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?

Schools normally have an agreed (detailed in the scheme of financial delegation) carry forward limit on their budgets. It is usually 5%. There is an assumption that the annual budget is spent on the annual needs of the school and the children. Banking for a rainy day or excessively expensive projects are not every day expenditure. Few primary schools will have £1/2m representing 5% of their budget. As admission said earlier, they have to budget appropriately. This would not be asking for exceptional payments from parents when the school is sitting on a huge surplus. Neither would it be saying they cannot afford SEN provision if siting in a huge surplus. Some annual expenditure must be prioritised.

The Govt gives many examples of how schools can look at reducing expenditure but some are very poor at being creative. Few rural schools federate to share costs for example. This is something that needs to happen, urgently.