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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

PTA - raising valuable funds vs an extortion racquet

49 replies

RoadRunner1982 · 03/12/2021 08:01

£10 per child to take part in Christmas activities (craft, theatre production) during the school day.....reasonable??

OP posts:

Quincythequince · 03/12/2021 08:02

Absolutely not! Even if the craft items and activities were extremely expensive, this is not acceptable at all. And no HT should be allowing this either.

Comedycook · 03/12/2021 08:03

Oh that is quite hefty isn't it?! What happens if you don't pay the £10...what does your child do while the other kids are crafting?

OnceuponaRainbow18 · 03/12/2021 08:03

Ours is £5 for a school disco during the school day… can’t imagine them leaving 5 kids behind in the classroom?!!

Comedycook · 03/12/2021 08:03

£10 could really be a lot of money for some people a this time of the year...are you in a particularly affluent area?

NellieBertram · 03/12/2021 08:04

£10 seems very reasonable for the theatre!

If you can’t afford it talk to the school, they will be able to help.

CoffeeAndDryShampoo · 03/12/2021 08:04

Definitely not, especially during the school day! As additional optional after school activities then fine.

Whinge · 03/12/2021 08:04

I think £10 is too much, especially at this time of year.

CarrieBlue · 03/12/2021 08:05

A sad reflection on the funding crisis in schools. Not new either.

DameCelia · 03/12/2021 08:05

@RoadRunner1982
Completely unacceptable, and the HT shouldn't have countenanced it.
(But I'm loving the idea of a protection racquet, it's a really big one with extra sharp strings to attack people with when they get too close! This maybe my favourite typo of the day)

Hoppinggreen · 03/12/2021 08:05

Definitely extortion
When I was PTA chair we took all the money for ourselves and spent it on manicures and Gin while laughing at the fools who gave it to us and then who complained we hadn’t done everything to their liking while not giving up their own precious time.
We certainly didn’t use the money to plug the huge gaps in the school budget that meant the children would have had no enrichment activities. And it sure as hell wasnt a lot of work to organise a great time for the kids while raising much needed funds at the same time.
Still didn’t mean my kid got to be Mary either (probably as well - he would have been mortified)

Sirzy · 03/12/2021 08:05

As long as it’s a voluntary donation towards the activities I wouldn’t have an issue if it meant school could put things on. If children are excluded because parents can’t afford it then it’s wrong.

Hankunamatata · 03/12/2021 08:06

Is this a theatre company coming into school to do panto rather than taking the kids out?

Ostryga · 03/12/2021 08:07

I just paid £10 for a theatre trip to see the Gruffalo for Dd so I don’t think it’s that extortionate. Our school has the option to not pay if you can’t afford it though, and the kids still go.

Needdoughnuts · 03/12/2021 08:08

Most of that will be for the visiting theatre company and a couple of pounds towards craft items. The rest will come out of the teacher's pocket.

CormoranStrike · 03/12/2021 08:09

@Hoppinggreen

Definitely extortion When I was PTA chair we took all the money for ourselves and spent it on manicures and Gin while laughing at the fools who gave it to us and then who complained we hadn’t done everything to their liking while not giving up their own precious time. We certainly didn’t use the money to plug the huge gaps in the school budget that meant the children would have had no enrichment activities. And it sure as hell wasnt a lot of work to organise a great time for the kids while raising much needed funds at the same time. Still didn’t mean my kid got to be Mary either (probably as well - he would have been mortified)

This made me laugh

Needdoughnuts · 03/12/2021 08:10

Sorry I missed the PTA are doing it themselves not the teachers.

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 03/12/2021 08:11

£2.50 for Christmas party food (free for FSM and infants, its instead of lunch)
£2.50 for Christmas Dinner (Free for FSM and infants
£1.50 for pantomime snacks
£1 for Santa's grotto
£1 for Christmas jumper day
£0 for Ice skating
£0 for Santa dash

A lot added up (especially for two kids) but a lot happening. And all optional (you can see the pantomime without snacks and take a pack lunch to the party and Christmas dinner).

Debroglie · 03/12/2021 08:12

Would you prefer that the school didn’t do any of those activities? Just normal lessons for the rest of term?

HireStarter · 03/12/2021 08:14

Voluntary? Fine.

Mandatory or else excluded from activities? Not fine.

TheDinosaurTrain · 03/12/2021 08:14

Lobby your MP about school funding and become a governor if you want to see just how thinly stretched the school budget is! If you can’t afford it then please do tell the school though

Stompythedinosaur · 03/12/2021 08:47

A large part of running a PTA is finding ways to get money out of people though! For good reason because the school needs it to fund quite basic items.

I woukd only think it is wrong if they are planning to exclude dc who's parents haven't paid, which they probably aren't.

KrakowDawn · 03/12/2021 08:50

I fail to see what the PTA have to do with it- perhaps some more detail would help?

Who do you think should fund Christmas fun in schools though? Most schools are on their bare bones at the moment, because funding hasn't kept up with changes to employers tax/NI/pension payments. Almost all a school budget goes on staffing, and the rise in costs has been significant, without a matched increase in funding.

RoseAndRose · 03/12/2021 08:53

Not reasonable when it's part of the school day.

Unless of course the PTA is adopt the policy that schools must follow - that those who cannot afford to pay must still be included, and must be treated no differently

Sirzy · 03/12/2021 09:01

Not reasonable when it's part of the school day.

That’s brilliant. I assume you wouldn’t complain to school if they did no Christmas activities then as they don’t have the spare money to cover the costs and the teachers have refused to be any further out of pocket for them?

There is nothing in the OP to suggest any children will be excluded but if schools don’t have the money then every child will miss out!

GoGoGretaDoll · 03/12/2021 09:04

There shouldn't be any charge to take part in in-school activities during the school day. This is the sort of thing the fundraising covers, surely? The only think mine ever charged for was panto tickets and the biggest cost there was the bus now I come to think of it - tickets were either very cheap or free.

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