To think it’s wrong of the school to do this?

[Sunflowersunshinebreeze]

My child’s school has paid for a theatre company to come in and perform a show.

They are asking for a ‘voluntary contribution’ of £4 to enable your child to watch. (I am fine with that and have paid).

The office have said only those that have paid will be allowed to go and watch it and those that haven’t will have to stay in the classroom.

I am shocked that they are going to be excluding children who don’t pay (for whatever reason). E.g. they cannot afford to pay/parents didn’t see the notification in time/forgot etc.

Is this the same in other schools? Maybe I’m behind the times and this is the norm these days, but it just feels so wrong to me!

Just another person agreeing this isn't allowed during school time. Someone needs to bring the school up to date on this. The rule came in years ago I'm sure!

Is it a Private or State school, OP?

It’s either voluntary and means you get to go whether you pay or not OR it’s mandatory to pay to go and if you don’t you miss out.

It can’t be both.

They shouldn't be charging at all. Schools often have this stuff and it's part of normal activity.
If it's taking place in the school hall and it has capacity for the whole class then what will they do, bar the doors locked shut and cover the windows? It seems a piss take.

i don’t really understand this with our primary school. We were told with several events during the day (not trips) that you had to pay for your child to access the event - eg £10 for the therapy horses visit before Xmas. But then the same lot of parents (big lash big nails brigade) decide they “don’t want to pay” and their kids get to do it anyway. Feels like a pisstake.

State school, working class/low middle class area.

Isn’t it a matter of deemed educational it’s voluntary technically.

If it’s for fun it’s pay or don’t go.

So the ice cream part of the event our school
did was fun not educational thus is was paid or don’t get.

swimming coaches the swimming is mandatory so it’s voluntary and everyone goes regardless.

also how does it work for say space limited residential trips. So say a year of 60
children only 35 spaces so there will always be some left behind. Who goes the children whose parents actually pay or do say 10 spaces go to children whose parents won’t/can’t pay.

I fence sit in this as everytime the school pays for a non mandatory experience that takes away from the overall budget of things to improve things for every student. Be that better or more books, upgraded play equipment or even paying to run free clubs for all where every child could Benefit over 10 children getting to go to Scarborough residential for 4 days.

Nothing shocks me anymore but I wouldn't be supporting it either. Tell your child to sit it out & you'll get them a film/ice-cream at home

It’s a state school.

Complaint to council & Ofsted school not providing equal access to education.

No, don't do this. Follow the school complaints procedure.

And also, surely the school shouldn’t be asking for parents to pay for something that’s happening during school hours. If it’s taking place in learning hours then it should be educational and free.

Here is the government guidance and it clearly states a child cannot be excluded for simply not paying:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5af99c8ae5274a25e78bbe30/Chargingforrschoolactivities.pdf

With regards Pupil Premium Funding - generally those children in receipt of free school meals get PP funding, however for those families just out of scope in getting FSM these are the parents who struggle to pay for trips.

At the school I work we do use PP funding to pay for trips or to contribute towards trips for those children that receive PP funding, this funding cannot be used for non PP funded kids.

My school is lucky it can at the moment swallow the costs of non payment of trips allowing the trips to go ahead but as budgets get tighter I can see in the future trips being cancelled if not enough money received from parents. It's very sad to think the children will miss out.

Footnote: coach transport since Covid had gotten so expensive and it is this that pushes the trip cost up!!

@Jeeekers I wish people wouldn’t t just throw complain to OFSTED out there. The majority of times OFSTED will throw it back and ask if you have followed the complaints policy

I would complain formally and encourage others to do so.

This is appalling from the school.

It might be worth tipping off the local paper about it, it really isn't fair treatment.

I think it’s really important that the parents who can afford to pay are also complaining. The school needs to realise that they are totally and utterly out of order here.

That is unlawful. Anything done during the school day must be available to all and they can only ask for voluntary contributions.

Was about to go searching for guidance so thanks for saving me the job :)

If it's supporting the curriculum then any non paying children cannot be excluded from it. The point of voluntary contributions is to cover the cost of the activity with the activity potentially not going ahead if the cost isn't covered and where the school can't afford to cover the difference. Other wise it's not a voluntary contribution it's a pay to attend non curricula activity. Raise this with the school and have them reword it.

All the information we have is

The office have said only those that have paid will be allowed to go and watch it and those that haven’t will have to stay in the classroom

We don't know what the head or the teachers have said.

It is possible that the office are saying this but actually everyone will be able to go.

Before going to OFSTED, your MP or even the governors maybe check what is actually happening.

I can't edit as I am on the app.
I see it has happened before
But I still think more information is needed.

I’ll ask on Monday, but to speak to the head, you have to go through the office staff!

I had this with my daughter’s school but they actually did include everyone, even those who didn’t pay. They just didn’t advertise it.

But to actually exclude those who don’t pay, during a school day, would have me writing to the head followed by the governors. I’d rather my daughter miss out on this stuff than have other kids excluded due to money. What message is that giving the kids?

This makes me so angry.

Not the first time? Crikey.

If these activities are part of the school’s educational offering, then it should be accessible to all students, not just those whose parents can spare the cost. If it is not part of the curriculum, then why is it taking place during the school day at all? In either case, punishing children for their parents’ financial situation is completely unacceptable.

If additional funding is needed, there are many other ways to handle it without singling out students and making them feel lesser than their peers.

I would be interested to hear how the school defended withdrawing from such positive principles as equal opportunities and inclusion in its position as their educator and yes, role model.

I'd be following the complaints procedure until it reached the governors and then onto the local authority if needed. I'd also be highlighting the position to OFSTED.

It is a bit shit. Our school has an “enrichment fund”, voluntary overpayments by parents cover kids who can’t afford eg theatre/ museum trips etc. Whenever we have an event, I try and pay a couple of pounds extra into the fund, happy in the knowledge that no kid will miss out. Maybe you could suggest this to your school? We use ParentPay app and it appears permanently as an item for payment on there.

My kids school made people pay to see Santa and the kids that hadn’t paid didn’t get to see him. I thought that was terrible! They did change it this year though so the kids all saw Santa but only the paying ones got a present. Better but still not great.