Why do schools assume we can afford to pay for school trips at short notice

[Commonsensitivity]

I have a decent job, but am still sorting out situation with ex other parent and so money is carefully budgeted.

I heard last Monday about a school trip with payment required before the next Monday.

It was not a massive amount but more than I could afford at the time. It was actually to visit somewhere free but for the cost of a coach etc.

There are many more trips coming up and I'm wondering with the cost of living crisis how the school just accepts that we can afford to pay. What would happen if I said I couldn't.

We live in a wealthy and middle class area so I am assuming not many families have this issue, though with the cost of living crisis it must be an increasing concern.

In a way but still, if you don’t have it, you don’t have it. In a way it’s worse having to admit to not having such a small amount.

I'm reporting @Tenuouslink, I really hope they're a troll because otherwise they're incredibly insensitive.

Our school has a hardship fund for those who need it. You need to contact the school to see if there is something similar available.

I think a lot of people would be reluctant to admit they needed the help, to be honest, and in a lot of cases it isn’t so much that they do, just that they could have done with a bit more notice.

What would happen if I said I couldn't.

They’d either ask you if you could pay something towards it, then try to find the rest from school funds, and hopefully at the same time check if you were entitled to any Pupil Premium and free school dinners.

That does rely on you having a potentially embarrassing conversation though.

If you can afford it but just want the school to take the point it’s likely to be too short notice for a lot of families at the end of a month in a cost of living crisis, then tell them that. Ask them to commit to doing better with forward planning or asking for a contribution that’s fixed over a school year so people can budget.

Don’t just not pay though. Coaches are really expensive.

I think I would talk to school and explain you can't afford the contribution for this trip. Or perhaps say you can pay after payday.
Used to drive me nuts when school asked for money but it always needed paying a few days before payday - always the week when the money had run out.
If you can afford it going forward budget £10 per month per child for school fripperies. When mine were at primary there was always mufti days, trips, pta events etc etc

Far fewer people will struggle to find £3 than £30 though.

I think we're fairly average and we'd struggle to find a random £30 with a weeks notice just before payday. £3 wouldn't be an issue.

I work.a secondary school. Lots of people are struggling at present including people in school so I am sure there will besome empathy. Contact the school to see if they can allow you to psy at a later date.

You think it’s ok to raise kids in poverty?

@Tenuouslink so people can't source £12 in a week, no

Surprised you think it's a safeguarding concern What exactly do you expect to come of your 'concern' when professionals are using food banks is some instances?

Get off your high horse

Ignoring the unhelpful posts, does it help to think about your conversation with the school as helping all the other families in similar situations or who will be in the future?

If it were our school I know they'd be very discreet, I hope you feel you can trust them. Maybe send a message directly to the class teacher if that's easier than saying it out loud.

Fucking hell, the lack of empathy.

We are 'high earners', when Dts started y7 we had to pay £30 technology, £30 science and £30 HE and £5 art for the term with a weeks notice. Plus the unvoluntary contribution of £50 per child per term.

That's a lot of liquid cash to come up with a weeks notice. And no there is no option to pay later. Schools can't sub that now particularly with trips.

At DC's infant school they have a fund to cover certain things like this for children who can't afford to go. Whether it covers the full amount or if there are eligibility criteria I don't know, but I'm glad they do it. We often only get a week or less notice too, including for things like needing to provide costumes for the nativity play, its quite frustrating.

@Tenuouslink get back in your box

It is utterly shit op. My ds got into an extremely academically selective school that had only just changed from private to an academy. There’s not much that’s changed within the structure of the school though, and the vast majority of pupils are extremely well off (we’re not). He’s going on a 3 day trip next month that cost us £460, we got 5 months notice for that. We’ve luckily got 14 months notice for the next trip to Ecuador, only 4.3k 🤢 out of his close friendship group of 5, 3 are definitely going, and 1 maybe. He’ll be the only one not going if we can’t scrape the money together. The school asked anyone to approach them if they were struggling for the cash. When I did all they suggested to me was fundraising 🤷🏼‍♀️ who on earth is going to donate me 4 and a half grand for my son to go on a school trip??

I am astounded by the nasty reactions of some people on this thread. Check your privilege people!

OP, it's entirely unreasonable to be asked for money at short notice in wrong end of the longest month of the year. My school is exactly the same.

I know it doesn't feel nice but likely you won't be alone and schools support families in this situation all the time. I think the suggestions of speaking to the school are practical and if you can bear to do it, paying after payday or using PTA or hardship funds are there to ensure all children get to take part in activities.

All the best OP. Unmumsnetty hugs to you.

@Tenuouslink you have no idea of real life do you. There's a little bridge over there with your name on it, off you trot...

What would happen from these safeguarding concerns ?

It’s a good job you don’t need to use a food bank then , how do you think people who do that feel . Everybody knows what the economic climate is like at the moment and asking for help shouldn’t be a source of embarrassment, particularly where children are involved .

Op said it was more than they could afford at the time so regardless of the amount it was more than they could afford

Just to give a school's side of it: I work in a primary school office and organise trips. They are an absolutely nightmare to organise. As much as we'd like to give a good few weeks' notice to parents, with the best will in the world it's often hard to do things like liaise regularly with all the relevant staff who will lead and approve the visit as they are nearly always teaching. You also need to get quotes so you can get the cheapest form of transport and tickets etc to make it as economic a trip as possible. It's got to fit into a busy curriculum/term/other things happening in school. Large groups are more difficult to accommodate at lots of places so often you're stuck for dates. Sometimes you need to seek advice from the local authority about risk assessments/insurance. Basically you need a lot of stuff in place first before you can even let the parenst know that it will be taking place.

And despite me telling them often that it needs a long run in to get everything in place before parents are asked to pay, often teachers book tickets or a slot with a provider themselves and then I have to work with that as best as I can, and often don't have a lot of notice, with various spanners in the works. And finally, I have to put it on Parentpay.

So while we would like to give parents plenty of notice of trips, sometimes it doesn't always happen. If schools were better resourced, staffing-wise, then the organisation of such things could run (almost) perfectly. But half the time it's a miracle that trips get organised at all, schools are such busy places. Most staff, including me, squeeze in trip organisation around the main part of their job when they get a quiet minute (not very often!). I deal with constant visitors, phone calls, sick children, emergencies, checking registers and attendance etc etc and I'm organising a trip at the same time as doing all that. It doesn't always run smoothly and sometimes things do end up a bit last minute and frantic. I often work hours late unpaid to make sure that trip planning gets done.

I completely understand your point of view. In your position I would speak to school. If you are ABLE to pay, but just need more notice, or need to pay a week after the trip, just explain that to school. If lots of parents approach them asking this they would need to consider how they plan trips and build much more notice into them. If it's just a few parents then they should be able to give you some leeway over deadlines.

Please let the office know. They will be discrete and supportive.

You definitely won't be the only one.

Thankfully school staff are a lot more supportive and understanding of the present climate than some of the posters on here.

Our school have recently sent out an
email saying they need parents to pay donations or school trips will finish. It felt quite harsh as actually a lot of the trips I don’t see a benefit too ( but I can and will pay). It is all housed as voluntary contributions but it is not really…