School constantly asking for money

[abitofpeace]

Just wondering how it is in other people’s primary schools. Ours is constantly asking for money. Usually raffle tickets, etc but more recently some of the parents are selling stuff through the school and giving the profits to the school. It feels like everyday they ask for something!

There is also a monthly (optional) direct debit if parents want to pay regular. Are finances so bad that thee government need such a large boost?

Our DD has started school nursery this year, she has a full time place so may aswell be at school.

They ask £12.50 for lunchtime provision per week, but dont provide nursery children with lunch - we have to send packed lunch in. I begrudgingly pay it at the end of every term. And it may be childish, but I wait until the office ring me before the money is transferred.

We understand lunchtime staff need to be paid (wife is a LSA in a local primary so knows the ins and outs of how school works) but the lunchtime staff aren't in nursery where the kids are!

We had this some years ago at our DC primary School! I do think Schools can always do with some extra cash ,but wonder is completely essential IFYSYIM. If you cannot afford it I would let it go and not worry .

@Annabellesdad

Our DD has started school nursery this year, she has a full time place so may aswell be at school.

They ask £12.50 for lunchtime provision per week, but dont provide nursery children with lunch - we have to send packed lunch in. I begrudgingly pay it at the end of every term. And it may be childish, but I wait until the office ring me before the money is transferred.

We understand lunchtime staff need to be paid (wife is a LSA in a local primary so knows the ins and outs of how school works) but the lunchtime staff aren't in nursery where the kids are!

Wow that would irritate me!

I don’t mind paying for something dc will directly benefit from but that feels wrong!

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland

It isnt just the requests for the proper donations, which your child wouldn't know about. It's the "selling" stuff the kids have done or been involved in. They recorded the school nativity this year, and its £10 to buy the disc. How do you tell your kid "no, I wont be buying the disk to see you perform". And then the "if you bring in £10 you can wear a xmas jumper every day of december". How do I tell my kids no, they'll have to wear their uniform. And the santa dash around the playground, to take part you need to send in £5. Do I tell my kids they cant? And I the xmas baubles they made for £2 each. It goes on and on.

They arent just asking for a donation; they are asking for money for the kids to participate in xmas activities and if you don't pay then your child is the one left doing busy work.

[quote WhereverIGoddamnLike]@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland

It isnt just the requests for the proper donations, which your child wouldn't know about. It's the "selling" stuff the kids have done or been involved in. They recorded the school nativity this year, and its £10 to buy the disc. How do you tell your kid "no, I wont be buying the disk to see you perform". And then the "if you bring in £10 you can wear a xmas jumper every day of december". How do I tell my kids no, they'll have to wear their uniform. And the santa dash around the playground, to take part you need to send in £5. Do I tell my kids they cant? And I the xmas baubles they made for £2 each. It goes on and on.

They arent just asking for a donation; they are asking for money for the kids to participate in xmas activities and if you don't pay then your child is the one left doing busy work.[/quote]
Those are over the top and I would raise that with the school because they're not voluntary donations - this is emotional hostage taking and I'd guarantee you're not the only one who can't stretch to all of that in a month which is financially tight for many. In your situation I'd gather a few other parents and approach the school about it. It shows a stunning lack of social awareness on the part of the school. £5 for Santa dash?! Ours was £1 and totally voluntary - lots didn't contribute but many did and all the kids had fun. Money raised, no one gets left out. Our nativity was filmed and put online - no hard cost for DVD and no contribution required. I'd definitely raise it with the school.

Yes, same at our school.

I'm on the PTA so I know how much we raise and what it gets spent on, and if anything it makes me want to give more as I know they spend it on the kids.

@MillieEpple

If its any consolation, I'm in the office and there is an expectation i pay £2 to wear a silly hat to work and Im not even allowed to run round the playground!

Thank you @MillieEpple that did give me a laugh!

@abitofpeace

I’m not just talking about a £1 here and there and a tenner every so often. It is excessive the amounts they ask, for anyone on a low budget. Surely, a headteacher photographed with the child and parent IS showing favour to that child. It’s not just encouraging fundraising competition.

Yes I am outraged at the government and their underfunding of schools. However, the result of this is an insidious drip drip of favouritism

That's just your school. No decent head teacher shows favouritism.

Honestly I don't think PTAs care if their funding requests are welcome, its literally a case of "whatever works". They need the money.

We tried just inviting single donations at the start of the term and barely any parents offered anything.over the last few years we have identified that a high proportion of our parents have a SAHM who basically doesnt have access to family money & has a tight budget so won't give a bigger amount in one go. We have focussed our fundraising on a) trying to reach the working parents (in our case mostly the dads) as they are often high earners with plenty to spare, despite their wives having little access to money) and b) providing lots of opportunities for "a pound here and there" through the year as we get more overall that way.

Unfortunately we have to do whatever we can to get money through the door.

Last year we got to the stage where we were going to have to cancel a popular summer extra curricular activity because funds were too low.

The parents were outraged but literally were not making the link between their own refusal to contribute and the lack of pta funds.

*Wow that would irritate me!

I don’t mind paying for something dc will directly benefit from but that feels wrong*

Believe me, it irritates me greatly!
They have had the decency to knock 10 days off the bill this term due to DD's class having to isolate! (that was a fun 10 days with an almost 4 year old and a 5 month old both bouncing off the walls!)

Whateverigoddamnlike

Have you thought about joining the PTA yourself? It's the best way to help bridge the gap between parents needs and reasonable fundraising.

That goes for everyone in fact - if you don't like your school's approach to fundraising, why dont you join the PTA, then you can see where the money is needed and how its spent, and perhaps you can find another way to raise the money that doesnt involve badgering parents.

Do let us know how that works out for you.

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland

I'm on the PTA. We handle xmas, easter and summer fairs and the discos/movie nights in the hall etc.

The school handle all the stuff happening within the classroom and school during school hours. So all my examples came directly from the school. PTA not involved. As the PTA, for all the fairs etc the tokens are purchased beforehand and free school meals kids are given a bundle so they can do all the activities an nobody knows. Our PTA are very conscious of the wealth difference in the area. The headteachers... doesnt care so much.

I actually emailed recently complaining about this and they have stopped hassling me. I've spent about 134 in December between 2 schools which doesn't sound a lot but im literally down to -£27 now! Plus they get an £8 direct debit from me every month.

I hope you are feeding your concerns to the governors

And we have questioned the excessive fundraising, but the answers were that since normal fundraising has been curtailed this year, individual classes and the school as a whole have done their own things.

Yeah, ours always seems to want donations and payments. It's a great school but I do get tired of the constant requests and reminders etc

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland

I'm in scotland. No governors. I could make a complaint to the local authority but would need to follow the schools complaint procedure first. Since the donations are technically voluntary, a complaint wont get anywhere. But in reality, if you dont volunteer the money then your kid misses out.

I get that you're trying to defend the schools, but sometimes they are just thoughtless. In normal years, these types of requests are few and far between because the PTA is raising funds so this is hopefully, for our school, a one off blip due to covid. Unless they make a lot from it and decide to try and keep it going.

@ Ginfordinner we can afford it thanks, however there are many that can not in December.

I'm on the PTA. It's been a hard year and we've had to abandon plans. The Christmas fair is usually the biggest earner for us.

Every penny we raise is spent on the children, from a visit from Santa with a present for everyone to new playground equipment to welly stores so they can keep wellies at school and go for muddy walks. There just isn't enough in the normal budget for these extras.

I get that it's an expensive time of year and the requests for money are difficult for many, and we do try to make things optional and space the requests out with things like discos and movie nights (in normal times), but we really do need the donations.

I used to feel like I'd been picked up by the ankles & shaken for what was in my pockets when my lot were in primary. Then the constant fancy dress days or pyjama days that always cos a fortune. I was so glad when my last one started high school. Now I just get ripped off for uniform.

The parents were outraged but literally were not making the link between their own refusal to contribute and the lack of pta funds

I don't think parents refuse to contribute. It's just that schools are asking ALL THE TIME. I don't mind spending money on a Christmas Fair or make a donation towards new playground equipment.

But it doesn't stop there, it's new shelfs for the library or a new white board for class 6 or 5 laptops for year 1.
I know my DC would benefit from these things BUT, that extra £5.- in my pocket will go towards the Disney + subscription or a little something for DC while shopping. Or --god forbid- I spent it on a coffee for myself.

Having spare cash doesn't mean we have to spend it on the school. And schools using DC to blackmail parents into paying for extra activities in order to raise funds have to think agin- its morally wrong.

Secondary schools are a lot better or rather it is a lot easier to ignore, blissfully.

@snowballer

Thirdly - the PTA should be producing accounts each year for what has been raised, and where it has either been spent or is being allocated for a future year. If these accounts aren't published to parents, you should ask to see them. You'd be surprised the weight the PTA has in funding the extras for schools, and you'll see it doesn't go to lining pockets,

I think Snowballer makes a good point about publishing and seeing accounts. PTAs do a really good job but I have come across examples whereby funding is channeled into the let causes of the chair or prominent members of the committee. Surprisingly the link between school governors and the PTA is often weak which is both a positive and negative in a way but the negative is that the challenge to funding pet causes with limited benefit is often not there

@Ihatemyseleffordoingthis

Secondary schools are a lot better or rather it is a lot easier to ignore, blissfully.

We rarely got asked for donations when DDwas at secondary school. But the school trips got more expensive - skiing, World Challenge, New York (all optional though)