Primary school asking for voluntary donation

[HoppingKangaroo]

My dc just started in reception class. Got a letter about a voluntary donation for reception class fund for £1 a week to be sent in with child weekly or termly. How common is this? Do most parents pay? And will there be more things to pay for on top of this - non uniform days, raffle tickets, trips or school christmas play etc? Just wondering how much everything could cost overall for the year.

Ours did something like that, it was a couple of pounds per term I think for a cafe morning they did once a week. The kids would go and buy fresh fruit, veg and snacks and serve it up to each other.

There will be lots of other things like trips, cake sales etc. For trips it will always be a voluntary contribution if it is in school time and the whole class are going. It is usually to cover to the cost of transportation. No child would be prevented from going. If enough funds aren't raised to cover the costs then the trip might not go ahead.

Things like bake sales are of course entirely optional. You will have to judge for yourself which things you can afford to contribute to. If money is tight school should understand, all that I've worked in have always reminded staff to be mindful that some parents will struggle. I rang a parent last term to reassure them that their child could come on a field trip and that they didn't need to have made the voluntary contribution. In my experience, most people who can afford to pay do and sometimes there are some who can't. If the financial crisis deepens it may be an area where schools struggle as fewer people can make the contribution.

You might be asking why schools need to ask for a contribution at all and it is down to lack of funding. We have to do fieldwork as a statutory part of the national curriulum. If we take children out (secondary) then there is a huge bill for supply to cover our classes in school, then the coaches. To take a whole year group out will usually take 4 days, 4 x coaches there and back and at least 4 staff each day. It is even harder to find non teaching staff to accompany us since most support staff were made redundant a few years ago. We can't always do short local trips using the minibus as we need a special minibus licence to be able to drive it and that costs a couple of thousand pounds for staff who don't already have the right catagory on their licence, we don't have enough mini bus drivers. Plus it would take weeks to get the whole year group out and still create masses of disruption in school. Anyway, I'm rambling about my school and subject but I thought it might be interesting for parents to k ow why we sometimes ask for money.

Is it a voluntary aided school?

I think asking for some kind of donation is quite normal. I've always known it as a termly donation rather than a weekly one, but all the same in the end.

It can add up when you factor in school trips, raffle tickets for summer and Christmas, tickets for some school plays etc., endless donations for charity. It is all optional though and a good school will make.its handled sensitively so that no-one knows who has or hasn't contributed to each different fundraiser.

Our school only asks for a £1 around 4 times a year. We've never been asked for a weekly donation. They also try to keep trip payments to a minimum, normal class trips have never asked for more than £12.
That being said around 44 percent of pupils are on student premium so school management are very aware that Soo many families will not be able to participate

I'm not sure 2 TAs in a class is necessarily excessive. Surely it depends on the ages and needs of the kids.
If there are 2 TAs, one might be a 1:1. If a child is diabetic or has an adrenal condition there will need to be someone with eyes on them even if they appear to be across the classroom working with other people. DH is often a 1:1 for children with emotional or behavioral needs so if the child becomes overwhelmed, dh can extract them from the classroom for the safety of everyone else. There are a lot of children who had very little support during covid and are well behind so 2 TAs would allow children to catch up with what they have missed at their own speed.

Our secondary asks for a larger amount annually, but it is voluntary. I don't see a problem if it is voluntary.

@Babyorbuffet fair enough about the TA's

The Health and Wellbeing lead is a separate full time role. And the person employed to do the role isn't a teacher.

I wouldn't be paying £1 a week unless they can justify having 2 x Office Administrators and 1 x Business Manager and a 1 x health and wellbeing person. (All full time!)

The school only has about 100 pupils.

We did in reception and year 1. I think to cover purchase of extra resources that you need with very young children.

not asked for year 2 up.

This has been common in secondaries for a while and is becoming increasingly common in primary schools. I’ve heard of a few that have started to ask from this year.

I very much doubt that it will reduce any of the other regular requests like money for trips, charity days and PTA events. Personally I’d prioritise paying for the trips and things directly for my child over the voluntary contribution.

Ours doesn’t do this.

We do get asked to contribute to their school trips though and send in cereal boxes etc.

Save every shoe box. You’ll need them, and there’s always a last minute ‘shit, has anyone got a shoe box?’ conversation on WhatsApp.

When I worked as a secondary teacher and I was a form tutor I was told to keep reminding children who had to bring in £2 each for Red Nose day and Children in Need day. I knew some children's families simply could not afford it particularly if there were say 3 children so £6. I used to quietly pay the £2 for them and I know other teachers did too. There was no way I was going to remind them they had not paid yet every day of the week. It was not seen as voluntary at that school.

We rarely ask for anything, but our Reception classes had always asked for that before I started - weekly baking ingredients, playdough, and just ad hoc stuff - the teachers are forever in charity shops trying to find a stuffed cat to go with the story they're reading, etc. I did try to talk them out of it (am headteacher) but when they showed me all the spending receipts for the previous year, I couldn't have paid it on the school budget (on top of all the proper resources they buy!) - it was either stopping the extras or letting in continue. I don't agree with it, it is voluntary, but I'd probably pay it if I could afford it.

Yes towards the cost of snack a piece of fruit everyday for my child.

My childrens' schools haven't (although there have been plenty of money raising events). The primary school head understands that there is a very mixed catchment and not everyone can afford it.

When I was in primary we brought 10p / week (per family I think) which went to school funds but also for a raffle - drawn every Friday in assembly (prizes like felt pens, plastic football etc). 1 winner per week so definately money to spare.

School funds are tight and heads are worried at increased energy prices, cost of stationery etc increasing as well as staffing costs going up.

If you can't afford it, don't pay. If you can though and it's going to help the children it's not a bad thing. Consider that the class teacher will probably be spending similar (at least) out of their own pocket for the class.

Yes at my primary school in the 1970s there was a ‘school fund’. I am sure my parents also had to pay for the class school trips to Saltcoats, Troon, Ayr etc every year. And I remember there was the chance to buy books to (for ourselves,not for the school)-the one I remember most was called ‘Flat Stanley’. But my clearest memory was taking in tins of food for the food parcels that were given to old folks every Christmas as we had an Old Folks Christmas Concerts

Schools in more deprived areas tend to ask less in my experience. Partly because fewer parents can afford it and partly because they have access to funding that schools in more affluent areas don't (not just pupil premium but also educational charities eg reading schemes).
It's interesting that people are saying church schools are more likely to ask for money. In my experience the church schools I know are the ones that don't ask because the church tops them up, but I have just realised all the church schools I know well are in deprived areas so maybe the local churches give them more support than they do schools in affluent areas.

This is just one of the reasons state schools in middle class areas are sought after: parents can afford to donate to the school. They (probably) don't donate as much as private school fees would be but they definitely swell the coffers so the school can achieve more.

Ours doesn’t do this, we give voluntary donations for lots of other things throughout the year though. School trips they also say are voluntary contributions I guess so that parents who can’t afford them don’t feel they have to pay but if people don’t pay then they have to cancel the trip and they’ll keep texting us to say they haven’t received your payment for this or that so essentially it’s not very voluntary. Basically if you get a letter to say we need voluntary contributions for this, it really means you have to pay them at our school.

Yes common.

I'm a teacher and have had to buy glue sticks, felt tip pens and cooking supplies for my class all last year so a bit of help from parents really helps

Also for school trips it says voluntary contribution BUT if not enough children pay then the trip won't go ahead.

Our (normal, suburban, mixed demographic area) infant school hasn’t asked for any regular contribution, and all the kids get free snack and free lunch. But the PTA is quite active, they’ve done a couple of discos, theme dress up days, a summer fair, a Christmas fair, and a sponsored walk.
The school trip cost about £15, but they did need about 6 parent volunteers for it to go ahead.

Yeah, I wouldn't pay that either. Our school also rewards perfect attendance while making a big point to parents that kids with any illness must be kept at home until completely better.

I am happy to keep sick kids home.... pisses me off that they are essentially punished for it when other kids get awards/rewards for perfect attendance and the ones off sick miss out.

General voluntary fees though should be paid if you can as they fund extras like science or classroom supplies that go towards activities etc.

Parents in affluent areas will contribute less in donations than schools in deprived areas get in pupil premium funding. Although, to be entirely honest, pupil premium numbers will start to fall soon because the Government is keeping the threshold to qualify artificially low.

Ours doesn't (I work in Primary) but it would make all the difference, depending on what they're spending it on etc. Our budget is worse than ever, I don't know how much longer it can go on before something gives.

Ask what they're putting the money towards? A fund like that might be the only way the children would be getting anything more than the bare basics. Maybe funding golden time activities or special art projects? Could be anything. (Heating this year, perhaps? She asked, wryly.)

I think it will be common this year. We had “recommended” direct debit when DD was at secondary and it’s way before cost of living crisis. My guess it will be more popular now.
Ask what it will cover, just to avoid surprises.

I vaguely remember a donation of a few pounds in reception for materials to do fun things but not after that. It definitely wasn't weekly.

In other years there are a lot of events organised by the PTA to raise funds. It's a very good idea to have a tub of £1 coins to avoid scrabbling around for them when cash is required.

Termly discos. Mother's Day sale, Father's Day sale - not voluntary, kids pay a couple of pounds to buy a present for mother/father figure and are taken from the class to the hall during the school day to do this.

May Fair organised by and manned by yr6 to raise money for the prom, kids bring some change and are taken to hall to spend it. There will be other things too.

PTA raised funds have been used for picnic tables, benches, playground painting, shelters, wooden play equipment etc

A few non uniform days or wear x colour day are usually to raise funds for charity.

There are other things that require payment such as theatre group visits and sometimes the school really struggles to get enough contributions to cover the cost and plead for parents to cough up. The kids do enjoy them.