Auction of promises

[SqueakyPop]

Back in Jan/Feb, my DDs' primary school had an auction of promises.

I offered up 3 x1 hr sessions of GCSE or Sats Science revision. The auction was won by someone with a child in Yr 4. When she first contacted me, I offered to tag her son along with my Brownies as they were doing their Science Investigator badge. I thought this was quite charitible given that what she won was quite inappropriate.

Anyway, tonight, she actually phoned me (no idea where she got my number from), insisting that I do these three sessions with her DS. I asked how much she paid, and she said £15. I said that I would have been willing to do what I offered (ie GCSE revision) but not putting on 3 lots of entertainment for her 9 year old for £15. My time was much more valuable than that.

DH disagrees and says I should entertain her boy for 3 Saturday mornings regardless, but I have written her a cheque for £15, and will write another to school for £85, given that I considered my donation to be £100.

What does Mumsnet think?

[AnarchyAunt]

Looks like mum didn't have the faintest idea what 'revision' actually entails.

I agree, revision is about identifying areas they are struggling with and going over them. A 9yo is unlikely to need 'revision' and what she is angling for is 'extra tuition' which is not what is on offer.

I do think you should offer something, just for the goodwill/charidee aspect. But I'd do as others have suggested and have him round, plonk a textbook and some sort of test paper (print off net) in front of him, and let him be so bored he begs his mum not to send him again.

[No19]

And if I read rightly you would prefer to pay 15 to her and 85 to the school - so pay 100 pounds rather than deliver 3 sessions to a nine-year-old?

[SqueakyPop]

DD has just left for school with the cheque

[childrenofthecornsilk]

You have sent a cheque for £85 to the school?

[brimfull]

yanbu-if I had won that and it wasn't relevant to me I would have either given it to someone who could use it or just not used it and considered it a £15 donation to the school.

[Saturn74]

I'm not surprised the mother contacted you.
I expect she got your contact details from one of the school committee members.
She paid her money over 8 months ago, and is still waiting for the tuition.
I can't imagine my sons would be thrilled at the offer of tagging along with the Brownies.
I think you have handled this whole situation really badly, tbh.
You could have invited him for one three hour session, done a couple of kitchen experiments, chatted to him about what he most likes about science, then stuck a science programme from BBC Schools on the laptop or television, shoved a packet of biscuits towards him - job done.
I think you could have been more flexible - it is for charidee afterall.

[Divvy]

Tell her it would involve some sex education, as that was what you had on the gcse planner

[Divvy]

or, you just could have given her a iou for 5 years time!

[SqueakyPop]

Divvy

[AbbeyA]

Revision is entirely different from tuition.
I think your mistake was offering to do anything different with the Brownie experiments.
I agree the Head is the wrong person to mediate-how about the chair of the PTA?
I would stick to what you offered. It is the buyer at fault. If someone offered a family ticket for a swimming pool the person who won it at the auction couldn't say they didn't like swimming and wanted to go bowling!
The buyer made a mistake-she needs to sell it on to someone who wants it.

[angrypixie]

But, and I promise for the last time, you can do KS2 SATs revision with y4 because the science SAT covers the KS2 curriculum not just what they learned in y6.

You could, and should in my opinion, be able to revise the topics covered in y3 and Autumn y4. No one is suggesting you should do practical experiments just provide what you offered.

Obviously you have already decided against this but I just don't get the problem

[AbbeyA]

You could do revision with the year 3 work and half a term of year 4 work but I don't see the point. You revise for an exam. (If he was finding science difficult he would want tuition not revision.)