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 really wish our school would set up voluntary contributions for parents. We have a huge range of parents, some of whom are very wealthy and they may be happy to donate. Our school needs so much spent on it to make it a pleasant environment. I also wonder why we can’t ask for volunteers to do decorating etc. I have a carpet in the medical unit, which gets vomited on regularly and the cleaners say they don’t have the time to shampoo it. I need hard flooring, but there is no money. Our toilets are awful, the plaster coming off walls, ripped seats, poor lighting and ventilation etc etc. We never ask for voluntary cash donations.

Completely agree. As is so regularly said on MN, school is for education, not childcare. It’s supposed to be society investing in its future. Parents who are already no doubt paying for wrap around care/holiday care etc shouldn’t be filling the gap from not enough/miss-managed central funding.

I couldn't work out how to quote earlier when I responded.

I've seen teaching since 2007. I know the funding problems. The problem is so big that £120 type contributions just don't cut it. The government need to do more and fund properly/stop MAT management taking such a large chunk of money.

Your post is really unfair. She didn't slag off the school.

Thats horrible OP. Those posters sayings it’s because schools are under funded, do they really need a summer house?

Yes, I totally agree, my choice. No-one has to contribute. I just think it’s worth thinking about what the money is for and why the school are asking for it and if you can afford it. It’s still a choice though.

I think schools should have a fund you can pay into if you want but I disagree with them asking (pressurising) parents to do so. We have decent jobs but swimming lessons, music lessons, LIFE in general all adds up and sometimes there isn’t much left over. I’d rather provide my kids with workbooks and equipment if that was an option.

I’ve recently paid £350 for a 2 night residential, which I thought was a lot.

Fuck that! I wouldn't be shamed and harassed into paying a VOLUNTARY contribution. I have no idea what your financial situation is but I can bet there are parents that simply cannot afford to pay that. Bloody cheek! Why doesn't the school organise some fundraising events if they're so hard-up instead of trying to bully parents into funding a state school.

Write back and remind them of the constant pay-for activities.

From the school charging guidance (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5af99c8ae5274a25e78bbe30/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 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.

What an absolute cheek of her

No, its not right OP you should not be hounded £120 is a lot of money and its against the regulations, I tried to paste the google ai results for your question and the site is not allowing me to.

The school needs to be taught a lesson about the difference between the words mandatory and voluntary because they are getting it all wrong.

Its against the regulations that the D of E work to, the school have a flippin cheek hassling parents for money right in the middle of a cost of living crisis.

It’s a reasonable assumption that the school is a Jewish school and if the pp wants their child to go to a faith school then no, there’s no alternative.

On the subject of paying, I get why parents are doing this and why schools are pressuring parents - ‘you made a commitment to education’ etc. But all the time the essentials are paid for through donations the lack of government funding can be brushed under the carpet. A friend told me recently that her son’s secondary school asked for contributions so pupils could do work experience. If the parent didn’t pay £200, there was no work experience option. What could the money have possibly been spent on?

This is a really contentious topic.
Ultimately you do not have to donate and the school should not be chasing you. However, the government know full well that the schools don’t have enough money to function and they simply do not care. So on the one side you have parents saying ‘it’s not my issue I fundamentally disagree with having to pay because education should be free’ and the government saying ‘tough tits just keep them alive and crack on best you can’ with the school in the middle trying their best to actually provide a good education.

In my experience parents expect a lot in terms of quality and enrichment and it does not marry up at all with what they are willing to give to support that. A free education is a universal right but the caliber and quality of that is not a given. A free education is a very basic experience without trips, culture, experience days, visitors, supplies and materials (beyond essential basics) and no in depth focus on subjects like art, music or languages.

If a school is asking for, and getting, substantial donations from parents then inequalities in education will be magnified. Every child should be entitled to a good standard of educational provision irrespective of the affluence of the neighbourhood.
So I would absolutely refuse on principle. and don't evade tax.

I think it's fine for the school to ask for a voluntary contribution and even state a preferred amount.
I think it's fine to ask a few times throughout the academic year and remind people in a school newsletter
To send a personal letter home and have an expectation that you will pay for this is out of order. No school should assume you can afford paying even a small amount

BTW when I was on the PTA I suggested 'an opt out contribution' of £50 a year - for this the person could just not feel guilty about not being able to manage a stall or run the book sale or provide cakes. I thought it was genius idea but it was felt by others not in keeping with the PTA ethos

At the secondary school my DC go to they ask for a voluntary contribution of £361 (£1 per day). I do pay this as we can afford it and it is an outstanding school, it has an excellent leadership team who seem to spend it well.

I was going to ask the same!

On the basis of that note alone I would not pay it.

surely if they get a PTA set up if they haven’t they could get volunteers to run bakesales/craft fairs/tombola etc so that parents contribute what they can afford & its less grabby

I always contributed on the grounds that less well-off children would benefit and I could afford it. It was for things like school trips.
I'm not sure I would in this case - it seems wrong to pay for building maintenance/improvements and staffing structure because these things clearly belong in the school budget and if they weren't budgeted for I'd want to ask why. All that aside, you could pay the usual amount and tell them not to communicate with you about this again.

So out of order targeting you like that. Not feeling very voluntary!

Our state school is £1600 per child "voluntary" contributions

This is not typical, unless its a Jewish school. Lots of those operate almost like quasi private schools and demand exceptionally high donations.

I would refuse to pay on principle, they have no right to ask for this. I work in a very small school and we never ask for this sort of thing. We do ask for voluntary contributions for trips but that's it.

At my DC school they tell you before joining what volunteer contributions have been requested the previous year along with the extra payments for different subject books, trips etc etc. then list what you will be requested to contribute to that academic year. It can be eye watering depending on the subjects they decide on in the coming years. One year a trip was cancelled after repeated requests for voluntary contributions because they couldn’t pay the shortfall again. And yes we do things like buy the cheapest supermarket cakes for contributing to cake sales etc and then pay four times the price to help fundraising events. Crazy!

And this is why teachers have been striking....the parents now feeling it now teachers cannot afford to fund the children any longer. Parents ignoring the problem for far too long...then act surprised when this happens.

Ask the school for a ‘voluntary’ contribution to your parenting and uniform-buying!

Technically Faith schools are expected to find 10% of their budget, usually this is done through government grants and fundraising. Having Chaired a couple of Catholic schools, this is a real challenge as most non-Faith parents do not understand.. for those brought up as cradle Catholics, it is something that you know and expect, so it comes as somewhat of a shock to people remember a non Faith school upbringing.

In your shoes, I would ask the HT to set up a mtg to explain to parents how the budget works, and what the expectations are... tbh, at least one of the items on that list is a nice to have and not essential. Also, it may flush out parents who would be eligible for Free School Meals, who are not claiming it because the meals are free without claiming it currently and they may feel embarrassed (see my parents in the 1960s)... the extra weighting that gives to a child does not stop when the parents get better pay but follows a child for six years as the school helps to narrow the gap. You need to be asking what is currently in their Capital/Building Funds... they should share with you a current budget and the three and five year forecast, what projects they are planning with an explanation of what is necessary and what would be an educational enhancement. You should also remember that any funds raised by the PTA cannot be used for what the school think they need but the use is dictated by what the PTA wants it to be used for... most schools will sit down to discuss it and agree a suitable course of action.