Schools asking for parental contributions

[ButamIwhoyouthinkIam]

I’m sure this one will be divisive and is partly down to personal politics but I’m interested in the consensus.

state funded primary, good catchment, in deficit, like many others.

email last week to suggest a voluntary contribution from parents to cover essential materials, lays out case etc. but already have quite a few requests annually for enrichment and also trips. Has active PTA and most families donate to this through usual calendar of events.

email sets out rising costs of utilities etc and asks parents to plug the gap. I’m not sure this is the right solution for something that is inherently gov funded and it feels like a slippery slope.

IABU: it’s reasonable for schools to ask this and for parents to be happy to pay

YABU: a different option eg lobbying gov or showing the deficit would be more reasonable. Contributing financially allows the funding problem to be hidden

Oversubscribed doesn’t necessarily mean the roll is full.

Also funding doesn’t differentiate for experience so if you are school with lots of upper pay scale teachers vs main scale then the money doesn’t go far.

I wouldn’t have an issue for a small contribution towards supplies such as pens and paint etc. I also agree with contributions for trips and enrichment activities.
Parents should not be paying basic utilities bills.
There should be a record of what pta money is spent on.

The more disadvantaged pupils you have on roll, the more ££ you have as a school so they might not need parent top ups as much.

I’d be happy to help. Lobbying takes time; I want my kids to have a good education now. It’s still a lot cheaper than private!

In an ideal world there would be no need but this is the way things are going now.

You could suggest class teachers setting up an Amazon wish list so parents can buy specific items for their kid’s class. If parents are buying the glue sticks, school can pay the electricity bill!

That’s good because that was one of my
concerns.

Its not reasonable but it's the reality....

How will it cost extra? The extra week will have come from somewhere else. They will still be in school the dame number of days.

Contributions to school fund are standard in Catholic schools.

I would be delighted to give our school money to help support the children’s learning

I would much rather give a sensible chunk of money than contribute to a bake sale

In theory, no school should have to rely on donations. They should all be properly funded. In reality this isn’t happening so it’s either contribute or have less money. This is like lots of things in our society though sadly.

I don’t agree with it and I wouldn’t be contributing. This is another example of the massive divide in education - buy a ££££ house in a good catchment, donate to the school and create (what the parents seem to believe) is a semi private type school. It’s not just about money. Yes schools will be getting pupil premium in disadvantaged areas however this is not the same as these contributions. Parents will be expecting to see ‘stuff’ for their contribution (see up thread examples) whilst the pupil premium will still be covering basics eg for everyone to go on a trip.

This is the start of a slippery slope, more and more will be expected, things will be cut in the belief parents will make it up.

Ive always said that the biggest divide in this country is not state vs private but it’s within the state system itself.

Our school has low pupil premium number so funding has to stretch further. I'm more than happy to give £500 a year to the school fund, its less than we'd have spent on a term of lunches at private school. I want my child to have a rich and rounded education and a lot of these experiences come from the school fund.
I also nag my MP a lot about school funding, its possible to do both. I cant sit on the belief funding should be better when my child is in education right now.

This is increasingly the norm.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/article/2024/sep/02/pay-as-you-go-schooling-parents-under-pressure-to-fund-essentials

I'm surprised you're only taking an interest now that you're directly affected, school funding has been shit for over a decade. There are schools out there right now who can't even afford absolute basics. So many opportunities have been cut, curriculum courses cut, children left to cope without proper support.

Inset days as ad hoc are easier to juggle into a working week by flexing hours onto other days. A whole week requires childcare

This is not new. I was at state schools in the 70s and early 80s, and I remember taking letters home asking for parental contributions. They were officially voluntary, but heavy pressure was applied to everyone to pay up. Plus parents were asked to buy text books throughout secondary school.

my dcs school are introducing the 2wk autumn half term. I think that term is too long.

Incidentally, OP given that you are keen to start lobbying for more funding for schools, you can start by writing to your MP
https://www.writetothem.com

I don’t know. On the one hand I would want to support my child and through extension the school.

On the other hand I recently found out the academy school around the corner had embezzled all the school funds somehow (I think by awarding overinflated/ made up contracts to family members for something or other).

So it’s a tricky one.

Schools can have very limited resources, especially in particular circumstances, such as small size of subjects not studied by many. I would just pay, if I could.

We get asked for a general contribution of £150 per child per year (secondary) - we don’t pay it at the moment because we simply don’t have it to spare. However, we do pay the requested contributions towards art/DT materials which is usually around £10. Of course schools should be better resourced by government funding, but I think we’ll all be six foot under before that happens 🤷🏻‍♀️

When DD attended a Grammar school (couple of years ago) they expected parents to make a payment of at least £50 per year “to help school achieve more for the students”. Supposedly voluntary but they’d repeat it in every weekly newsletter and the high percentage of parents contributing this and far more. Turned out the school was awful from the higher ups all the way down to the kids in year 7, severe unrelenting bullying going on but they had “such a wonderful community in every year group supporting each other through every challenge”. Absolutely despicable consequences with zero accountability. This school has never been short of money or funding. I’m sure there are many schools in dire need. This one wasn’t and isn’t.

Wow yes this is an amazing tool! Just chose a primary based on vibes and pleased to see it’s the only one locally that’s actually not bankrupt!!!

Well that’s good news 😅

I think parents should pay a little extra to schools if they can.

I think it should be voluntary and anonymous so that those that can’t don’t have to feel bad but a lot of people could afford £20-£50 a month with a little sacrifice (a lot of people, not all before I get jumped on!) which could make a big difference to schools. I know we all pay taxes but that’s true of people without children too.

Our village primary is £50k in debt with a reserve of £10k - does this mean anything beyond there’s no money for extras? They do have a high proportion of SEND kids and a good reputation for SEND.
A neighbouring village school has by contrast £10k in debt and £150k in reserve! How can they have so much in reserve??