Should I have to transport child to and from sports event ran during school hours?

[moodimunky]

Is it me or is it out of order for school to invite my child to compete for the school in a sports event but then say they can only attend if I arrange transport to and from the event which is during school hours?

As a working parent how am I supposed to get time off for this with only 10 days notice? And what if I did not have a car?? Seems a little discriminatory to me?

[didireallysaythat]

Normal here. Half of the trips, sports events etc are cancelled because there aren't enough parents to transport the children to and from the venue.

[nonicknameseemsavailable]

same at our school - all normal as far as I can see. I would far rather the sports funding was spent benefitting all the children with a sports specific member of staff as in our case rather than the select few who are always the same ones getting to take part.

[Hersetta427]

Very normal at DD's school.

A minibus hire is very expensive (they will charge you a whole day rate as they will be unable to let it out for the rest of the day). Also not everyone is able to drive a mini bus - you need to be over a certain age then your driving license automatically covers you (nowadays you need to pass an additional test). It would probably cost in excess of £20 per pupil (depending on numbers going) then people would complain more about the cost than having to find a lift share !

[Floralnomad]

The child doesn’t need to miss out , the OP has been given numerous ideas if she doesn’t do anything about it then it is her that is making her daughter miss out , not the school . What do you suggest that the school order and pay for a taxi and chaperone just for one child , when other parents are happy to help out .

[OlennasWimple]

But why should a child miss out because their parent is unable to ferry them around? Either because they have other commitments that can' be shifted (esp at short notice) or because they don't have access to a car?

This is the sharp elbowed middle class in action

[BackforGood]

I too think is poor. Schools must know well in advance when ‘county sports etc’ is. They know probably 9 months before, the date

I don't think so. Well, I have no experience of 'County Sports', but my dd did represent her school at 6 different sports over Yrs 5 and 6, and most matches are arranged a week or two in advance.

The most likely scenario is that the school will just not take part in these non compulsory extra events rather than go to the expense of a mini bus.

This ^. It isn't "just" cost either. You have to do extra training and pass a special test to drive children anywhere in my LA, then, of course you'd have to go and collect it, and return it afterwards, as well as the fixture. Plus, if a member of staff is driving, they will need to take another member of staff with them. It just isn't feasible for lots of small groups of dc going to matches regularly.

[strugglingtodomybest]

Our primary did this too. There was never a problem organising lifts.

Some of the parents moaned about it, but I found it interesting that it was normally the SAHP ones that did, which left me a bit as I would take time off work (self employed so easy to do!) to attend and help. I'd much rather the school saved the cash rather than spending it on minibuses plus I wanted to see DS compete.

[grasspigeons]

The most likely scenario is that the school will just not take part in these non compulsory extra events rather than go to the expense of a mini bus.

[Oblomov17]

I too think is poor. Schools must know well in advance when ‘county sports etc’ is. They know probably 9 months before, the date.

Arrange a mini bus. Or put a whataspp /Facebook group asking for volunteers. Weeks in advance.

Then a week or 2 weeks before, let parents know which children are being chosen.

I don’t understand why this, or something similar can’t be arranged.

[BertrandRussell]

But I do think the "my child will only travel in a car with someone she has known since birth" thing a bit odd. The school knows its parents.

[BertrandRussell]

Perfectly normal for parents who can to help in situations like this.

[YellowMakesMeSmile]

Very standard for parents to have to take children when it's small groups. Waste of money to hire a coach for a handful of children.

Ours does it regularly, sometimes DH or I go and sometimes a friend does. We share it between us and help others out.

However I believe a good school needs parental involvement rather than the attitude of school hours teachers responsibility.

[BackforGood]

Thanks NorestforMrz and Tilapia
I'd not heard of it.

[Tilapia]

Sports premium is ring fenced money to spend on sport, and it’s for all children (not related to pupil premium). But in my DC’s school the money is spent on a part time PE teacher (it’s a small ish school so there wouldn’t automatically be one otherwise) so there isn’t any left over for a minibus.

[BarbarianMum]

You can just say no. I'm sure they can find someone else.

[Norestformrz]

“What is school sports premium ? Or, who is eligible for sports premium?”

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pe-and-sport-premium-for-primary-schoolsls*^

“There are 5 key indicators that schools should expect to see improvement across:

the engagement of all pupils in regular physical activity - the Chief Medical Officer guidelines recommend that all children and young people aged 5 to 18 engage in at least 60 minutes of physical activity a day, of which 30 minutes should be in school

the profile of PE and sport is raised across the school as a tool for whole-school improvement

increased confidence, knowledge and skills of all staff in teaching PE and sport

broader experience of a range of sports and activities offered to all pupils

increased participation in competitive sport”

[BackforGood]

What is school sports premium ? Or, who is eligible for sports premium?
I've read Sports premium is £16000 plus an additional £1000 per pupil it’s there for things like transport to sporting events but not clear what it is.
Is it some ringfenced money to spend on sport? If so, what are the criteria/ what choices is the school able to make? Or is it related to pupil premium so only some pupils eligible?

[user789653241]

I think it seems clear. Some school does it. Some school struggles.
I wouldn't argue with school. If school needs help from parents, they need it for reason. I don't think it makes situation better by arguing with school. So I would just try to find some solution. Either you do it yourself, or try to find someone who can help.
Some school have more priority than buying and maintaining minibus, it really depend on each school. It's all understandable.
It ultimately benefit your own child to attend in the end.

[cantkeepawayforever]

We aske for volunteers to help with transport, via a tick box on the reply slip for the activity.

Staff going always take the maximum in their own cars (yes, we have insurance, yes, we measure for car seats and any child who needs one must have it with them) and then we usually get another couple of parents (we have a pool of vetting-and-barring checked parents) to take 3 or 4 each (usually their own child + their immediate friends who are used to travelling with that adult), same deal with car seats. If it is in the afternoon, extra staff (teachers or sometimes TAs) often give up their lunchtimes to transport, then come back to teach their own classes in the afternoon.

Or we walk them all as a crocodile if it is within about a 1 mile radius.

Or we team up with another school.

We did have a school minibus, but it became such a drain on resources that we re-routed the funding into insurance / CRB checking.

[presentcontinuous]

I took this up with my DS's school last year. We had only just arrived in a new area so I didn't know any other parents, and working FT I just couldn't drop everything to drive him to a football tournament at 1pm.

What irked me the most wasn't the lack of minibus, but the assumption that parents would do it, making no mention of lift sharing or pooling car space, and no help to arrange lifts for children whose parents weren't available. It felt like working parent bashing.

[user1955]

Just to clarify "£16000 plus an additional £1000 per pupil"
2016-2017 was "schools with 17 or more pupils receive £8,000 plus £5 per pupil. / schools with 16 or fewer pupils receive £500 per pupil"
2017 is £16000 with £10 per pupil, not £1000.
The decision we made with our funding is aimed at benefiting the maximum number of pupils, rather than transport for the few who want to compete from each year group.

[user789653241]

Ds's school bought minibus few years ago to transport children. And there were few days my ds's class was covered by TA/ SLT when the teacher had to attend matches. No body seems to complain.
If there's some inter school activities going on, we were never asked to provide transport. Just got slip to sign that we agree the dc is taken out of school to go XXX.

[Bobbybobbins]

We have had to stop arranging the vast majority of visits for smaller groups of pupils and just take very large groups out due to affordability and staffing problems.

[Norestformrz]

Our head covers classes when possible

[Norestformrz]

Sports premium is £16000 plus an additional £1000 per pupil it’s there for things like transport to sporting events