Voluntary contribution of £120 for school

[Voiceofreason92]

My son’s school have always asked for a voluntary contribution of £35 per year per child. This year they have decided to up it to £60 per child. I have two children. In the past it’s never been clear what that £35 is going on so have always reluctantly contributed. This year they have asked for money for revamping the year 1 toilets, building a ‘summer house’ style cabin as an intervention room and to support their staffing structure.

since September, it’s been in the newsletter every week saying they still don’t have 100% of families contributing and they would really like it. (Only 50% have) This week a letter came home in my kid’s book bag from the head teacher saying that they noticed I havent paid my £120 contribution and they really think it’s time I contributed for my boys.
AIBU unreasonable for not contributing out of principle that I feel hounded and it’s meant to be voluntary.
(this is a state primary school not a private one)

I’m so surprised about the attitude in this thread. Or then maybe I shouldn’t be?!
A previous poster articulated it well. School budgets are (in many cases) in deficit. That is a combination of things previously highlighted (SEN, costs, dwindling funding, deteriorating buildings). That means they have 0 money to pay for things they may have once covered. The things I’m thinking of;

• missed school dinner payments
• missed school trip payments
• missed before school club/ASC payments

Parents need to sort themselves out. And yes, if a voluntary amount can be afforded (in most cases, it can) we should all pay. For the benefit of our children’s education!! By not doing so, it is simply the children who suffer.

Enlightening though to see how little people value education and begrudge even a minimal contribution.

They absolutely should not! The Government should provide adequate funds through our taxes!

Everyone thinks someone else should pay more tax to fix their problems. As a private school parent I’m pretty aghast that any parent wouldn’t be willing to top up their school, so their child has access to the basic items that they require to enhance learning. Ultimately the people who use schools need to be stakeholders in assisting with whatever problems their schools faces. That’s the nature of community resources.

loll
Totally agree
Been Years since mine were at school and I have never known anything like this

But they can’t because there are too few net contributors to the tax system. Unless you make 60k for each family member, the state is running at a loss to provide for each human you make. Something has to give- at the moment it’s children’s education. It shouldn’t be. Parents should be ready to be responsible for their children and their education.

But what do you do when there simply aren’t enough taxes to pay for everything?
We either need to tax more…get more contributing to the coffers (ideal option) or spend less. These are big issues that aren’t going to be resolved quickly.
surely, a small contribution towards your child’s education given the mess the UK’s finances are in, is no great hardship.

WTAF?! Is this spread over the entire 4 years??? Absolutely ludicrous

Take a photo of the word voluntary in the dictionary and send it to them.

What are they like in other areas? Do they have more sneaky money raising with exorbitantly priced uniforms or do they let you buy basics like black or grey or navy skirts and trousers from wherever you want?

I’d pay if they were reasonable about other costs like uniforms.

@Jesuismartin yes they do. The education my children get is top notch. That’s what we pay for and that’s what we get. And I am happy to pay every £ because providing my children with the opportunities they should have to have their best life is my job. That’s why I just don’t get these posts. They are your children. They are your responsibility. And it’s usually by women who then bitch that the errant dads don’t pay their ‘fair share’. It’s all the same to me because what the majority of people pay in tax to fund their kids education ain’t a ‘fair share’. It’s a pittance.

I work in a primary school in Scotland and we are constantly reminded of the cost of the school day by the council. We would never be allowed to ask parents to contribute for things we need in school. We obviously do school fayres, sponsored walks etc but we are also limited in how many we can do in a year so we are not asking for too much money from parents.

I think it’s shocking that the school are asking for this. Of course all schools would love extra resources and space but we can’t afford them and that’s budget cuts being the problem, not parents.

Some years ago now but I religiously paid the voluntary contributions when asked. One voluntary contribution was apparently towards the cost of swimming lessons. I forget the amount but a colleague who had a child in a nearby school told me her school didn't ask for anything as the local authority funded places. I then learned that I was one of only a handful of parents who had ever actually bothered to contribute. I didn't pay when asked again and received several letters home "reminding me"! All were ignored.

Mine have left school but this was very much a thing at their primary. Endless requests for £1 per child for themed days, sales, and fundraisers. Memorably, an in school event with a suggested ‘voluntary’ contribution of £10 per sibling. Which was chased up.
We actually suggested throwing £50 in the pot each at the start of term to stop all this.
I’m aware they were under funded and understand the ask, but for some parents it’s unaffordable.

For sure, but when those small contributions are everywhere on top of high tax burden and stagnant wages, nobody can scratch their heads in the future when our population structure is screwed because more and more people elected not to have children in the first place.

And I am someone who would pay the money, because I value my kids school and teachers. But it is a luxury to be able to afford to do so which lots of working parents just wouldn’t be able to. It is a form of social separation to have schools that can and schools that can’t due to parental income.

Under the Education Act 1996 and DfE guidance, schools are not allowed to pressure or harass parents for voluntary contributions. Send a letter shutting it down referencing DfE guidance on contributions and if that doesn’t work, follow their complaints policy.

What you describe does not surprise me one bit. I hope that at least the teachers and some of the parents appreciated the work you did.

It's per child, per year. We don't pay the full amount as it's not really manageable. Some people don't pay at all, others pay the full amount. We don't get hounded about it (anymore! They tried that tactic a few years ago and were told to stop) and the school have actually gotten a lot better at explaining what it's for. The transparency has helped encourage more people to contribute. But it's still not enough! It's never enough. Schools are really, really struggling.

Have large companies pay a reasonable amount of tax for starters.

As for spending priorities, that would make up a whole thread in itself.

or just make a donation
it is for your child's benefit

Tell them as a school they should know the meaning of the word voluntary. It should be the council job to provide money for this, they manage to find money for other things. Absolutely not.

That’ll be going to fund Mandelson’s payoff, I expect. He’s entitled to a nice fat one after being sacked.

Perhaps point out that for some of us we have had highest tax burden in 70 years and if we had a capped flat tax/NI of 20% and much lower VAT and no stamp duty or IHT you might well be up for a contribution to a state school.

If it’s a voluntary aided school then you know that is the case when you join surely?

God yeah
That's totally OTT . The poor kids .

I would complain. I think this is v unreasonable from the school, they don't know people's circumstances and they shouldn't be pressurising. Fine to ask once but not repeatedly