school is taking advantage of it's position

[ClaudiaApfelstrudel]

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.

What isn't remotely educational?

I can't think of anything that doesn't teach children something, especially at primary age.

Sending kids to school costs money. It's not unreasonable to be surprised, I was at how much it cost, I've sent over £60 into school this week alone for top up, school dinners, milk, trips, photos, etc.....

But it is quite unreasonable to level accusations like this online. If you have valid concerns raise them with the relevant authority.

So you've decided you're right and know all the ins and outs. Why did you start the thread then?

You are making some very serious allegations on this thread. I'd love to know how you know this for sure.

If you're that concerned report them to the local authorities? I bet it won't go anywhere though.

How is a concert not educational?!

The school will only ask for voluntary contributions sometimes. I give 2/3 or 1/2 the amount if strapped.

Why you think it's acceptable to make anonymous allegations of financial irregularities on a public forum is beyond me.

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.

No idea what you mean here. How are extra classes not extra if they are being taught by teachers? Can you give an example.

Again the school has to be accountable for every single penny they spend. They have to provide actual evidence with regards to pupil premium and how it is benefitting the students.
If teachers are not having their PPA time then this is for them to take up with the school and their unions. You also seem to be confused about this as you are saying the children aren't getting the extra lessons but are from teachers who should be prepping for lessons. The lessons can also be delivered by TA's and HLTA's as long as a teacher or the SENCO has set the work.
Pupil premium can also be spent on Reading recovery schemes, so additional books, transport to and from school, for the disadvantaged child to go on trips, extra curricular activities plus more. In other words the theatre trip will potentially be free for the pupil premiums. You would love how we spent some money one year, we bought iPads. Another year we spent the money on a sports coach (although this gave us extra funding)

Yes education is free. However the extras aren't. School trips and coaches have always been paid for. Of course if you don't like this you do have option -
complain to the school and other parents, get a campaign going to end all trips (a family did this at a school. There is now no school trips full stop).
Join the PTA and help to raise funds so that school trips etc are for all (our PTA pays for a trip for each class every year, the whole school to go to the theatre once a year, subsidised residential trips and much more)
Don't send your child on the trips. They are not compulsory
If you think funds are being misappropriated contact OFSTED and let them investigate.
Withdraw your children from the system and home educate.

As for the budgets you are naive if you think that schools get enough. There are more cuts to school budgets coming that will mean schools will be letting more staff go. Some of these schools are already understaffed as it is.

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.

Ooh, how much do you expect? Do tell us more about the profiteering.

How much experience of school budgets do you have OP?

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.

1. If you don't want your children to go on the trips, don't send them and don't pay for them. It's a voluntary contribution. It's not as if the school will hold you up at gunpoint.
2. What exactly do you think they are doing with all the "spare" money they are making? Spend it on boozy nights out for the staff? You are making rather serious allegations...How are you able to access the school's accounts?
3. Have you ever considered how little of your taxes are actually being spend on schools? Budgets are incredibly tight and there is an awful lot of stuff that has to be covered by them. I went to school abroad and we had to buy all our own books, pens, pencils, textbooks, glue sticks, art supplies, scissors, paper, give money for photocopying etc.. At the beginning of the year, you'd get a list of everything you needed and parents had to pay for it...all of it. If you ran out, something broke or got lost, it was your responsibility to get replacements in very quickly. I'm amazed at how much stuff children are given by their schools in this country. No wonder there's no money... (Btw, we still had to pay extra for trips and such things...and schooling was "free" and "funded by taxes".)

As others have said, £15 isn't a lot for a trip if it includes transport by coach. Coaches are incredibly expensive to book. It's one reason why we try to only do trips within walking distance. £1 for non-uniform day is generally voluntary and those tend to be for fundraising/charity. If you don't want to pay it, don't. (I generally get money from half the class, which isn't an issue. We are in a rather "deprived" area.)

If you are honestly that unhappy with the school, move your children to a different school.

So who do you expect to teach booster lessons for children who need them? A casual passer by, a willing but untrained parent, a very expensive supply teacher? I take it you have not worked out that supporting and boosting the learning of children who have for whatever reason fallen behind their peers directly supports your child's learning since the boosted children will be better able to keep up in class so the pace of learning for all improves.

Clearly you expect the school's teachers to offer to plan,prepare,deliver and review booster classes out of the goodness of their hearts. I am assuming that your children have not been offered booster classes, I wonder if this is at the bottom of your whinge, that you see someone else getting something (for free!),that your children are not having..

I am also assuming that you are taking your children out and about to theatres, museums, galleries, concerts and other life enhancing activities and that you do not see why poorer children should also have the same opportunities through the school.

Anyway, you are wasting your time discussing your concerns here, why not make an appointment with the headteacher to discuss them. And do pop back to let us know how you got on.

You don't HAVE to come to school in your own clothes, paying a £1 for the privilege.
It's just an 'easy' fundraising event, and a bit of fun for the kids. Many people don't do it, and a lot forget, so children are never the only ones in school uniform.
As for trips...well if it's an after school one, you don't have to do it.
The extra amount is for the coach, which will probably already be subsidised by the school.
If it's a trip in school time, well really you should make the effort for your children to go, as it will be connected to whatever they're learning about at the moment and therefore valuable to their education. If you can't afford it in one go, offer to pay in installments, or ask if there's a bursary . Usually the school can come up with some help.
You do know ,don't you, that the budgets schools have are only ever 'just' enough, there's no room for extras, hence the fundraising that needs to occur from time to time if you want your children's time at school to be interesting?
Yes, State School is 'free' , but most people want a bit more than just nose to grindstone for their children all day, every day!

Would anyone like to bet how long it will be before the OP gets tired of not getting the responses she wants and she gets the thread deleted to protect her privacy?

By the way, our school is in an officially deprived area.

Most people make the effort to pay something for trips, even if it's only £1.
There have been one or two occasions when things had to be cancelled, because there were not sufficient donations.

OP If you have an issue with their budgeting raise it with them, but it does sound as if you have a generally negative attitude towards your child's school, based on little facts. Do not listen to or create rumours/gossip that have nothing to do with your child. unless the pupil premium is specifically for your child it is none of your business,

If you don't want to pay for the trip don't let them go.
If you don't want to pay for dress up days don't dress them up

The school is being unkind if they are humiliating young children who's parents forgot to send £1 (but never forget to dress them up ) and you could easily raise this with them. everything else you need to let go as its not healthy for you or your child.

£15 including travel is actually really good. We live in a "deprived" area and the school panto is £10 this year and nursery is £8 (same panto) both heavily subsidised by additional (voluntary) donations from parents who can afford it, to ensure that all the kids get to go, whether their parents can afford it or not.
Your posts make some extremely serious accusations, if you "know" this is what is happening involve the relevant authorities, otherwise you're just spreading rumours with no proof. We have 5 kids between us and various donations/tickets/non uniform days adds up, but it's part of being a parent.

Schools are not allowed to make a profit from a trip, the majority will run at a loss as there are always parents that don't pay yet still send their child.

Fundraisers are different, if you want your children to benefit from the funds raised then pay. If you don't, then send them in uniform and don't take advantage of new play equipment etc.

I love that schools do fun things as well as literacy and maths, children make a lot of memories at school.

If you hate the school that much, home school and see if it's cheaper, as educational etc.

As for taxed, most people don't even cover their own costs let alone their children's.

If you begrudge paying for things for your children that much, why have them?

crikey OP, rant indeed! You sound unhinged tbh

I really feel for the school staff trying to provide your children with the best start in life they can and instead of gratitude and support receive the attitude like that.

With parents like OP some children just wouldn't stand any chance in life if not for the school.

Education is the only profession where you steal things from your own home and take them to work
And op begrudges paying for their own children

Sorry but there does seem to be a lot of posters claiming to know all about school finance when the reality is that some of you do not.
So for instance we keep being told about the amount of funding that schools have lost. In primary schools this is simply not true, the level of funding in the current year is the same as it was last year for each pupil, as is the level of pupil premium. Secondaries with 6th forms will have lost funding but not all.
What is happening is that schools are having to cope with no increase in funding in terms of £s per pupil, whereas they do have increasing costs, which is mainly staff based. That clearly puts pressure on the whole budget, so activities that the school may have paid for in the past are now having to be paid for by parents. But unless they are educational and are during the school day, that has to be on a purely voluntary basis. Money that is collected from parents will actually go into what is called the School Fund account which is not where the normal school funding is, that is a separate account. There may well be cross over between the two accounts but the LA have no day to day responsibility for the School Fund account. It is run by the school, needs to be audited annually by somebody appropriately qualified and only the bare basic details of the account find their way to the LA if it is maintained school. If it is an academy it goes no where near the LA. Only if the LA believe that there is serious misuse of the School Fund Account will the LA step in with an audit and with the current state of funding for LAs, that is not likely to happen often.
There is no doubt that parents now have to find more money for school activities but I think it is for parents also to decide when enough is enough in terms of the school repeatedly asking for more money. Schools will always ask for more money and it is only when parents say no, will they start to look more carefully at what is sensible to ask for and expect parents to back them.

Our school has recently switched from using a coach to transport kids to the swimming pool to using 3 minibuses from a local taxi firm. It is HALF the cost. 45 kids plus 3 staff.

I recently got some coach quotes for class visit. 20 miles each way. Leaving school at 9.3, returning for 3pm.
£400 to £450
For a class of 30, that's £13 to £15 per child... before you've paid any ticket prices or entry fees.

My employer is offering free visits to our site for specific subject activities. We have to also offer to pay a contribution towards the coach costs or schools simply won't come.

It cost our school £300 for a school trip 15 miles away.