Compulsory PTA fee at a private school - REALLY?

[GoodPlace]

All parents at our private school are asked to pay a compulsory annual PTA fee, on top of the usual school fees in the beginning of September. The fee is £10 so it seems petty to argue about it, but surely it should be my choice to decide whether I wish to support the PTA or not?

If you want, email the Bursar and say that you don’t want to pay it.

I did, they say it's not optional.

'Unfortunately being a member of the PTA is part of being at XYZ school and is mandatory for all XYZ parents.'

Eh?

It is £10! At our old school, the school gave the PTA £40,000 a year from fee income!! DH found out when he went on the Committee. So, £100 per pupil. We never even knew about it and neither did anyone else, bar a few on the Committee. They are private schools though, so they make up the rules. You agreed to the rules. Yes, its a bit petty to argue. Most people would be glad they got off so lightly!

In private schools the PTA often works very closely with the school to provide additional experiences for the children. Your children will benefit. It is 10 pounds. This wouldn't be the hill I'd fight on.

Its a tenner and its not for a piss up, its for the children

£10 quid is a drop in the ocean of the cost of private education. It’s to benefit the children. It would be incredibly petty to refuse to pay. Really, really, really not the hill I would die on!

Ok thanks for your comments, makes sense. We moved from a state school where PTA involvement had more impact, respect and yet no one ever dared to demand any money from parents. Obviously it just wouldn't work in a state school.

I wholeheartedly agree that £10 is a drop in the ocean. I raised this with the school thinking that the fee is applied by mistake due to my previous involvement with PTA which I cannot continue anymore due to working full time.

It is for the children, but I don't feel that any of it benefits my children specifically. It's not like other children don't deserve good things to happen to them, it's just I don't understand why things like rugby trips should be my 'problem'. I find the whole concept of a PTA staffed by volunteers a strange in the private school context.

Anyway, you are right, it's not worth my energy, so thanks for that x

Sorry for the typos.

How do you feel about pupil premium op?or free school meals? One to ones for special needs?
Should they not happen because they dont benefit everyone?

If your child chooses not to go to after school club should they get cut?

Think this is normal. At any rate, I remember it from the early 90s.

My parents had no idea what it was for, what it did and had no intention of going to their 'cheese and wine parties'.

They just rolled their eyes and put up with it.

Look at it as a good thing. It might mean that you don't have the frequent PTA drives requiring a £ here, a £ there that outstrips £10 very quickly.

AlonsoTigerHeart - pupil premium and free school meals isn't something that a PTA at a private school gets involved with.

TSSDNCOP - true. Amen to that.

AnnaMagnani, thanks for your comments as well. If this is 'normal' then so be it.

If you are a first time private school parent, the Friends and PTAs at Private schools can work differently to state. Often it’s far more about meeting socially as opposed to raising money. Sometimes your child benefits and sometimes they don’t.

They do often work closely with the school staff and will help provide all sorts of extras or organise social events. As £10 is so minimal, it’s probably more about buying bits and bobs for classrooms and not big ticket items.

Our Friends committee and spouses also went in every open morning to speak to prospective parents, toured prospective parents around the school, organised a welcome bbq for new parents, helped with school trips, set up a pre Christmas Shopping fair, and hosted all sorts of events for parents to meet socially with each other throughout the year culminating with a ball in June. It was a lot of work and only the ball really made money.

You will find independent schools ask for money left, right and centre! Be prepared!

BubblesBuddy, you are so right, that's a very accurate description of a private school, and a private school PTA activities.

Normal for us too and I presume the school can set whatever terms they like.

So you can afford a private education but baulk at a tenner for something that will benefit your children?

As your child progresses through the school you will start to see all the benefit the child does derive from the PTA. Just to name a few:

Eg. at the Year 8 prom it is the PTA that decorates the hall to the theme, provides food etc.

Ours provides strawberries and cream (at a charge to parents but free to pupils) on sports day.

Ours paid for new curtains (£10,000) for the stage in the theatre.

It paid for a fancy sewing machine in the textiles department.

It provided money towards costumes for the productions.

And many "invisible" expenditures.

Thank you GoodPlace! Here to help!

Ours is £50 per child and it does my head in. The chairs chase you up if you haven’t paid and we still get asked for £2 every 5 minutes. It works exactly the same as a state school. They’re currently raiding money for playground equipment and organise all the usual bake sales, non uniform days and the like

Why would you not contribute to the PTA though? Unless you are bursary parents, I think it’s reasonable and many independent schools have charity days where children raise money and learn about giving. I think many schools adopt charities and it’s a very small amount when compared to fees. It is though, perhaps something parents should be aware of when they choose a school if they have a pathalogical dislike of PTA contributions. Fees rarely cover everything.

Any advice on how to get parents involved in an independent school PTA, it is not a very wealthy school so the extra’s are raised by the PTA. It’s the same 5/10 parents that organise everything over many years. Do parents not get involved in Independent schools because they have already paid fees? not sure how to get them to volunteer. Any ideas?

I think you're being petty in the extreme. I think it would be harsh at a state school but if you can afford private fees you can't possibly struggle to pay £10 for the PTA.

@scottygirl you've bumped a zombie thread from 2018, so you're going to get a lot of people replying to the original post and not to your question which will be frustrating to you. Post your own new thread in the Education section (up at the top where it says "start a new thread within this topic") and I'll respond to you with what our school does (which is effective!)

Thank you @Xiaoxiong for the advice, I have started my own thread! No clue what I’m doing.