Never mind uniform, £120 Y7 invoice before we even start!

[oneoffdeepcleanout]

£50 to hire a locker for 5 years, £10 photocopying card, £40 for a team building excursion in the first week, etc, etc, bill comes to £120 in total. Plus a begging letter for regular contributions to school funds because they have a big deficit.

Not sure what to make of it all really. We'll pay up, but with a heavy heart. So sad that state schools have been reduced to this.

I do wonder if it's something that prospective parents look at when choosing a school. It wouldn't have occurred to me to ask these kind of questions. It all came as a total surprise after primary school. Along with school uniform costs, it could be a major consideration for some families.

Speaking from experience of being involved in school finances across many schools, there is a real problem here that is frankly being exploited by many schools to extract money from parents. No one disputes that finances in schools are tight but there is a reluctance in too many schools to face up to reality and actually plan to not spend more than they have available. The schools simply see parents as being the easy option to balance their books.
As an example I would give you the comments in the education press today that many schools are saying that even when the government is funding 2.5% of the 3.5% increase for teacher's salary, they will still not be able to make ends meet because when they did their budgets for this year they did not allow for the 1% increase that the DfE said was already in the funding for 2018-19.
The idea that schools did not budget for any increase in staffing, even though they had been told 1% was in the budgets, is frankly bordering on lunacy. They could not seriously believe that there would be no rise for school staff, so they were just ignoring making some difficult decisions and hoping.

I have total sympathy for all school staff wanting and expecting a reasonable pay rise but there is a price to pay for that rise and that is finding the money for it from within the current school budgets. School Leaders and their Governing Boards are completely responsible for setting a budget based on reality not fantasy land. They are culpable in not setting a realistic budget and by not making difficult decisions over the last 18 months are now putting themselves in even more difficulties.
I would not recommend anybody pay anything to schools in terms of voluntary or otherwise payments unless you as a parent feel it is totally appropriate for your child. By that I mean going on a school trip will always be a voluntary donation and most parents will want to pay for this. Just being asked for sums like £65 a month or £1500 a year I would absolutely refuse to pay.

I would refuse too. My dc's comp is the only one in town - they are oversubscribed and don't need to compete for pupils. They already benefit by being in a middle class area, with parents who are invested in positive outcomes for their dc, who will pay for books and school trips etc and support the school generally. There is no way I'd give them money every month on top of that, for the head to spend on making the reception look pretty, while they have poor resources for the children.

By contrast, the comp in the nearest town (different county), doesn't look quite so pretty but has plenty of IT etc. Different spending priorities.

The more parents are willing to fill gaps caused by budget cuts/poor spending decisions, the more the budget will get cut in future and the more parents will be expected to pay. We will end up paying tax and financing education directly. Parents should refuse and force the LEA to argue with the govt, instead of taking the easier option of tapping us for the difference.

force the LEA to argue with the govt

Every single secondary school in my county is an academy. There is no LEA. This is the root of the problem. The school I used to teach in was run by one of the big MATs. The CEO was on a massive salary - he earns more than the Prime Minister. Meanwhile, I was running a department on less that £400 per year, all in.

Iwanna I do agree with you though, to an extent. The thing is, as a parent, I wouldn't be willing to gamble on my child's one chance of education - my DTDs have just finished Year 7. We had to pay for a locker, a french workbook and a student planner when we went for the induction evening - that cost us £11 in total. Throughout the year, we've paid out for various other things for DT, for cooking and for textiles, plus art sketchpads, a sewing kit for textiles and the usual pens, calculator and maths set (sometimes dictated by the school, sometimes left up to us) The Head, who has now retired, had a fine line in pretty aggressive newsletters talking about the school budget.

Some of what we've paid out for has been a bit unnecessary IMO, but it would take a very brave parent to say no to everything - and it would take a lot for an entire school of parents to say no to everything, and even more for a lot of schools to do this, before the government took notice. And in the mean time, your DC are in maths with one text book between 4, no printing, no practical lessons etc etc. That's why the govt will never act - parents will keep paying as their DC have one chance at education, and therefore schools will keep asking.

I'm not saying this is right, by the way, but having been in teaching for as long as I have, I can't see the point where parents will be willing to gamble their DC's education for a point of principle, to force the government's hand about school budgets.

My local schools are not academies, so we can still contact the county.
I know it is hard and desperately unfair to be a dept head or class teacher and have a tiny budget, which hinders you from doinf your job as you would wish to. My dc's teacher told him that she literally had no money left, so we have bought books, printed off worksheets etc. But parents don't have infinite resources either and some schools really don't get this, with their constant fund raising drives and instructions to purchase X every five minutes. It is galling if you see money being spent elsewhere, but not directly on the children.

When I said for parents to refuse, I meant the requests to contribute money each month, which the school would decide how to spend. I wouldn't trust the HT of my local comp. As a parent, I have still bought text books, paid for printing at home, trips, cooking ingredients etc.
I guess I am just pissed off, because I've also had to spend a shit load on private tuition to cover gaps in A level teaching. Just feeling a bit resentful.

inancing education directly. Parents should refuse and force the LEA to argue with the govt, instead of taking the easier option of tapping us for the difference.
And this is exactly why this government have pursued the Academy Agenda so there is no LEA to take action. Just academy trusts and chains many of which are financially dubious.