Is it compulsory for the parents to buy the books for the school?

[magan]

I have 2 children in different years of primary education (in Lewisham). When the children started school I was told that the school provides all the materials (no need for the parents to buy) and it has been like that since. This year the school has sent messages to the parents that it is compulsory for every child to buy a set of books for next year (from an specific publisher they have arranged). Can they really make it compulsory for the parents to pay for the books? Is it now the school responsibility? I was trying to find out in the Lewisham council website whose responsibility is and if the parents can refuse but I don't seem to find anything? It might be that the department of education has changed their policy, but on the other side the school lately has been taking the mickey (getting the parents to pay for absolutely everything) that I just don't know what to think. Does any one know, is there any link in Lewisham website regarding the books this year?

I'm a bit shocked by this. A set of 9 books too! Are they for use at school or at home, are they tied to test preparation eg SATS? Has the school had a new scheme marketed to them and cut some kind of deal? How much is/are the set(s) costing? Do you need a set for each kid?

Having them at home isn't much of a selling point if they are very specific workbooks. I do love buying books and spend quite a lot of money on them for me and the kids. I have also had access to some free books in exchange for review over some years including SATS books, fiction and non-fiction for general reading, and computer game/film related books. I took some SATs preparation stuff because it was a chance to see what it was like, but I wouldn't pay for it or for more stuff in similar vein. DS1 did look at some of it but focused on his actual homework and he did fine. DS2 can read very well when he chooses to but it's a challenge to persuade him to read rather than playing computer games - I'd sooner he read something for fun than just because it's a required textbook, and I don't think SATs preparation material will be of any value to us or anyone else 2 years from now when DS2 finishes yr 6.

Ask for more information on the part these books will actually play in their education, whether they are newly in use in the curriculum etc. Does the deal give you a discount on cover price or just add to school funds for some other purpose? What are they asking you to buy into?

I think we need to be aware of the dire funding crisis which state schools are facing. Would you rather buy some books or have one less Teaching Assistant in a school or one less member of office staff.
If you really can't afford £30 then fair enough, and perhaps the school has a hardship fund you can tap into.

If that teacher wants pipe cleaners, tissues, cardboard boxes, pritt stick, blu tack, pens, paper, pencils, books, sports equipment whatever, and he or she is making the teaching of that class more enjoyable, accessible, creative, whatever. Then my hand is in my pocket.

Not all schools do have a funding crisis where they ask parents to buy essentials. This is misleading. Plenty of London schools are still relatively well resourced. They are not allowed to charge for books that are required in the clsssroom!!! It’s illeagal. That’s why these are homework books which is entirely different and should be optional. It’s probably to make life easier for the teachers - just complete page 6.... etc. Parents should be able to question school spending priorities. It’s also about time that schools near each other shared resources too.

I didn't mean to mislead. If as you say Plenty of London schools are well resourced that that's lovely. That's just not my experience.

Far too many schools are crying poverty when actually they are not making the hard decisions that are necessary to balance the available funding to the annual budget. It is far easier to blame spending cuts and ask parents to fill the finance gap.
No one is disputing that times are much harder now financially in education than they were even 3 years ago but now is the time that senior leaders in schools and their governing boards have to make those difficult decisions. The smaller the number of pupils in the school then the more difficult financially it is likely to be but this is where schools need to be creative. Can they share a staff member with another school, so cutting costs for both schools? Are they actually buying equipment well, again could they get a better deal by co-operating with other schools? I might also add here that just assuming the DfE and / or the LA have the best deal is quite often wrong.
Schools should not be expecting parents to buy books whether they are as part of the curriculum of the school, when it would be illegal or whether it is for homework. If the school really believes that it is imperative that these books are necessary then they should be finding the cost through their school budget. If they are not prepared to fund through the school budget then there is a real question as whether they really are a "must have".

I don't think school are crying poverty, but I will bow to those with more knowledge. Put simply I'd buy the books.

https://schoolcuts.org.uk/#!/!/^
^
"Between 2009-10 and 2017-18, total school spending per pupil in England fell by about 8% in real terms"*^ Institute of Fiscal Studies July 2018.

A school with high levels of SEN children, like ds’ school, have been hit twice in the funding Crisis. Ds’ school year has a high level of Sen children, including ds, and that makes it even worse as does the fact that the schools in our borough get less per child than the boroughs next to it.

norestformrz you can quote all the figures you want about what has been lost but the real issue is not about that. As I said in my post above it is about schools taking responsibility for getting the best out of their available budget and not just asking parents to fund what the school wants them to fund.
I have to say that whilst the schoolcuts website does a useful job in recognising that schools are now in a financially tougher environment than they were, the figures quoted for the three schools that I am a governor at bear no resemblance to the real reduction in funding we have seen. They are exaggerating the reduction.

and when schools have cut everything then what?

Clearly school governors will sort it all out.

Tbh I am more worried about the kids affected by the cuts and the mental health of teachers than governors who think they can get through it.

I couldn't agree more. If a school wants something and it is in you capability to buy it then buy it.

norestformrz, schools have never cut everything because that would be the point where they have no staff!
We will never agree on this subject.
All I would say to any parent is that before they pay the school for something outside of trips ask the school to confirm what their end of financial year figure was at the end of March 2018 or August 2018 for an academy. One school which recently was crying poverty and asking for toilet rolls had an end of financial year figure of a surplus of £500,000+. That is a lot of cash.

Schools are at the point that the only thing left is the staff. Where next do you suggest? Get rid of anyone with experience and only employ cheaper NQTs? Employ unqualified teachers? The idea of sharing staff in rural schools is a no starter with travelling distance between schools. What next?

I agree that sharing staff is not possible in truly rural primary schools where the next school is 10 miles plus away but how many primary schools are there in England where the next school is more than 10 miles away. Not that many.

Obviously you're not in the north or the west.
I'm interested in how you envisage teacher sharing working.

So in the three school you are a governor of admission your teachers have spare time during the working day when they are not teaching, not on break and not on PPA time? Is that what you mean?

I agree that if you can afford it you should pay for whatever the school asks you to pay for. They obviously wouldn't ask if it wasn't needed.

No they do not have spare time because the senior leadership teams are careful about hours worked but to give a couple of examples that I am aware of. Two small schools who share a SENCO between them and another where the caretaker works across two small schools.
Or the opposite in a school I am just starting to work with of a school, which was an amalgamation of two secondary schools some years ago, where there are teachers who are paid full time but only have a 50% teaching commitment. No surprise the school is significantly in debt and in special measures.
Every situation is different and needs to be looked at individually as to what is and is not possible.

I'm a SENCO and like most SENCOs here I'm also a full time class teacher even in larger primary schools SENCOs usually have a class and a 80/20 teaching commitment.

Like Norestformrz I am a SENCO with a full time teaching commitment. And English co-ordinator.

Our cleaners work in several schools and a couple of businesses.

We have cut spending to the absolute bone, so I'm not surprised to hear schools are asking for parents to pay for books. We won't do that - we will do without rather than ask parents for money. I suspect that the books concerned are CGP sets.

Let me know the name of the school, I'll send them the £30. FFS.

If required, staff can produce something similar for far cheaper and more appropriate.

Because staff time is free and copying costs nothing?

Lots of schools ask parents to fund CGP, all the way through to GCSE. If you don't want to then don't.

For the poster who thinks it's sufficient to ask about the capital balance as evidence of available funds, you also need to ask about upcoming spending.
That surplus could very well be earmarked for building projects, trips, staff expenses, pension costs. It's not necessarily spare cash.