Would it BU to ask if it’s ok to do this at my daughters school?

[FamilyBusiness]

Hi all, it’s my little ones birthday in April, she will be six. Her birthday falls on a day she’s in school. My oldest son (10) is in same school, he is booked in for a feeding tube to be fitted (Cystic Fibrosis related) on the 18th of April. So we will be celebrating my daughters birthday a week early. But, WIBU to ask their school if I could pay for an educational animal visit for my daughter & her whole class for her birthday it’s a one hour visit.

As she has Autism & is going to be distraught that her brother is going in hospital (I’m dreading it) & I think it would really cheer her up & take her mind off it especially going in to school on her Bday knowing her brother isn’t there that day. Even though we will be celebrating together the week before, he will be in hospital at the time & so she won’t see him in school that day.

I don’t want to email the headteacher if it’s a bad idea, it will be an educational visit with bunny’s, birds, insects, etc etc. Thanks

I also think you should ask. It’s a lovely idea.

UPDATE - I’ve asked & made it clear it is absolutely not necessary to tell anyone it’s for her birthday & they are happy to let me pay. They said it is fine to pay for just her class as they are due a visit from them in the upcoming months anyway & are grateful I will be paying.

My daughter doesn’t know & so she won’t be telling her school friends I paid for it. The Head Teacher said it’s something to look forward to! The kids will be super excited I’m sure. The company work with my children’s school anyway, fully insured, DBS checked etc.

Again thanks to everyone who sent my son well wishes for his Operation & all the kind words. We can’t wait until the Op is over with so we can get him home & look forward to a happy future..x

That's lovely @FamilyBusiness

It’s a lovely idea and some companies who offer these kind of things already have risk assessments in place for schools. However, even just 1 hour could cause quite a disruption to an already packed school day. As previous posters have already mentioned, it could be the start of parents requesting similar things for their DC’s birthday or other children asking their parents to organise something and being upset when/if they can’t. Perhaps make some little party bags for the class instead? But I would avoid putting food items in them incase of allergies.

Brilliant update @FamilyBusiness

Great to hear @FamilyBusiness , well done organising the treat!

Definitely ask and ignore all the misery guts! If it sets a precedent for other parents paying for extra curricula educational visits then even better! Schools have no money for fun stuff anymore - I work in one - and kids miss out on so much that we all took for granted. What’s the worst case? They say no. Nothing lost. Best case they think it’s a great idea. Which they almost certainly will.

It’s not taking over - I would be more than happy to have this paid for and animals are easy to work into any topic. You should ask, but make it clear to your daughter that it’s for everybody equally - she doesn’t get to hog the chinchilla!

I'm so glad that you asked and were allowed! I'm a former primary teacher and I'd absolutely loved to have participated in this. Educational visits were also a real treat.

It’s a lovely idea and worth asking. You seem very unsure and clearly peoples replies are upsetting you. But no harm in asking.. it’s a nice thing!

My kids weren't clued up enough about dates at that age to realise when their birthday was.

We always just said it was the closest Saturday! Can't you just tell her it's a different day??

Yay amazing!

I’m a special school head & this is commonplace at our school.
sounds a lovely thought.
sending best wishes for your son’s op x

I think the school would see it as a lovely opportunity for the children. There’s no harm in asking, they will probably have to get permission from all the other parents though

An alternative might be to ask if there is something that the school would be happy to do and you pay for rather than just suggesting something.

Well done OP.

So many nasty witches on here.

Bloody hell. There are some right pieces of work on this thread. Some of you have zero clue what it’s like parenting disabled children, and one with a life limiting illness. You could all do to work on your empathy.

@FamilyBusiness - no you aren’t a cheeky fucker as some have suggested and quite frankly if your daughter was in my DC’s class I’d offer to chip in. You’ve thought about this properly, using a provider the school already works with. I suggest you just write to the school, tell them why you’re worried and what you wondered about. Don’t be upset if they say no, and perhaps phrase it in a way that asks them if they have any suggestions. Ignore the shitty replies on this thread, most people have no idea what you have to live with, or they wouldn’t make such ludicrous comments.

I’m so so pleased. What an amazing mum you are.

The school have already agreed and are very happy about the OP’s offer.

I once offered to bring a very famous Olympian to my kids primary school, and they bit my hand off. She stayed the whole morning and took a whole school assembly as well as visiting classrooms and doing some training with small groups. She was fantastic - bought gold medals for the kids to hold and was so generous with her time.

It was very disruptive but the school was totally up for it. So I guess it's just down to whether the school likes the idea - it can't hurt to ask.

Brilliant! All the best with everything, @FamilyBusiness

Of course you are not being unreasonable! We do these types of shows all the time and the schools love them as they tailored to be educational. Our main focus is education and with our company we can cover all sorts of topics, Meerkat mail, animals of the rainforest (covering appropriate levels), mini beasts, classification, living things, habitats, inheritance and variation. We cover loads of key stage topics whilst allowing the children to see and handle animals they have never seen before. There are some very limited imaginations on here.

Aw I hope you son is ok and recovers well!
it’s such a lovely idea. I can imagine it would be more of an issue to get the kiddies to and from the farm plus getting consent forms. What about asking if they would allow a class party? Send in a cake, party bags and some party games like pass the parcel, pin the tail on the donkey xx

Ask someone on the school council....but my guess would be the short notice aspect. I don't know if it's true now but heads could authorise a day/half day absence in certain circumstances if it's classed as 'educational' (photos, drawing with what I did today type).
If they had a terms notice they might be more inclined.

You don't know unless you ask

Thank you so much XX