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?

[admission]

BertrandRussell,
I know exactly how tight schools budgets. This is however about the school carrying out their responsibilities correctly and not cutting corners or just assuming what they have always done is OK. If something went wrong whilst the pupils were being transported by parents I know who would get the blame and that quite rightly is the school.

[Tilapia]

This is normal at my DC’s primary school. But not all parents need to do it as the parents who do volunteer can each take 3 or 4 kids.

[Norestformrz]

Do they have appropriate insurance and booster seats for all who need them?

[Notanumberuser]

See if you can buddy up with another parent or pay them to take her.

[OlennasWimple]

You're getting a hard time here, OP, and I don't really understand why. Of course you shouldn't have to take time off work in order to take your DD from school to an in-school time event.

Our school used to either ask for volunteers to take children, or the PTA would pay for transport (or heavily subsidise it), so that a mini bus could take everyone there and back. This seems the sensible approach to me

[DelphiniumBlue]

The problem is with the cutbacks that staffing is at an absolute minimum level. Many schools no longer have the spare 2 staff it would take to transport them and stay with them all afternoon. All the schools I know have cut right back on trips because of this.

[Ttbb]

The schooli went to always orangised/paid for taxis/buses but it was private so maybe you can't expect the same from a cash strapped state school.

[Ttbb]

Could you just organise a cab?

[DonkeyOaty]

I'm with the OP here. What is the point of offering opportunities that are not feasible? Not very inclusive. And yes school budgets, I get that.

[Floralnomad]

olenna , she doesn't have to do anything , her dd has been picked for a team if she can't organise to get her there then she simply says she can't go and they pick someone else who will arrange it . It's lovely that schools bother to do these type of sports tournaments and most parents are happy to put in the effort required on their part to facilitate their child's involvement . The OP is at work , fair enough , but lots of people have put other suggestions forward that she seems unwilling to even consider .

[Norestformrz]

Schools receive Sports premium
Funding for 2017 to 2018
Schools with 16 or fewer eligible pupils receive £1,000 per pupil.

Schools with 17 or more eligible pupils receive £16,000 and an additional payment of £10 per pupil.

We sometimes double up with another school to share the cost of a coach depending on how many pupils are attending. Often competitions don’t involve a whole class so we can hire a mini bus from the LA at a reasonable rate.

[Seasonschaaaange]

OP wasn't looking for suggestion though. Just asking people's opinion. It's not as simple as just telling the school no. Her daughter will be dissapointed. I'm sure OP will do whatever she can but I totally see her point. It's during school time, to represent the school! Yes there's been cutbacks but the safety of the child is paramount. I wouldn't like my kid going with a random parent to something during school time. I would expect the school to sort it since its them who have put her foward. At the very least they should have checked with the parent first before speaking to the child to avoid dissapointment. My childrens school accompanies them to such activities.

[Norestformrz]

If the activity is during school hours it’s the school’s responsibility

[user1955]

I'd love to know how schools afford the transport if it falls on their shoulders. If we had to, we would just stop taking part as we can't afford the supply cover for teacher to transport the five or six children taking part in the event.

[Norestformrz]

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

[Norestformrz]

Our head covers classes when possible

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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?

[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”

[BarbarianMum]

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