I’m pretty sure that our school must be of the opinion that I have a money tree in my back garden!
Since the kids went back to school less than a month ago it seems to be a never ending stream of letters home – the majority of which require money from me!
We’ve had the letter about the Year 6 residential that cost me £20 as a deposit, the school trip for last week which was £13, the school trip for next week which is costing £10 plus I need specific clothes as listed on the form so they can dress up a second World War refugee. And that’s just for Miss Frugal.
Master Frugal is doing Judo with the school and that costs £3 a week plus £26 licence fee (I need to speak to them to see what this is for and if he really needs it) and another £20 for his kit.
They’ve had to pay £2 each for a passport which is essentially a paper booklet that they get stamped every time they do an after school activity and if they hit a certain number of hours, I get to buy them a cap and gown and they get to go to an award ceremony.
Today was the letter about archery which obviously they are both desperate to do at a cost of £3 each a week. We haven’t decided if they’re going to be doing it yet but for what they’ll be doing £3 is actually great value, it’s just that with this and the fact that Miss Frugal wants to have a go at Judo, I could be spending almost £50 a month.
We’re going to have to sit down and have a chat about cutting back on something else if they want to try archery as well.
On top of that, I begrudge the fact that Miss Frugal scrapes trays in the dinner hall in exchange for a cookie, spends several lunchtimes and one afternoon after school a week working in the school library. AND she has to be at school twenty minutes before everyone else to bag up fruit to sell on the fruit stall before school. AND two days a week she’s a play leader which means that she co-ordinates activities for younger children in the playground. All jobs that she loves doing but still, jobs are jobs!
They should be paying us for all the work she does!
Am I being a bit unreasonable, are all schools like this?
