Voluntary donations from parents/ carers

[smogsville]

Hi Everyone

I’m trying to find out if any comprehensive community schools actively seek voluntary donations from parents/ carers.

Our DCs’ primary does (monthly standing order) but it’s a voluntary aided church school so is obliged to find a portion of its funding from the church/ families.

Locally a couple of state secondaries do ask - and in a fairly insistent way. One is a grammar, the other a religious school. Anecdotally I hear that the majority of parents get on board with these requests which tend to suggest/ stipulate a particular amount, sometimes totalling more that £2.5k per year (again, paid by monthly standing order). As result both schools have serious extra money to invest in smaller classes, staff and equipment - making a material difference to the quality of the educational experience. Compared to private fees it’s a drop in the ocean.

My question is - do any community comps do this, or is it a blanket no because of sensitivities around asking parents do contribute? I want to raise it with our head and would love to be able to share some examples of schools in exactly the same
category that are doing this. We are doing all usual PTA fundraising and having fun at events but the money raised is negligible compared to what regular donations could achieve.

Thanks in advance.

some interesting and valid points raised and in general agreement that schools should ideally all be better funded centrally

let’s assume that even if we all gave up our jobs and marched on Westminster tomorrow it wouldn’t happen though

someone said they found the use of squeamish a bit judgmental. I confess I have been known to make the odd judgment from time to time but I was using it in contrast to the other local school I’d mentioned who are very open and upfront about asking.

if it’s a choice between not hurting some people’s feelings and trying to deliver a better educational experience for all the children in the school, I’d plump for the latter and if that offends people, that feels like a risk worth taking for the greater good. With careful wording it shouldn’t be impossible to make the case sensitively, as they do at DC’s primary. I’d rather spend say £200 on a month on contributing to the whole school than on specialist tutors just for my own child but there’s no point if it’s only me giving - needs to part of a bigger drive to be meaningful. If that means I’m offending people, so be it. I would also add I’m heavily involved in fundraising and give a lot of my time up at primary and secondary level while working nearly full time, so not a monster!

@WhereAreTheWildThingsNow I’d love to hear more about the campaigning journey, how the parents managed it in the end and why it took so long?

@smogsville "I’d rather spend say £200 on a month on contributing to the whole school than on specialist tutors just for my own child"

Your donations won't be spent on Teaching Staff. They'll be spent on optional extras.

Personally I wish everyone who paid for a personal tutor would stop, so that some of the tutors would come back to the teaching profession. I realise it's not going to happen though.

Absolutely not and I’d be horrified if my head ever suggested it.

@smogsvillethe school was reluctant because it didn’t want to burden, alienate or upset those parents who couldn’t donate. It was those that could that campaigned with repeated reassurances (and examples) that it is possible to do it in a sensitive way. I think that in the end the PTA helped write the letter.
Its not raising loads but more than nothing.

edited to correct typo

My DC primary and comp secondaries do it (SW London). It was very much optional but with regular reminders. Either via one off payments or monthly direct debit donations. I recently heard of a grammar school putting quite a bit of pressure on parents to contribute.

Thanks again all. Will have a think about how such a letter could be worded @WhereAreTheWildThingsNow

@conditionality the point I am continually trying to make is that I would prefer to contribute to my children’s schools for collective benefit (whatever that would be spent on) than spend the same money on personal resources - eg tutoring, just the first example that springs to mind - for my own child. If enough other parents feel the same we could make a difference for all the children. I’m not in a position to be in with a chance of influencing gov policy on education funding so leaving that to one side and trying to do something practical.

As outlined on the many VAT private school threads there is a greater privilege divide within the state system than private. It’s very lovely OP that you’d be happy to give to the school rather than pay just for your child as if you’re doing some sort of charitable giving however I’m willing to guess that given the choice of a failing school or an outstanding one you would send them to the outstanding one (as the majority would tbf).

It’s disgraceful that schools on leafy areas with parents willing to donate have all these extras whilst those in poor areas struggle and struggle. I’m willing to bet that those mc schools are raking in £££££. It’ll never be exposed though as it suits the government just fine.

IMO this ‘fundraising’ data should be published.

Ours asked for £50 in Y7 which we never paid. When DD left school the "debt" was still outstanding on her ParentPay account. Her dad rang the school and explained it's voluntary and as a lower income family we'll not be paying it. The school said they'd take it off. They also tried to charge us for materials for subjects DD didn't take, the CFs.

I understand the budgeting pressures on schools but rather than asking parents for a VC I think PTAs and Heads should be taking direct action against Parliament for greater funding.

There's a can being kicked down the road here too, in that quite a few primary schools have closed in inner city boroughs like ours, so eventually at least one large comp will close. This can only benefit LAs in inner London in the long run, but puts pressure on LAs where these families have moved to.

Edited for typos

@1apenny2apenny it’s not “lovely” (I’m many things but not that!), it just makes good sense to me. Yes ofc I’d send my DC to best school possible. Fwiw this one’s a “good” comp, quite a large catchment area, not everyone’s first choice and with its fair share of problems, but well run. And to reassure you, most community comps in leafy areas don’t seem to ask and therefore aren’t raking it in, for all the reasons raised upthread. The three near me that do aren’t comps. Our head may well say it’s a firm no - other staff may be opposed etc.

@ArtemisiaTheArtist asking teachers to do even more (campaigning etc) feels unreasonable. DH is a governor. The staff are very stretched with the day to day as it is. The situation you describe where your DD’s school tried to enforce a “debt” is very much not what I would ever envisage as I think I’ve made clear a couple of times.

I think the issue with this thread is that as often and understandably happens on MN, it’s broadened out into a wider discussion. I almost wrote in my OP that I wasn’t posting to get into the merits and demerits of voluntary donations but that can sometimes come across as high handed so I left it out. But as I came here to ask if other secondary comps were asking for donations and if so, how they were doing it and have got a few useful answers, I’ll leave it there. We’ve all had a civil discussion, I’m happy not to have the last word.

"It’s disgraceful that schools on leafy areas with parents willing to donate have all these extras whilst those in poor areas struggle and struggle"

@1apenny2apenny Schools in all areas are struggling. Optional extras don't stop the struggle, they are just a spoon full of sugar to help the medicine go down.

"IMO this ‘fundraising’ data should be published."

I disagree. It would create additional bureaucracy and, as the donations can't be relied on as a regular income stream, the data can't be used in any tangible way. If you are suggesting that schools with low/no voluntary income might somehow be compensated then that would be counter-productive because parents would then stop making donations.

Your virtue signalling demonstrates an ignorance of how schools are funded. There is already a mechanism for providing more funds to schools in deprived areas, not only via Pupil Premium, but also via the National Funding Formula's deprivation and low attainment factors. These are designed to ensure that schools serving disadvantaged communities have more resources to meet their students’ needs.

That’s both silly and infantilising of the school. It prevents people from making a choice, under their own agency, and at the same time denies access to funds that the school likely desperately needs.

@OxfordInkling i agree to an extent, but we were discussing this and a colleague who would struggle was very upset at the thought of a request - so I can see both sides

My son is at a state grammar school and they asked for a voluntary contribution of £36 per quarter. There’s also the option to do the school lottery which is £5 per month for 1 ticket. Daughter is at a comprehensive which doesn’t ask for any type of contribution or donation. Primary just had the school lottery.