Voluntary contributions to Tiffins

Eleven Plus (11+) in Surrey (Sutton, Kingston and Wandsworth)

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missy
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Feb 04, 2008 11:11 pm

Voluntary contributions to Tiffins

Post by missy »

My son has secured a place at Tiffins in the first round. Have received this saturday various bit of information from school ,uniform ,stationary info ,and voluntary contributions letter. They have politely requested £520 per annum for every year child is student .

My question is -does the child suffer if you cannot afford these payments( negative behaviour from teachers ) We only have one income coming in and are on a tight string as it is .

I know one school in North London who have in past put the screws on parents through the boys -to cough up,dont know if they have changed.

Any info from current tiffin parents appreciated
hermanmunster
Posts: 12815
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
Location: The Seaside

Post by hermanmunster »

Hi

I remember hearing about this in previous years - you may be able to find some more info bu searching the archives. It is a huge amount of money to ask to give and though it is "voluntary" they will be concerned about the effects of not giving it.
Can't understand why so much needed - the local GS in Skipton asks for £15 a year and then the parents association raise lots through events etc, school doesn;t seem to go short and people contribute when they feel they can.
surreymum
Posts: 553
Joined: Wed Jan 23, 2008 10:26 pm

Post by surreymum »

As far as I know all the grammar schools ask for this. From ours the request is a suggested quantity by direct debit. Our letter always made this clear that this was voluntary and only a suggestion.

I am quite sure your child will not be adversely affected if you do not pay. I am confident the teachers will not be involved in the administration of this.
Louise2
Posts: 52
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2008 1:11 pm

Post by Louise2 »

my daughter is at Tiffin Girls and they ask for £30 per month, it is entirely voluntary and some girls pay nothing at all. It has no effect on how teachers treat them. It's not only grammar schools that ask for this money, my children's primary and my other child's comp also ask. Again voluntary, a small amount is better than nothing.
melinda
Posts: 226
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 8:40 pm
Location: surrey

Post by melinda »

Blimey!! That seems to be a large amount for a voluntary contribution! I am shocked as I thought there was some legal restriction on how much schools can ask for. It's a bit like fees at £520 a year.
Did you know about this before applying??
I would also be wary of not "donating" the money, although I'm sure there is no comeback from teachers. You might be blackballed for future events though!! :lol:
gloucestermum
Posts: 739
Joined: Sat Feb 03, 2007 5:14 pm
Location: Gloucester

Post by gloucestermum »

Does sound like an awful lot.Wonder what the schools charging policy says? Now think we are lucky with our request for £25 a year!

GM
Boy and Girl at Tiffin
Posts: 25
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2008 6:53 pm

Post by Boy and Girl at Tiffin »

The school has a large fixture list on saturdays against other schools.
They play two term rugby and one term cricket.
They also have cross country events every weekend.
They also have rowing at the weekend.
They have music performances, dance, drama...the list goes on.

The question is, who pays to have the staff organise these activities?
Who pays the staff to give up their time?

"good will" doesn't pay the mortgage or compensate for the loss of time away from ones family.

The associate sport/drama/music staff give up their saturdays,evenings/lunchtimes for the boys at the school.

The less the parents pay in voluntary contributions, the less staff will be involved.

There is more to Tiffin than just being an educational sausage factory.
All the boys are encouraged to take part in the extra-curricular activities.
If you have a girl and boy at the two schools you will know this.

The boys do far more extra-curricular than the girls but it comes at a price.

More and more parents are refusing to pay this price and already according to my son, some activities are struggling. Cricket fixtures are getting cancelled.
It will only get worse.
Bexley Mum 2
Posts: 851
Joined: Sat Nov 17, 2007 9:55 pm
Location: Bexley

Post by Bexley Mum 2 »

I've been reading this thread with interest. My son is at a boys' grammar school. They have an equally impressive sports fixture list on evenings and weekends; music activities; residential trips; after school clubs and are heavily involved in the wider community (for example the language teachers run classes for children and adults after school and during the holidays). We pay a voluntary contribution too - £20 a year.
missy
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Feb 04, 2008 11:11 pm

Post by missy »

Thanks to everyone for their valuable input i think i will contribute a small one off amount ,nowhere near the hundreds though . I would personally however prefer to donate money to a charity.I think we pay more than enough through taxes.I know there are probably lots of parents who can probably pay the full whack as they have previously paid school fees . For us this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for our son to study at such a prestigious and well known insititution.
Boy and Girl at Tiffin
Posts: 25
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2008 6:53 pm

Post by Boy and Girl at Tiffin »

Well, I know they put out 12 teams every saturday in the autumn and spring term as my son plays rugby. That's 17 saturdays.
All the schools they play are the independant ones...the other state schools in the area don't do saturday games.


Unfortunately, the calibre of the teaching staff has gone down recently.
Apparently all the good staff are being snapped up in the independant sector...it's very expensive to live and work in Kingston.

I know they recently advertised for a teacher of German but couldn't find anybody good enough.

They now encourage the boys to do Double Award Science because they don't have enough specialist Chemists and Physicists.
I have heard quite a lot of staff are leaving and not being replaced.
I've now got a private tutor for my son in Maths because the standard of the teaching has been so poor over the last few years.

If I had the choice again to choose Tiffin, I wouldn't.

He's not staying on in the 6th Form where class sizes have reached 25!

I've paid my volutary contributions over the years and it's gone up so much recentlybecause fewer and fewer parents are contributing.
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