Am I within my rights to withold payment for in-school activities?

[QueenEagle]

ds1 and ds2 have brought letters home today stating that next week is fun week and the normal curriculum is suspended.

Instead there will be (amongst other things)
a trip to the local swimming pool,
Sports Day,
sports activities,
craft sessions,
cooking an African arts day - this is a workshop coming into the school,
workshops by the students of another school.

I know that all requests must be on a voluntary basis - firstly the letter does not make it clear that this is the case, that's my first gripe.
Secondly, we are being bombarded by requests for money for trips from 3 of our kids at the minute. dd's year are going to a theme park next week, that is costing £30, also the week after she is going to a science trip costing £20 and we need to find £275 for a residential trip for her after xmas.

I am thinking of declining to pay the "voluntary" contribution on principle. I usually stump up but we are feeling the pinch (but only a little bit if I'm honest) and more importantly I feel that as they are doing these things within school hours, we shouldn't have to pay.

Any advice?

agree with shoppingsecret. dd science museum trip is £9

Coaches are very expensive and they may be having a workshop - which they may have to pay for.

Tooticky - what do you have to pay for subsidised music lessons? I can't remember what our's will be, but they seemed very reasonably priced - as a private piano teacher I charge £11 for half an hour, which would work out at about £350 a year.

It also depends on how early you book the coach. Plus if they have say 60 kids plus helpers they would have to get 2 coaches even if the second one isn't full..

This whole issue of "voluntary" fees annoys me. We have had a constant stream of letters home reminding us to pay up and threats about having to divert vital funds to cover the sports trips (no green area or pool at school so coach trips to local sports centre required) - implying that if parents don?t all cough up every term our children will go without. Frustrating as the next village school down has a field and a pool and so they don?t have to fork out anything like it.
Over the last few weeks we have paid out so much cash for fees, new uniform (logo so only through school with payment deadline of only a week....), raffle tickets, sponsored walks, school trips, you name it, the list seems endless. Let alone all those parties, presents, cake baking for fetes, cash spent at those fetes buying crap.
Moan over

on principle i dont pay for swimmimng. we were asked to pay up a fortune when they were building the pool, then when they were building the roof. nwo that they are building the changing rooms for it.
i know they still have the running costs to pay, and the teacher, but i am sick to death of paying for the pool. so dont.
i'll pay for everything else though. and tbh, if you really cant afford it, then dont send the kids to a theme park. 30£ is a lot of money. and if you cant afford it, then you cant. simple really

Probably within your rights but I know my mum went without to send my sister and I on school trips, really it's about pride isn't it, I would never let my child miss out and would never go begging to the school.

my ds went to NH museum last week and it cost 9.5o but that was all coach fare .

Unless I've misunderstood, you're not paying for sports day though. The £6 would cover the workshop and coach hire/entry for the swimming. It's worded such that you're paying for "activities week" but soe of those activities wouldn't actually cost.

tortoiseshell, subsidised violin lessons are about £55 per term. This is for shared lessons which don't happen in the 1st or last week of any given half term, may be cancelled without notice, and no refund/lessons in lieu if teacher is absent. Seems a lot for short, shared lessons. I think it's a pity that some children cannot do music lessons because of the expense.

Those activities and trips do sound a bit expensive. My children have all been to themwe parks with school at different times and we have never had to pay more then £15 for that trip. DD3 is in year nine and the normal school timetable has been stopped. Instead they are doing stuff based on the options they have chosen for year ten.She has ben to see CATS ( as she is taking music and drama) which cost £14 (price of ticket and coach),is doing a 3 day art workshop in school which is free,going to Bristol Zoo for research for Animal project fot r art cost £12.50. An activity day at local Leisurs cantre £2.35 and a day at St Fagans an open air folk musuem whichch is free.

As a Governor, teacher and parent I can see where you are coming from. THere are times when you feel like emptying out your purse and teling them to take it.
Looking at your break down of costs, it seems like the bulk of the costs is going on transport. As we organisea lot of trips, i am aware that coaches have gone up hugely in price over the last few years. However we can get a coach for £350 for a day trip.
I would talk to the head and just explain that your are surprised by the amount asked for and see if she can explain why the trip to the Manor is £30. I did organise a trip last year and found that 1/5 of the parents didn't pay the £7.50 for a day trip. Some schools might be tempted to try and cover their costs by charging those paretns who do pay, more to allow for a big percentage of non payers....might this be wht they are doing?

I didn't spell check that before people post about my appalling grammar; nothing wrong with my grammar but the typing is crap!

Am now realising our faith state primary school is very reasonable
Swimming- local pool, walk there, free
in school workshops/visitors- most free, Viking lego visitor (just imagine )! was about £5
Coach trips to museums etc usually about £6
5 day outdoor activities residential trip is about £150 I think.
5 day in house Arts week with tons of activities and atrs/crafts £2 plus donations of eggboxes etc please.
Not too bad is it?
Because of the reasonable cost I know quite a few parents who quietly slip in twice the fee for the odd kid who cant afford it.

Er, I would be asking why the school holiday wasn't "fun week" instead which would be a lot cheaper.

I work at a school and the teachers put in a lot of effort to arrange activities and trips that complement the curriculum. Experiences you just can't get normally. Did you know that an average annual budget for running a class for 33 kids is £300?
We get the odd complaint about paying for things but the fact of the matter is that if everyone said they couldn't pay, the trips wouldn't happen. They are not that subsidised.

Plus if the school didn't arrange these things then SOME kids would never go to a musuem, theatre, farm etc..

One individual ( I am specifying that this was one person ) complained about the cost of a trip to a theatre or somewhere ( can't remember) but it was about £11. This child had just been given an i pod. They were 10. But the parent resented paying for an educational trip. This kid also had £70 trainers.

So that's almost a third of the class's budget for the year then...

Our school has very mixed catchment area, so they cannot have high charges for activities, as it would emphasize the difference between the haves and have nots. So we don't have much to pay for, and not many 'extras' either.

Swimming (including bus travel) is free. Most years have lessons for one term of the year.
Annual school trip usually about £10-£12, including coach travel. (This is often a subsidised cost.)
Residential in yr4,5, and 6 - costs kept to minimum. In yr4 the 3-day residential was just £35!!!
No charges at all for art, craft, cookery, or anything like that.
Small group guitar/recorder lessons are free; some individual music tuition available has to be paid for.

Just two major fundraising events per year by PTA/school.
Outside fundraising (Red Nose Day, etc.), max of twice a year, and minimal at that.