State Grammar School asking for Funds

[anotherdad]

Many years ago I attended a grammar in Bucks. There was a "School Needs Fund" and every term, a letter went home to parents, something along the lines of: "Last term, the average donation was £5.50" (this was 1985). There were three outcomes and two possible letters received in return:

If your parents put in nothing, they got no letter.
If your parents put in, say, £10, they got a letter to say thank you and your donation will be used to fund books, facilities, etc.

If your parents put in, say £5, they got a letter which included something like "Thank you for your donation. We'd like to point out that the average donation this term was £7". Never mind the cheek, I enjoyed the maths of it. How could everyone donate above the average amount anyway?!

To give you an idea of inflation, by the time I left six years later, the average termly donation had risen to something like £70.

[anotherdad]

Further to my last post, I will never send in a sum of money. I will and have supported PTA events as a volunteer or visitor and I donate time to my daughter's school through other activities such as Young Enterprise and offering to do careers talks, etc.

[southbucks3]

My school never asked for money in the 80's, just a termly letter asking for help to round up and return of all the stuff that had been misappropriated.

[mm23292]

The infant school our youngest attends, sent us STO forms suggesting £30 average per month, and on top of that, there is a class fund too, to help teachers with class specific spending, for which we happily donated £100, although I know most parents strongly objected & whinged no end. I don't see the problem however, we are by no means 'wealthy', we spend all our disposable income (and more!) on funding dd1's secondary school fees, and fully appreciate, that state schools do have limited resources. Better schools, partly reap their 'reputation' from parental funding that enables them to deliver added 'benefits'. Why expect to jump on that band wagon and not pay your share??
It is totally understandable if there are parents who can ill afford such contributions, but I assure you, that in the little school dd2 attends, there is nobody in her class that fits that bill. In fact most of them use the school as a stepping stone to prep, and one of the mums who refused to pay, has 3 kids in private education and lives in an 8 bed mansion on our local millionaires row. In fact most of them live in houses at least double the size of ours and while we will be spending a frugal half term at home, the vast majority of dd's classmates, are vacating in various far flung destinations. Seems a bit rich to moan about contributing towards the success of the school that is often referred to round here, as a 'free pre-prep'!

[Marylou]

My school never asked for money in the 80's, just a termly letter asking for help to round up and return of all the stuff that had been misappropriated.

[southbucks3]

Is that middle blush a confession marylou. You still have a dusty copy of Tricoleur 1 somewhere don't you, or is it a pickled frog? Someone even stole the biology lab mice at our school, i think it was an animal libber.

[Amber]

I have to say that none of this hacks me off as much as 'fundraisers' which are actually ways of subsidising the rugby team's trip to the Antipodes or the netball tour to the west coast of America. Don't see why I should pay for other people's kids to go off on jollies which I couldn't afford myself. They can play rugby in Wales - it's not like you have to go to the other side of the world to do it.

[hermanmunster]

My school never asked for money in the 80's, just a termly letter asking for help to round up and return of all the stuff that had been misappropriated.

Sorry speed read that as staff...not stuff

[southbucks3]

My school never asked for money in the 80's, just a termly letter asking for help to round up and return of all the stuff that had been misappropriated.

Sorry speed read that as staff...not stuff

Well the english teacher did vanish mid reading of 'the silver sword' and was never seen again...we were told she was ill, but were very suspicious!

Amber, those fundraisers are there to enrich the lives of all that bath in the light of the rugby and netball A teams on their return ftom the unmissable opportunities that were generously made available to them. How could you possibly resent helping to fund the little darlings once in a lifetime character building trip. Besides which, the school website and brochure would be empty without their happy tanned faces, hugging one another in delight.....

[Amber]

Amber, those fundraisers are there to enrich the lives of all that bath in the light of the rugby and netball A teams on their return ftom the unmissable opportunities that were generously made available to them. How could you possibly resent helping to fund the little darlings once in a lifetime character building trip. Besides which, the school website and brochure would be empty without their happy tanned faces, hugging one another in delight.....

You have helped me to see the error of my ways, southbucks3. Brings a tear to the eye.