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)

Well yes. Because your kids went to school in better times.

Presumably it's a Jewish school if they need security guards outside.I expect they need Ops money to pay the guards

I'd write back with a cease and desist

Request to Cease Unwanted Contact and Harassment

I am writing to formally request that you cease all contact with me regarding further voluntary contributions.
I am not in a position to contribute, yet I have been subjected to ongoing [mention pressure, e.g., newsletters, flyers etc]. This unwanted pressure is making me uncomfortable and constitutes harassment. The UK is presently in a cost of living crisis, its not possible for everyone to give voluntary contributions.

This letter constitutes a cease and desist letter concerning voluntary contributions. Any further letters may result in further action.

sincerely

make sure you put their address and your address and the date on the letter.

£1,600??

Where the hell is that?

Oh god yes, I’d pay double just to be let off all this crap

I can’t believe they are hounding you. To me they shouldn’t be keeping score of who has and hasn’t paid into a voluntary contribution!

you should say something - this could send some vulnerable people into a panic and stop them paying things like utilities etc.

It’s not always how little people are willing to contribute.

Many can’t afford to contribute.

housing is so expensive nowadays as is food and many who are working are struggling - and yes - they are paying taxes.

I would contribute because I can afford to. But I wouldn’t judge anyone who didnt because a) it’s voluntary and b) I would hate someone to be left without for a state education out taxes are meant to fund anyway.

If you can afford it pay it. It is to improve the school. 160 for the year for two dc is not much and if everyone decided they would not contribute just because then the school would lose out on a lot of money to make it better. Of course, if you are really struggling, then let the school know and contribute the amount you can or nothing at all.

If you are satisfied that the money is being used for purposes that you are happy with and you can afford to pay then I think you should pay.

If you either cannot afford it or don't feel happy about what it is being used for then ignore the letter.

It is pitiful that schools have been placed in this difficult position of being underfunded through no fault of their own; but it is fundamentally wrong that parents should be followed up if they fail to make a voluntary contribution.

Ditto. I have had three kids go through the state system in Scotland and have never been asked for this at all.

I was also Chair of the primary PTA for 2 years and on the committee for many more and the Head was always very clear that we were fundraising for the extras, not the basics. PTA funds could not ever be used to pay salaries (which are all paid centrally by the Council in Scotland anyway), or to refurbish toilets or buy pencils. We paid for the extras which the Council wouldn't fund - new microphones for performances in the assembly hall, workshops with Scottish opera, active play equipment for the playground, that sort of thing. The "nice to have" but not essentials.

We did occasionally get a parent saying that instead of us running discos, summer fairs or raffles they'd rather just pay £50 a year and be done with it, but those sorts of donations never materialised.

I think fairly common here in NI. We pay £3.50 per week and don’t begrudge them at all. It’s so badly funded and nice for the staff to be able to get some nice resources for the children.

This has been going on at some schools for decades. I was at secondary school in the’90s - my brother’s school was next door to mine - my school asked for donations once a year I think. My brother’s school seemed to be asking all the bloody time!

The way in which they have personally chased/followed up with you is not right for a voluntary contribution. They aren’t aware of everyone’s financial situations and so shouldn’t hound in this way…our school app allows you to input whatever amount you choose, there is a suggested amount per term…surely they could suggest it is spread over the year? Especially for those with multiple children.

That said, I don’t disagree with them asking. State schools are running on a shoestring budget, that’s not going to change if anything we will start to lose small rural schools.

Our small state primary has c100 pupils over about 50 families…it’s an extremely affluent area, we have no children currently receiving free school meals, obviously nobody knows everyone’s financial situation but at a guess I would say most can afford this but I know only around 50% do contribute. OP, I would suggest the rise in donation is to cover those that don’t/perhaps can’t. I do make the contribution (I also appreciate the reminders, as I am likely to forget), I think it’s important that this helps towards making sure my children have access to useful resources to aid their learning as unfortunately these things just aren’t afforded for by the schools any more and I don’t think it’s right that teachers are expected to fund them as I know many do. We have a very active PTA, contributions from them were fun stuff in the school, it’s now mainly funding school resources as that is what is currently needed by the school and to be quite honest I would much rather pay myself for my children to attend a trip to the panto and them have adequate learning resources. I appreciate that’s not everyone’s financial situation but I do believe if you can you should and it’s only fair the ones that really can’t afford to should be entitled to the same experience as their peers in school.

Really sorry you are being put under so much pressure by the school Op. But they are required by the government to tell you you do NOT have to pay, and your child can still take part, or if the school cannot afford things they have to work within their means. Here's the link- page 6 (copied below)

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/706830/Charging_for_school_activities.pdf

'Voluntary contributions
Nothing in legislation prevents a school governing body or local authority from asking for voluntary contributions for the benefit of the school or any school activities. However, if the activity cannot be funded without voluntary contributions, the governing body or head teacher should make this clear to parents at the outset.

The governing body or head teacher must also make it clear to parents that there is no obligation to make any contribution. It is important to note that no child should be excluded from an activity simply because his or her parents are unwilling or unable to pay. If insufficient voluntary contributions are raised to fund a visit, or the school cannot fund it from some other source, then it must be cancelled. Schools must ensure that they make this clear to parents. If a parent is unwilling or unable to pay, their child must still be given an equal chance to go on the visit. Schools should make it clear to parents at the outset what what their policy for allocating places on school visits will be. When making requests for voluntary contributions, parents must not be made to feel pressurised into paying as it is voluntary and not compulsory.

Schools should avoid sending colour coded letters to parents as a reminder to make payments and direct debit or standing order mandates should not be sent to parents when requesting contributions.'

Nothing to do with the teacher. Do you tell ticket inspectors what you think about transport policy?

When I was at secondary school (so fifty years or so ago) we had a 'school fund' that we were supposed to contribute to every term. My mum refused to send me with any money and told me that I had to pay it myself if I wanted them to have it (it was something like 50p, but in those days 50p was a fair bit of money).

So my class teacher used to regularly ask me for my contribution in front of the whole class. I didn't HAVE 50p. I presume my parents didn't either, or that they objected to the fundamental principles of paying for schooling (I'm not entire sure which, but we were very hard up and my mum also had hard line principles so maybe both). But I remember how embarrassing it was. And this was, I repeat FIFTY YEARS AGO.

I worked at a school where I was also a parent. One Inset day, we had a motivational speaker in to speak to staff, apparently she was scheduled to come in over a series of Inset days during the school year. This person, must have cost a fortune for one day, let alone for several. The next day, I received an email from the school (as a parent) asking for a voluntary contribution towards library books!!!

I appreciate that these two things, come out of completely different budgets but...if you have a spare few thousand to spend on a motivational speaker for staff, then that money should have been diverted elsewhere to where it was clearly needed.

I was absolutely livid as a staff member to have to sit and listen to absolute drivel from someone who'd worked in the financial sector all her working life, and knew bugger all about the education sector. I was even more livid to be asked for money as a parent, when I knew thousands had been wasted.

Not all schools spend their budget given to them by government wisely. Yes, there is a huge shortfall, so schools shouldn't waste money either! The same school, had to make a lot of lunchtime staff redundant throughout the Trust, because they had no money...I wonder why! 🤔😡

What do you want...a medal for contributing?

Of course they need to pay to take children swimming. If you go to a swimming pool you need to pay.

You and the "handful" of parents that paid did the right thing. Some parents can't afford this - or won't pay for more selfish reasons.

Well then the system is broken and needs fixing...it shouldn't be up to low wage earners who are already struggling and paying taxes when huge corporations and companies are making billions of profit year on year

My children went to a Catholic combined school, it’s something to do with the faith schools not getting full financial support from the Government, 80%? Funded?
so they ask parents to contribute, meant to be voluntary….
They also had lots of fundraising events too, via the pta,
that was a few years back tho and people’s financial situations have changed dramatically, so if you can’t afford it don't pay it-that letter is sinister-
is it a Catholic school by any chance? Wouldnt be surprised😏

It's 'cue', not 'queue', though you may well attract a queue for the obligatory MN lynching. HTH

That was a different poster who's school had guards

It is not reasonable to use ability to pay as an entrance criteria either formally or informally. If faith schools are unhappy about the 10% building funding, they should withdraw and lose the privilege they currently
have of imposing faith based selection criteria.

there is also a fallacy of ‘choice’ here; that everyone lives in an area with a school of every type within a reasonable distance. This clearly
isn’t the case especially as faith based academies have expanded, taking in community schools. Local to me, three community highs were closed and replaced with one Cof E academy. no choice for those parents or children. It is wholly unreasonable that they are expected to toe the religious line for the privilege of going to school without expecting them to suck up additional payments too.

I didn't realise parents paid for the additional security. I assumed it was provided by CST via government funding.

I'm really sorry you have to do that to protect your children. I don't think most people realise the level of threat faced by Jewish people in the UK today. The fact primary schools need security guards is a disgrace. I used to work near a secondary school in Prestwich and the guards there were armed. That was a good 10 years ago and that was before the threat level was raised following 7th October.

Wow. I wouldn’t pay. Not because of the amount (tbh I’m surprised it’s this low, DCs school are asking for £1,600 per year/ child, pretty sure it went down from £3,200 the year before - also state primary). We paid it because we can afford to (at least the £1.6k, not the £3.2k) and the school is absolutely excellent, but they aren’t very aggressive about it. They perhaps mention it twice or three times a year, say how much of a difference it makes and stress that no child will be treated differently regardless of whether their parents pay or not.

OP, in the situation that you describe, I wouldn’t pay, not any amount, not even a fiver, that’s just not on. Yes, and report to Ofsted.