairly reasonable and pretty standard.

You are not subsidising the FSM children - the pupil premium is paying for this. Also, how do you know who is on FSM - I would not be happy if other parents knew this information. I speak as someone who was on FSM throughout my school years and I hated it because the way the school set it up it was obvious to all. I thought schools were more sensitive to this now?

The problem is a lot of parents who's children qualify for free school meals don't have any spare money

This is also likely to be the case for families like the OP, who are just above the cut off and could well have less spare money, because she has to pay for school lunches, and this £20.

OP, will the £20 a term payment at least result in your DS bringing home a meal that can be eaten by your family so the money is put to good use?

As others have said, paying £20 a term is far preferably to having to provide a list of ingredients each week, especially if you are asked for small quantities of ingredients that you don't normally use.

Are you able to pay it out of his DLA?
Most children at SEN schools have DLA care and/or mobility payments. If that isn't an option do the school have a grant/help scheme for people that struggle?

Saying that £20 a term sounds reasonable and much better than the sending in ingredients each week as they used to do

Could you offer to provide the cooking ingredients instead? Or pay on a weekly basis? It's pretty normal for state schools to not pay for cookery classes.

"that although they can participate in the lesson they will not be allowed to taste any of the food they make or bring any home."

Am I missing something. Your DS will be the only DC allowed to taste the food (and take some home) while the other DC just look on?

My first thought in that situation wouldn't be about the £20

Am I reading it wrongly? Apologies if so but on the face of it it sounds extremely uncomfortable and I would not be happy with it at all.

It is not a new thing, been happening ever since my 21 yr old was at school.

The letter sounds rather aggressive. Not allowed to taste the food?

Whoever has sent it must know they are addressing only you. How odd.