The amount of money requested from school especially in December is insane!

[Notchangingnameagain]

Just that really....

This month, on the online payment app, secondary school have asked for:

£5.00 School Disco - Whole School
£1.00 Team Building - Whole School
£1.00 Non Uniform/Christmas Jumper - Whole School
£120.00 Trip in July - Plus Spending Money
£7.50 Textbook
£6.50 Textbook
£43.00 Trip in January - Plus Spending Money
£163.00 Trip in February - Plus Spending Money
£4.00 Christmas Lunch - Whole School
£10.00 Secret Santa
£45.00 Trip in January - Plus Spening Money

£406.00.

I have two children in the school so it is actually higher than that for me if I said yes to everything.

I know none of the above is compulsory and some things can be paid in instalments, but it is a lot of money and it is a lot to say no too if you can't afford any of it regardless of an instalment plan.

I've had zero requests.

But then I would be grateful if my kids were being taken on trips and having fun days out.

Schools can't do right.

That's an awful lot of (fairly expensive) trips.

I'm guessing you are in an affluent area?
DC's school used to have 1 or 2 a year and they were always fairly moderately priced. And there was lots of support for those who couldn't afford them.

We haven't been asked for a penny this month. I think, to be fair, our school has carefully planned the big expenses, such as the trip abroad, so that an installment was due in October, and then the next one not until the end of January.

If you're sure this is all due now, and not just on the app for reference/future installments (such as the trip in July), take it up with the school. They're being inconsiderate.

Do they have to go on all the trips?

Are all of these things compulsory or is there an option to say no to some of them?

Are there options to speak to the school if you genuinely cannot afford it (support funds often exist)?

(Is this a state school or private?)

My main complaint regarding my son's school is that they are doing fundraiser after fundraiser for a trip that only some of them have chosen to go on - why on earth would the rest of the parents/relatives, whose children are not going, want to subsidise a trip which the parents of those who are going should be paying for? There is pressure for the to fundraise too, when some of the parents are presumably happy to pay what it costs (otherwise wouldn't have signed their kids up!).

I have had lots of requests for donations from three different schools. It's ridiculous. I would prefer to do a one off payment and let school divvy it out whichever way they see fit.

One of my DC had a "reward" trip where parents had to pay for this. It's hardly a reward if you need to pay for it!

@shepherdsangeldelight No I would say we don’t live in a particularly affluent area at all with a very mixed school community.

The emails all said sorry for the short turnaround but we need X deposit by X December. With about 3-5 days notice.

Some of the requests are “compulsory”.

I know there is help available, which is great, regardless really of help or whether you can afford it, it’s a lot to ask for in one month. Especially with Christmas.

It is a state school.

That's a lot of trips.

Private school - OK. State school - not OK

Eldest went to a school in a poor area and this was normal 1k skiing trip. £650 spain. £500 France. Each year was one or another. Each time deposit was due mid Dec.

Primary age dc now, not affluent area but also not poor. Bearing in mind they broke up last week so only 2 weeks of Dec.

£2 xmas jumper day.
£2 non uniform day
Donation of a bottle for fancy dress ( they took bucks fizz £2.50)
Each child sent home with £10 worth raffle tickets to sell to family for above bottle tombola

£18 trip to local farm
Cake sake cakes 50p to purchase but also requested donations which again we got pre made as no time to bake

School play outfit £12 amazon. Norm i make it but i literally had nothing i could use and would cost £10 for all the stuff for it.

Then youngest.

£9 xmas party
£5 raffle tickets
£10 play outfit

And yes we don't have to participate in all but the school are good at really pumping the kids and no one wants their dc to be the only one not participating etc

Oh and college dc. £40 trip to Thorpe park and spends.

Exactly @ChilledToTheBone .

I tend to try to avoid everything optional. Or almost everything. So the donations for non uniform, tombola donations, cake sales etc I just ignore. I really don't have the spare money as my budget is so tight

FOUR TRIPS?!

We've had the same

In the same 2 week block, we had

school photos (minimum price £15)
School PTA xmas gifts - £5 for a tea towel
School PTA Raffle - £5 for a book of tickets
Kids christmas party - send in food, so £2
Playground fundraiser - £2 entry
Christmas jumper dress down day - £1

I don't mind the requests for money. But when it's all in the same 2 week period, in December it irritates the fuck out of me.

There were no money requests in October or November, yet everything in one hit.

That’s a lot of trips. Guessing it’s secondary rather than primary because primary schools ime only tend to have 1 or 2 expensive trips at the end of primary whereas secondary schools regularly offer very expensive trips. I can’t afford the extortionate trips at secondary for DC so they don’t go on them. Not like they’re alone in this as they would have been at primary, it’s a big year group with 50 spaces on the bigger trips so plenty don’t go. You’re not forced to pay for the trips.

The other stuff like discos, Christmas jumper day, Christmas dinner etc is all totally usual and happens every year. I have 5 DC so obviously always 5x whatever the cost of those things is but never don’t expect it to happen in December, it’s an expensive month.

that must be some amazing trips your kids are going on.

mine are at a state primary in a deprived borough of London (although the school’s catchment area is affluent).
lunches, trips and clubs are free

Surely the trips aren't compulsory? With them being that many of them and a couple sounding like they may be residential.

Also forgot school photos. 1dcs smallest package was £25 one was £36. That wwe end Nov.

Worst year I had in their first primary before we moved to new area - £254 admittedly across 3 kids and optional if I wanted to let kids down but all with a week and half and all for less tan£40 max amount's - so not like big trips where there were months to save.

It was made worse by fact that year I took advice from on here and in RL to not present buy for months putting things away and getting carried away but do it in one go.

Luckily my present form DP that year was money enough to cover than and Christmas- I was in tears of relief when I rang to thank them.

It's never been quite that bad since - in fact there's been little this year at all and I've never tried not spreading shopping out again either.

I'd do the party, perhaps the fundraiser, and the photos if they were nice - the rest I'd happily ignore!

That is a lot, but I'm assuming the trips aren't compulsory? If you take out the trips its about £20 OP, which includes a disco, lunch and gift so not to bad.

The other £380 odd is your choice to pay surely?

Those aren't compulsory though, are they? We only got them every so often, because they actually often weren't that great!

You'd ignore the jumper day. Let your dc go to school in uniform when all their friends are in xmas jumpers. I couldn't let my dc stand out like a sore thumb