11 Plus Exams Forum

I'm after some wisdom and experience from some of you who already have children in secondary schools.

My DS starts his Grammar school in Sept and I have today received a letter regarding lockers. Apparently they are getting rid of the lockers they currently have within the school and will bringing in a external supplier to provide external 'vandal resistant' lockers which will be provided by Prefect Lockers.

These lockers come at a yearly rental cost of £30. I don't have an issue paying for the locker but it is impossible for me to gauge whether a. he needs one and b. if he'll use it.

The letter I have received states that 'not all students use a locker'. Is this the exception rather than the rule? Do your children use lockers?

At this stage, the letter is really asking for an expression of interest to work out how many lockers the provider needs to install so I wont be committing to anything at this time so I'll probably go yes for now but I just wanted to canvass opinion from experienced parents on this forum.

Thanks

Yu might need to say which school this is as it will vary (eg how much space there is in classrooms for bags etc).
£30 per year??
I think we pay a £5 deposit for the 5 years (not that I've ever got it back )

I don't think there are many Yorkshire parents on this site - its Crossley Heath in Halifax if anyone is familiar with the school. It is a Grade I listed building which has the nickname of 'Hogwarts', so I would imagine that the space is limited - apparently they will be outside the building.

I suppose this is an example of budget cuts, the school cant afford to replace them so its an external provider who doesn't charge the school, just everyone who wants a locker (free if in receipt of FSM). They are in it to make profit hence the £30 cost per year.

I feel sure the school will be taking a cut as well

Could you just wait and see if he feels he needs one? I get that they are trying to judge interest, but I doubt they will only fit exactly the number they get "interest" for......then if noone else uses one you don't have to stump up!

They have an open day in June which I'll be taking my DD along to look round (year 4 currently) so I'll ask the pupils then if they use them. I've stated I'm interested - I wont have to stump up the cash til much later so I thought no harm in saying yes now.

My two children are at Crossley Heath and they only really use their lockers to store coats in during winter and PE kit between the two lessons during the week. They prefer to keep their books with them. We haven’t been made aware of any change to the locker system, but for us at £30 a year I suspect when I speak to my two they would decide it wouldn’t be worth paying for a locker going forward.

Our school now charges £30/year for a locker. It is a requirement to have a locker as they are not allowed to carry bags/backpacks in the school so they have to store them away. I have to admit I am not impressed with this new tax; the lockers used to be free so the school obviously gets a cut. Actually, thinking about it, it seems more than a coincidence that the no-bag-rule coincided with the new charges for lockers.

Hi

My DD uses her locker. She stores her coat, pe bag and packed lunch in it. She usually carries her folders / books in her rucksack but does offload them to the locker if her rucksack is heavy.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for your input everyone. I suspect that we will get one for our DS. As he'll be walking to and from school I think he'll have a coat for a good part of the year. Even if he just uses the locker to store his coat during the day it means it wont get left in a classroom and lost - It'll cost more than the £30 in replaced coats if he doesn't have a locker!