To think dd should have been "guided" as to how to spend her bookfayre money.

[muminthemiddle]

This morning gave dd £5 because she wanted to choose a book at the school book fayre. She said that the teacher had said she would definately get a book for under £5.

Agreed to this and actually expected her to come home with a book and some change.

However she came home with one small canvas floppy bag, which tbh I thought must have been a free gift, a tiny notepad and a huge poster.
When I asked her where her purse was she gave it to me and said "I still have 50p left". I said what on earth have you spent your money on and she told me the above.

I know it is a small grip but I would have expected the school to sell only books at a book fayre. If I had known she would buy what she did I wouldn't have given her the money! Honestly the bag is too small and ugly to be practical and I have no idea where to fit the huge poster lol

I just feel a bit robbed tbh.

My DD1 (7) spent his money on complete tat at the last Fun Day so YABU if she's young.

Still annoying though.

Our book fayre sells the canvas bags, posters, pencils and pads - all good pocket money treats which can work out well as the books are full RRP and not all children have lots of spending money.

Book fayres are daylight robbery TBH

I'd be suprised if you could get anything under a fiver.

Your DD did well I feel a bit sorry for her with the 50p change.

But YY its v annoying (as BB says)

She is 7.5 Year 3, and thinks she has an absolute bargain!
She has stuffed the bag next to the other 26 she already has lol.

Aw

I have one a similar age

I have multiple bags.

school book fairs = 'oh dear, i've left my purse at home, lets choose something from amazon that's a third of the price instead'

This happened to DD in P1 and I was livid.
I'd have thought they might at least help the younger ones choose a book, rather than notebooks and pens which DD had at home anyway. I had given her £5 too and got 70p change.

I've never bought from them since. I buy from shops and take DD to the Library.

If you're looking for a 'bargain' at a book fayre you can forget it. The school gets 60% of what's sold so it just goes to show the mark up on the books.

I agree with lucykate spend your money elsewhere (unless you want to supplement the school's income and help the Govt avoid funding the education system properly of course).

Agree with Lucykate. My dd1 wanted to buy a Rainbow Magic book from her Book Fair (£3.99), but I resisted. We came home, went online and ordered a set of seven Rainbow Magic books for £6.99 (free postage) from Redhouse Books instead.

This is probably wrong to say but I'm going to.

Tell me about it!

Furry bag? What? That's not a book!

Then get the person who collects your child to accompany them, or tell the child they are ONLY to spend the money on a book and nothing else or don't send money in.
Your child is responsible for her choices, and with a bit of forethought you could have pre-empted the problem.
But no, It's Someone Else's Fault Again.
Bloody Parents.

Have you asked her why she did not get a book? If you gave her money for a book then you have every right to ask why she didn't get one and why she choose to spend the money one something else. This is how you instil responisbility,

I am surprised that you gave a year 3 child £5 and expected the staff to guide your DD in what to buy, how on earth would they know what you wanted her to buy?

If they had guided her to books, you could have come on here saying they were unreasonable to not let her spend the money how she wanted to.

I agree, its very annoying but at least you will know for next time. Our school stopped doing the fairs (was it Scholastic?) as the same books are in the catalogue much cheaper. The difference is in the amount of commission the school gets but you'd hope a responsible school wouldn't encourage overspending. The stationary prices are usually extortionate at the fairs.

Agree it isn't the staff's job to tell your DD what to buy.

I think YAB a bit U. My dd is not allowed to go to the book fairs at her school ever since the robbing bastard interested man who runs hers allowed her to choose 210 francs worth of books and sent me an invoice. Cheeky bugger. We had murders over that, he went back to england so I had no way of returning the books. she had a very unhappy christmas two years ago.

At our school the "younger ones" get told to go with their parents after school for this very reason.

However: year 3 is not "younger ones" as Year 3 is juniors

and

You should hear the parents complain when their child comes out saying "Teacher says you will take us to the book fair."

And can you imagine the AIBU, "I am furious becaue DD has got loads of books and wanted to buy a pen at the book fair but the teacher wouldn't let her."

Mind you, my DCs all love books and I am still flabberghasted at the way they always come back from a book fair with something that is either a) not a book or b) the most unbooky book you can find, eg sticker book.

When my DD was 6 she came home with a book that said in the blurb 'Princess X could not decide which dress to wear to the dance and whether to have sex with Prince Y'.I popped in to the office just to say I thought it was a bit inappropriate and the Head Teacher interrupted me and said this is nothing to do with school the book fare is run by the PTA,turned on her heel and left.i found this very odd!

i hate book fairs

but ours at least gives the option of kid choosing book and then parents coming to approve it themselves before handing over the wonga.

needless to say there haev been many intances of public hysteria in the Mayor household when the coveted book has been firmly vetoed

Oh I hate those things. At DSD's school they let them peruse the books during school hours to prime them to pester for something, then they open it up to purchase books after school (with parents). But at least I get to veto the choices! I can't imagine giving my DCs free reign with their own money.

YABU
small children seem to love tat. I have never had my DCs go to a museum or gallery or somesuch without returning with a ruler, a pencil or a bouncey ball.

If your DD was told to buy a book and didn't then that is betweeen you and her to sort out. But the school hold book fairs to make money. If you don't want to contribute to that then buy more cheaply else where.
But teachers cannot possibly oversee the banal choices of hundreds of children let alone know whether you have happily given her £5 to spend exactly as she wanted.

If you had told her that she had £5 to spend on whatever she wanted because she had birthday money or had been especially good you would no doubt have complained about sanctemonious teachers controlling everything the children do - even with their own money.

Yanbu at all! I got wise to book fairs, in fact nearly anything they plug to sell at school, some time ago.

The books are not good value and often way over pocket money prices. I bet if you looked on Amazon you'd get a better deal for the same things.

At ours they push the fact that it benefits the school but I point blank cannot afford to send in 3 dc with money to spend at them.

The one time went went (I'd stupidly 'promised') it cost me nearly £30

I do think the school should not keep pushing things to buy at children. It makes me feel such a mean mummy to have to keep saying no all the time

I do sometimes suggest if you want a book we'll have a look on Amazon and you can spend your pocket money there.

Oh I will admit now that I am partially to blame, but since it was the first book fair of school, I didn't realise they didn't help the children choose.

DD had been at the pre-school there for two years previously and they did help them choose, so I didn't know it would be different and because she'd only come home with a well chosen book before I didn't know they sold anything other than books either.

I should have checked first.

Still, I learned my lesson and don't give her money for them now.