State school charging for basics.

[Purplegarland]

Another email from primary school today saying that they are not unable to subsidise school trips at all and will be fundraising/passing costs onto parents. This means that I am required to give even more money.
This month alone they have asked for almost £100 for various things. Including costs for transport, stationary, being a member of school sport teams (kit, transport, pitch/pool fees, and lunch) some of which happen in school time, and a themed day. Of course, I know that trips are optional but I don't see how I could have my child sitting out of a themed day where visitors come in to give a special talk tied into the curriculum. Add in the various charity days and requests for money for wearing blue or whatever and I am paying an absolute fortune on top of any extra curriculars my DC want to do.
Am I being unreasonable that a state school should not be passing so many costs onto parents? Think £40 for a coach on top of day trip fees.

We did a sponsored event at primary school to pay for our own netball team kit in the '90s.

I haven't had to pay a penny towards secondary school.

Apart from replacement school ties.

@Purplegarland Ok, so your budget is very tight, as is mine.

But you could join the PTA. Organise a bake sale or a jumble sale or get on your phone and talk to local marketing companies about free pens or pencils. Try a social media appeal for stuff to raffle.

Talk to the local Parish Council and ask them to contribute to a specific cost. Or talk to the local church. What can they contribute?

Talk to other parents and check who they work for. A lot of blue chip employers offer match-funding so if they raise £50 from a sponsored run, they get another £50 from their employer.

There's loads you could do to help the school, rather than grumbling.

Transport and sports teams aren't exactly the basics as in the OP

My kid gets pupil premium and I still have to pay the same as everyone else 🤷‍♀️ she gets a free lunch but I believe the LA fund this

So when this first came to light a few years ago, what did you do to make a change? Or did you ignore it and then say it doesn't matter, teachers can pay.

Is that the solution? Let teachers pay?

That doesn’t help the taxpayer. They still have to foot the additional bill.

I’m in the USA - parents have to supply all stationary and classroom needs each year - you get a big list at the start of the year and bring it all into school on one day so the classroom teacher can organize the supplies - it includes things like tissues, wipes, plastic sandwich bags etc.

The teachers have to cover any shortfalls - glue sticks, whiteboard markers etc out of their own pockets. As well as any classroom decor, teaching aids, extra mats or furniture.

I think there's more analysis to be done about private schools.

I know many normal salaried people send tgeir kiss to private school because they are SEN and dialler class sizes help their child or to try to give them the best attention possible in school. Those parents save tax payers £m every year. Adding vat to school fees means that we'll need to invest £bs in new schools as fewer parents of this high income but not rich parent will no longer be able to afford school fees. I'd like to see families earning less than £100k given a tax break to send their child to private schools because state schools are so over loaded.

And whilst I do think being charities is wrong, bashing private schools when the post is about state schools is not warranted. Private schools are not the problem. The tory government is and their policy to fund state facilities so badly they fall over or rely on charity whilst waiting £b in unrecovered fraud and lining pockets through nepotism.

My DD hasn’t had a trip this year and we’re raising money yet again to pay for laptops. My DS school is also raising £40k for essential repairs and has asked directly for families to contribute. The enermy isn’t the school but the very sorry state of our national finances.

Coaches are really expensive and easily add £500 or so to a school trip even if it is up the road

Stationery FFS

Lets hope the schools aren't funding trips because they're spending money on more important stuff - like teaching your children how to spell.

It is illegal for the school to require parents to cover the PP pupils in order for their own children to attend (though the trip may not go ahead if the school cannot get enough voluntary donations to cover all their costs).

What additional bill?

We are talking about school budgets.
A class of 20 pupils requires a teacher. A class of 30 children requires the same teacher. The school benefits by having 10 additional pupils as part of the school staffing spend.

Localities also benefit as their local school remains open.

YABU. Take it up with Rishi.

If a school has a higher budget that has to be funded by taxpayers. Are you suggesting that class numbers could increase by 50% with no additional budget?

I seem to remember having a choice in 2017 and 2019 between a well funded NHS and education system and austerity. We chose austerity and this is the consequence of that.

I work in school finance, coach costs have gone up so much since covid that it can add an extra £200 on pre covid prices. We are going on less school trips as a result but face harsh criticism for making children miss out 🤷‍♀️
School budgets are dire and costs just keep going up for absolutely everything x

The post is about lack of school budget.

The school budget will be much healthier if a class of 20 pupils becomes a class of 30 as the staffing costs remain the same.

There is plenty of capacity for places, in the state system. Using them will prevent so many state schools closing due to poor budgets.

Bloody Conservatives.

@ThinWomansBrain Thin woman's brain, fat woman's body?
Not nice when you are insulted is it?

As I said in my previous post, bigger budgets mean the tax payer has to pay more.

The fact there are places available is irrelevant unless you support less funding per pupil.

But isn't relevant to a thread on school budgets.

Many schools turn the colour printing function off their printers and photocopiers.

YABU to expect extras to be funded when schools can’t meet EHCPs or provide proper teaching materials.

If parents don’t pay the trips and extras will just disappear.

Of course it is. Budgets have to come from somewhere. There’s no magic money tree. Talking about them in isolation without considering how they are funded is pointless.