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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

school is taking advantage of it's position

123 replies

ClaudiaApfelstrudel · 03/12/2016 10:24

AIBU to think that my daughters primary school is taking advantage of it's position.

They are constantly asking for money, for example 'wear what you like day' they have to bring in £1 each (I have two daughters) just so they can wear non-uniform. I once forgot to pay and the teacher wrote the names of children who hadn't paid names on the board!

Other things too, when they go on school trips the costs for the transportation are always far higher than one would expect and I know they are extracting profits from them.

Now they have a trip to see the concert which is another £15 each so £30 which I feel is not educational at all and again, you can actually buy cheaper tickets direct from the playhouse itself.

Everytime I feel under obligation to pay or my children will be singled out whereas the school has no authority to do this at all and I feel it's abusing it's position.

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TealGiraffe · 03/12/2016 10:26

You're not just paying for the tickets though are you.

You are paying for transport / insurance etc

Plus your child is getting to go with all their friends and be supervised by qualified adults.
Bit of a difference from just giving them money for a ticket at the door.

leccybill · 03/12/2016 10:29

Coach travel inc insurance is very expensive.
I used to organise it in schools. It was £100 for a coach to drop off children at a school 3/4 of a mile away.

insancerre · 03/12/2016 10:31

Do you think the head has a slush fund and is planning to do a runner with the money?
Schools are run as a business these days and they do have to fundraise to provide extra resources and opportunities for the children
Often it is the PTFA thgthgat fundraises, not the actual school

Joinourclub · 03/12/2016 10:31

Schools are not allowed to make a profit from trips etc.

LIZS · 03/12/2016 10:32

You could always ask for a cost breakdown . How are you so certain they are making profit? Mufti days are usually in aid of pta funds or a charity.

user789653241 · 03/12/2016 10:35

If you are not happy, complain.
Personally, I would really appreciate school taking kids on trips, they are different kind of fun than going with parents. And learn a lot of things. I doubt they are making profits.
And non school uniform days are normally organised by pta at our school, and there's choice to wear uniform if child wanted to.

Theromanempire · 03/12/2016 10:37

Coach transport costs are actually much higher than you think so I would be very careful about allegations of the school making profit from this

IME, non uniform day money goes towards fund raising/PTA and is not just the school taking the money and absorbing it in their own budget.

I do agree that writing on a board is inappropriate but I do think you are over-reacting about everything else.

My DS1 is going on a residential trip this year (yr6) and it is £300 - my friend has twins in that year so it is costing her £600. Just one of those things if you have twins/more than 1 child!

Parkourbench · 03/12/2016 10:41

Coach costs are astronomical. Always the most expensive part of any trip.

I agree that there always seems to be something to pay for but that's life isn't it and I think it's pretty naive to assume that they are profiting.

MrsHathaway · 03/12/2016 10:45

I'd be astonished if the school weren't actually taking a slight hit on most of those things tbh, rather than a profit.

Naming and shaming is unacceptable and schools should be sensitive to the inclusivity of its extras, but nothing else you've said sounds unreasonable.

Damn these schools, enriching our children's learning experience. How dare they?

Sweets101 · 03/12/2016 10:47

£15 each sounds right, that's what it's costing for the panto trip for my DC this year.
£1 for mufti/Xmas jumper day is also standard.
The PTA also do lots at our school to raise money for the school which is used to subsidise coaches for trips etc.
So I don't think it's the school, I think your expectations/understanding of how much stuff costs is wrong.

SuburbanRhonda · 03/12/2016 10:47

How do you know children's names were written on the board, OP? And if they were, how does your DD know they were the names of the children who hadn't paid?

rollonthesummer · 03/12/2016 10:47

Other things too, when they go on school trips the costs for the transportation are always far higher than one would expect and I know they are extracting profits from them.

How do you know this?

AmberEars · 03/12/2016 10:50

The school is not allowed to profit from trips and I would be very surprised if this is happening. They will need to submit accounts to the LEA and would have to show where the money is coming from. I imagine the cost of the trip is higher than you realise - coaches are expensive.

trickycat · 03/12/2016 10:56

Coach costs are horrendous. Dress down days are usually charity fundraisers.

allegretto · 03/12/2016 11:02

Our school no longer uses coaches unless the trip is long distance so they use the local buses. I would prefer to pay a bit and get a coach to be honest!

DoctorDonnaNoble · 03/12/2016 11:05

We no longer do theatre trips involving coaches - it's just too expensive. As a secondary the cost of the trip also has to pay for the cover of teachers going. Only cost effective now for local theatre.

CauliflowerSqueeze · 03/12/2016 11:05

I can guarantee they are not fleecing you. They have to account for every penny.
Coach costs are very high.
Own clothes days are for charity - giving £2 for charity is not that much really?

Sirzy · 03/12/2016 11:05

£15 for a trip to watch a play including transport sounds a bargain! You could always not send them if you object that much.

insancerre · 03/12/2016 11:06

I've got a coach booked for work. The nursery are taking the children to a local pantomime, a couple of miles away
Its costing £150 just for the coach

SilenceOfThePrams · 03/12/2016 11:12

Coach costs hundreds even for a short trip. Tickets cost a certain amount. And then the travel and ticket costs for teachers and extra staff are divided up between the children too; assuming you know exactly what the travel costs are it's likely that's what the difference is rather than school somehow creaming off profit.

You could always ask for a breakdown of costs though if you're worried?

HarveySchlumpfenburger · 03/12/2016 11:17

Agree with others about coach costs being horrendous these days. Most parents would have no idea about how much it's costing.

Going to a concert is educational. I don't see the problem with that. £15 seems quite a reasonable price to that. You don't have to pay it if you don't wish to.

PurpleTraitor · 03/12/2016 11:23

Perhaps you could start some fundraising with the aim of getting the school some minibuses so you don't all have to pay for coaches?

Our school did that and five years later now has minibuses. As a result the kids go on at least 10 trips a year and most of them are free to the parents. I'm paying off next years residential at the moment which is 3 nights away food and outdoor activities, etc, total cost £80 a child. Nothing like some others.

bloodyteenagers · 03/12/2016 11:25

Coaches are not cheap. We get charged minimum £190 for a morning. Minimum depending where we are going. We dont control the cost.
There is no profit by schools, every year they are audited and every penny has to be accounted for.
Same with theatre tickets. The invoice from
This, the insurance and travel all have to be available and again no profit. You can take them cheaper once you've included travel and anything else included then go for it.
And the £1 thing is either for charity or pta, and again all of this has to be made accountable for the auditor.

Whatthefreakinwhatnow · 03/12/2016 11:30

Oh for God's sake, really?!

How utterly ridiculous! If you aren't happy to pay don't send them, it's as simple as that

Original poster

ClaudiaApfelstrudel · 03/12/2016 12:15

well I was actually asking is the school abusing it's position? I believe it is. Practically every week they are asking for money for this or that! It's ridiculous. It's not only that. I know this particular school is in receipt of pupil premiums for children that it does not spend the money on, giving them 'extra classes' that actually aren't extra at all and are just being taught by teachers who should be preparing lessons.

I think some are monumentally naive as to the goings on if folk think its above board

It's not right, education is free we pay for it in taxes and if the school does not have enough money then it's not managing it's budget properly and shouldn't be expecting parents to fork out, especially for things that are not remotely educational.

end of rant

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