State Grammar School asking for Funds

[scary mum]

See, I'm thinking £5/10 per month is fine, most people can manage that. Asking for £30/40 per month though, the schools must know a lot of peiple will struggle with it. I really hope those families who would struggle don't feel pressurised into paying this.

Sheesh at this rate we might as well pay independent school fees

I don't think ours pushes if you don't pay it. I have paid some of it (for one, not three) and will probably pay some more later in the year.

[Booklady]

See, I'm thinking £5/10 per month is fine, most people can manage that. Asking for £30/40 per month though, the schools must know a lot of people will struggle with it. I really hope those families who would struggle don't feel pressurised into paying this.

Sheesh at this rate we might as well pay independent school fees

The school I posted about at the start is in a very (on the whole) wealthy area of Bucks. So yes, I think they believe most people can afford it. However we have a hubbie in a dodgy work situation right now - and another child whose education we are currently paying for (as her state primary was not really cutting the mustard for us - and we are very glad we moved her!)
We can possibly manage a small committment - but actually its the very pushy way in which we have been asked that has irritated me. Including a personalised letter earlier in the week 'as they had not yet received our standing order!'. And also the fact that I already pay way more than I am happy doing in taxes - which should support our schools (including a school place we are not even using!).

Interested in others views. It sems like a demand for £40pm is very much topend!!

[southbucks3]

Personally i think direct mail reminding you about a voluntary standing order is a disgrace. We tend to give a lump sum depending on our resources that year, and depending on whether we have decided to donate to other causes instead, you should not feel pressurised to swap all your chaitable funding for the year to one school if it means your other regular donations will take a hit.

You are well within your rights to complain, but if i were you i would just recycle the letter and write a cheque with a letter asking to be removed from the donations mailing list. Also sometimes you can donate directly to a specific area, eg.building maintenance, computers, sport, music etc which is imo far better than open ended donations, where you may not even agree with some of the spending. Your own decision making process should be involved, and at some point it is ok to ask, 'does my dc's school need a new astro turf surface more than our scout hut needs a new roof, or even the boiler at home needs a service'

School funding is not the be all and end all in life, but i feeel increasingly pressured into making it so.
Silly things like clothes recycling, that has long been the domain of high street charity shops is now being swapped to the school run, with bag to school schemes. Mufty day money increasingly goes towards school projects rather than an external charity. I know funding has been cut, but every area is struggling not just the schools.


Ahmmm....i will get off my soap box now.

[mystery]

I do hope these schools that beg so unmercifully ( and I know one parent who thinks academies have a right to charge and that she has been told by the head that she has to pay) are making use of gift aid to make the contributions go further.

[mystery]

Personally i think direct mail reminding you about a voluntary standing order is a disgrace. We tend to give a lump sum depending on our resources that year, and depending on whether we have decided to donate to other causes instead, you should not feel pressurised to swap all your chaitable funding for the year to one school if it means your other regular donations will take a hit.

You are well within your rights to complain, but if i were you i would just recycle the letter and write a cheque with a letter asking to be removed from the donations mailing list. Also sometimes you can donate directly to a specific area, eg.building maintenance, computers, sport, music etc which is imo far better than open ended donations, where you may not even agree with some of the spending. Your own decision making process should be involved, and at some point it is ok to ask, 'does my dc's school need a new astro turf surface more than our scout hut needs a new roof, or even the boiler at home needs a service'

School funding is not the be all and end all in life, but i feeel increasingly pressured into making it so.
Silly things like clothes recycling, that has long been the domain of high street charity shops is now being swapped to the school run, with bag to school schemes. Mufty day money increasingly goes towards school projects rather than an external charity. I know funding has been cut, but every area is struggling not just the schools.


Ahmmm....i will get off my soap box now.

I agree. Our money goes to silly things at school quite often when we need text books and decent reading books, not fancy outdoor stuff that doesn't get used much or teach them anything.

[scary mum]

See, I'm thinking £5/10 per month is fine, most people can manage that. Asking for £30/40 per month though, the schools must know a lot of people will struggle with it. I really hope those families who would struggle don't feel pressurised into paying this.

Sheesh at this rate we might as well pay independent school fees

The school I posted about at the start is in a very (on the whole) wealthy area of Bucks. So yes, I think they believe most people can afford it. However we have a hubbie in a dodgy work situation right now - and another child whose education we are currently paying for (as her state primary was not really cutting the mustard for us - and we are very glad we moved her!)
We can possibly manage a small committment - but actually its the very pushy way in which we have been asked that has irritated me. Including a personalised letter earlier in the week 'as they had not yet received our standing order!'. And also the fact that I already pay way more than I am happy doing in taxes - which should support our schools (including a school place we are not even using!).

Interested in others views. It sems like a demand for £40pm is very much topend!!

Booklady, I know that your particular school has asked for money in a quite insistent way for many years, although it sounds as though they may have upped their game even more. I personally think it is completely unacceptable to pester people in this way and it would make me go in completely the opposite direction. I would complain to the governors.

[Booklady]

[Booklady, I know that your particular school has asked for money in a quite insistent way for many years, although it sounds as though they may have upped their game even more. I personally think it is completely unacceptable to pester people in this way and it would make me go in completely the opposite direction. I would complain to the governors.

It's the governors driving it I believe!! They are even sending us charts to show how many people are contributing now - and how it has increased. And telling us how much better rates of support a local boys school gets. We were asked when we joined the school, and each year, but this year has taken it to a whole new level!

Still deciding what, if anything, to do. But interested in everyones views - thanks!!

[southbucks3]

I hope they sent out a chart showing how they had spent all the contributions too. We once had 'dishwasher for staff room' on our list of spending requirements...the irony being that the school kitchen just had sinks.
Just give what your gut tells you, and the next time your dc comes home with a text book, or library book with the pages falling out, make sure you repair it, or in my case recently i just replaced a library book completely, launder and donate uniform to the srcond hand uniform shop, buy tickets for events, it all counts and contributes, then when they need something big you wont resent the extra £20 cheque towards it.

[future]

QEB suggested £60 a month when our DS started there 7 years ago. After ignoring first letter, got a personal letter from the head saying I was one of a few who hadn't committed yet. Felt like some sort of blackmail. Paid first 2 years and then stopped standing order. Can offset against self assessment as a gift to reduce tax liability.

[southbucks3]

QEB suggested £60 a month when our DS started there 7 years ago. After ignoring first letter, got a personal letter from the head saying I was one of a few who hadn't committed yet. Felt like some sort of blackmail. Paid first 2 years and then stopped standing order. Can offset against self assessment as a gift to reduce tax liability.