To think school are cheeky fuckers?

[sandpDy]

DS started school in September. Reception.

September - McMillan coffee morning. Donate £2 and wear something green

October - wear blue and donated £1 to sands, a still birth and neonatal death charity Halloween party - bring in cakes, a bottle of soft drink and something else of your choosing. Halloween coming up - £1 and you can wear your costume to school

November - children in need day. Wear something yellow and donated £2. Childrens fun day, bring in £5 to join in activities

December - Non uniform £1 donation. 15th December Christmas jumper day. Bring in £2.

In addition to this, they've asked for donations in his class for jumpers and socks, and spare clothes for spares. Also asking for a 'small contribution'
so they can buy some for the class

AIBU to think this is pretty wild?!

Multiply that by how many children someone has and during a cost of living crisis it's unaffordable for many families.

The external charities aside, where do you think the money that’s ‘for the school’ goes? Right back towards enrichment experiences for YOUR child. Schools are not allowed to make a profit or loss on things that they take money for. It’ll go into the PTA fund for trips, visits, workshops, experiences. It’s not like they’re using it to buy biscuits for the staff room.

We've had far more requests than that, school organised events are ££, lots of stalls where everything is a pound+, cost to get in, food, etc etc. Including entry to get in our children's school Christmas party cost us £65. £15 for 3 to get in, £20 on raffle tickets, and then £30 on food, drinks and random shit there. It's so so expensive. We both work and not in low paying jobs really but even I think sometimes the amount we spend on school stuff is ridiculous. I feel like we are forever sending in money or stuff. Buy this, buy that. School nativity costumes cost us £30, my mum said why don't you make them? I am more than able and very creative but time, when do I have time working ft with 3 small kids, trying to keep up with the hamster wheel!!!? So we have to buy them, more bloody money!!! God knows how anyone on a low income manages???

I don't buy the whining about how hard it is when they have multiple children. No one is forced to have multiple children or indeed take part in the school events

I'd love to go back to primary school. We've got skiing in February for £1500 for one teen and the other is going to Costa Rica in august 2024 with camps international for £3950 🙈

Just before half term I had money requests totalling over £300 - residential, Young Voices tickets, Young Voices Tshirt, cinema visit, school disco the straw that broke the camels back was a sponsored reading event. No, no and no again. So glad we're in our last year.

Aye ok they should send out the whole diary on day 1 and everyone will remember. Even with 5 texts there are still some parents who claim they never knew despite being able to see who read the texts! It'll never please everyone and schools will always be to blame. And if you get that school budgets are ridiculously tight meaning staff are supplementing your child's education why aren't you jumping at the chance to change this too?

@PerpetualStudent “I’m convinced it’s mainly to make the fundraising team feel like they are pillars of the community, does my nut in.” YES! 100% this.

OP I'm not sure if this has already been said, I skimmed the first and last page of the thread but just to let you into a secret... YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO IT! Really! No one will die because you didn't give school £1.

I used to get so stressed out with it as a single parent trying to juggle low paid work and all the school crap. Over the last few years, I've just stopped. I didn't donate anything at all for the school fairs and still sent my child in non-uniform like the other children. I didn't buy a single raffle ticket and I won't be donating £1 to wear a Christmas jumper. Every once in a while I'll join in with the donating £1 and I do pay for my child to attend the school disco twice a year (even though the price they charge is extortionate).

I volunteer for a charity and I donate to the local foodbank when I can. I've always worked in jobs where I'm helping people experiencing hardship/disadvantage. I feel like I already do my bit for society.

Our primary never did comic relief or children in need fundraising - parents always complained that the kids missed out. The school reduced dressing up activities again parents complained they didn’t do dress up for world book day - we had PJ day instead again parents complained.

i feel for schools they can’t win!

I think that’s hardly anything Op. You should see our school! And it’s an ordinary state school.

Normal. Then you have to find spotty clothing for boys or buy plain white t shirts and fabric pens to make your own (costing more than the donation to the charity). And make a life size cart wheel. And a Victorian/Egyptian/Roman/evacuee costume. And a scale model of the colosseum by tomorrow morning. Then attend the harvest coffee morning with donations.

Haha, Irish too and I wish £12 since September was what I had to payout. Just in the last 2 weeks I have paid out €75 for past exam papers, €10 for one to attend a contest as a backing dancer, €20 for tech graph supplies and €15 for art supplies.

It can be a pain in the arse sometimes especially this time of year but the kids education comes first so it is what is. I'm really happy with the education they are receiving and I'm OK with contributing towards that.

I don’t mind the optional requests. I’m happy to donate second hand uniform.
Payments for mufti days etc aren’t optional though, neither are dress up days (unless you want your child to stick out like a sore thumb). All of that should stop. Our school were extremely opaque on what the money was actually spent on. If there’s a PTA the money is at least accounted for

It's not the money that's the frustration for me, it's finding the change! I just don't carry cash anymore, wish they could just invoice at the end of the term ha!

I think buying supplies for your child is totally different than enforced charitable giving

Staff supplementing their education?  Staff are meant to be providing their education, not supplementing it.

I didn't suggest they send out the diary for the year on day one. I said that all requests should be available to view in a single location e.g. a comprehensive list in the website that they can add to as they go along, or a weekly email containing everything for each year group. Not expect parents to fish random letters out of bags, find notes in book bags, check whatsapp groups and websites and newsletters and emails because all contain different and sometimes contradictory information and there's no single source to check. Basic, clear communication. Not much to ask.

I also said I am happy to contribute some money if they want it but don't ask me for £2 here and £4 there on random days and expect me to turn up with it in cash. So inconvenient and pointless. Just tell us what the shortfall is divided by the number of parents and parents could pay that in one go by bank transfer to avoid this exhausting pseudo fundraising. Who has the headspace or time for this endless nonsense?

Daughters primary used to have a Christmas jumper day where first you had to get a jumper then rather than give a pound to wear it you had to buy something for the Christmas hampers. Subsequently you were expected to buy raffle tickets for the hampers.
It all mounts up pretty fast and I'd rather pick the charities I support myself.

What’s with the face when referring to SANDS? Why shouldn’t the school raise money for them during baby loss awareness week?! What’s your issue there??

I know I’m missing the point here in terms of the issue you raised, but as someone who has got a huge amount of support from SANDS I’m pretty irked that you don’t seem to think they’re worthy of supporting.

Never understand the paying to wear their own clothes, especially when it’s not a charity donation

I'd not even thought of thay but gaaaaah yes, there's probably an element of people on the PTA with too much time on their hands thinking this is "fun" and we should all be grateful to them. 🤣

I have to pay €90 a year for ‘photocopying’

for 3 children

Each!

Absolute cheeky fuckers. Raising money for charity and asking for a couple of quid towards ridiculously overstretched budgets so the children can continue to do nice things - how very dare they? Some people are in for a massive shock over the next year when the state of school budgets becomes apparent and there are no longer TAs in class, no one to run interventions, no trips, etc etc.

This also irks.

If Christmas jumper day is for fun, there should be no charge.

If the school want money, ask parents for that separately. Those who can afford to I'm sure will help if the uses of the funds are explained.

Why link the two? Pressure on those who cannot really afford it and hassle for those that can for these endless requests for money every week or two on random days. Exhausting.

It's almost like they are attempting to infantalise us and think we don't realise what it add up to over a year? We are parents not students. You want a donation? Just ask for the whole thing in one go like adults.