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.

@IWantToBeMelissaWhenIGrowUp

"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.

I had to do a double take..the FSM kids will be able to eat the food they make, as paid for by whoever pays for FSM's. The OP's child, unless he or she pays up, will be the one sans food. Very unfair. DS used to have to take ingredients in, as did we for Domestic science..£20 a term sounds much cheaper than having to buy ingredients for a term.

We provide the ingredients here.

However, that letter is really weird. Not allowed to taste the food? So they sit there and watch while the rest of the class eats?

What about tasting the food while cooking for seasoning etc?

What are they going to do with the meal? Take it and throw it away I assume. Which seems also not a great thing to do.

The principle I understand but the way they have approached the communications seems peculiar and the practicalities are a bit odd as well.

When I was at school we had to bring in (some of bit all of) the ingredients for cookery lessons. When ds did this at school we had to pay per term too.

Maybe they will cook in pairs so OPs child would join in but eat/ take the whole meal rather than half of it?

I mean surely they wouldn't just throw it away :/

This is the extract of the letter which says about those not paying will not be allowed to consume food/bring it home.
Unable to post whole letter as mentions school name

I wonder what they're going to do with it?

With covid especially, I'd imagine throw it away :/

Any teacher will tell you that there are a significant number of parents who just won't pay for anything. And often it's parents who we know are far from poor. It's not about their 'rights' than any inability to pay. I came across it as a parent as well as a teacher. I was speechless when some of my perfectly comfortable parent acquaintances loudly proclaimed that the school had no right to ask them to pay for school trips/cookery/theatre groups.

So what are they to do? Maybe that veiled threat is enough to make those who would otherwise opt out of paying, actually do so.

MORE about their rights. Ugh. I must proof read.

I was a Home Ec teacher in a secial school (11-16) We asked the parents for a contribution to the cost of ingredients (ranged from 50p to £2 per week, depending on the year group and hence on what was being cooked). Didn't ask if the kids were on FSM This worked pretty well, although quite a lot of admin for me. If parents didn't pay up, we'd remind them once (depending on what we knew about their circumstances) and thereafter let it go. So the school did end up subsidising the lessons for some,ut we reckoned it was worth it for the educational value, transferrable skills and life skills the kids got out of it. Then there was a change of mangement and I was instrcuted to purchase ingredients through the catering company which the school meals kitchen used, despite this causing a lot of waste because the food came in amounts much greater than I needed and the (new) management wouldn't pay for an exra freezer so I could store food. Also the (new) management insisted that if any parents didn't pay, then their child's food must be thrown in the binat the end of the lesson and that child would also be excluded from any tasting sessions. This was all in the name of 'saving money' and although I didunderstand how contsrained the budget was, I refused to treat the kids in my calsses like this. An argument I eventually won.But the irony was, the same (new) manager who'd done all this insisting was later found guilty of swindling the school of £15,000 and subsequently sacked. Interesting times!

So what will they do the food that some children aren't allowed to taste? Just bin it? How petty and wasteful.

I'd query the eating thing too. Its part of their learning. It's learning about likes & dislikes, textures etc

Yabu - pupil premium is to fund things for low income students, unfortunately for you the other children in your DCs class qualify for that funding so they dont have to pay our of pocket like you, but they still pay. That £20 a term that is used for the DT ingredients is £20 that cant be used for other things to help them, it just comes out of the PP fund rather than directly from the parents pocket.

Additionally, the extract from the letter makes it appear that if you dont pay then your DC will be allowed to participate in the lesson but not make their own that they can then take home, which I think is fair - they get to partake in the lesson but dont get to take something home they havent paid for.

In that case I would assume that they would either participate by pairing up with someone else to help make the meal but then the other child would take it home or the teacher would use ingredients to demonstrate and the DC would help them/use those ingredients but again, they would not be allowed to take it home at the end of the day.

@NiceGerbil

We provide the ingredients here.

However, that letter is really weird. Not allowed to taste the food? So they sit there and watch while the rest of the class eats?

What about tasting the food while cooking for seasoning etc?

What are they going to do with the meal? Take it and throw it away I assume. Which seems also not a great thing to do.

The principle I understand but the way they have approached the communications seems peculiar and the practicalities are a bit odd as well.

They will probably work in pairs to make the meal with ops child sharing with a fsm child who will take home what their contribution has paid for.

Normally maybe but surely they won't be working in pairs and eating food prepared by others with covid about?

Yep he eagerly waits for me to try anything he brings home and I have to rate it out of 37 (god knows why the random number)

Oh my gosh, that is too cute. I might start rating things on a scale of 1-37.

OP I got some additional funding from uni via various charities and organisations. This is the kind of thing an organisation like the rotary club may pay a grant for you.

Are you involved with the PTA?

Lots of businesses have funding for 'community projects' it's worth approaching the Co-op, Tesco etc either for funding or to provide the ingredients. They probably want photo in the local paper in return.

Yep agree. When i was a teen we had dinner tickets for secondary school and I still had to bring in my own ingredients for home economics lessons so it looks like your school are actually helping those in receipt of pupil premium.

The schools claim back for those who can not afford classes like these. Or trips, uniforms etc. If you have financial issues perhaps speak to your local DWP to see if you qualify for any benefits or the school to help process an application for pupil premium if you need additional support.