child led report on cost of school

[bawdy-nan]

This report from the Childrens Society makes for very affecting reading. It's been led by young people and children and makes some powerful recommendations for schools around uniform and cost of materials / trips and stopping stigmatizing free school meals.

I know that some local schools already do much of what is recommended (see page 56) but I would love to see PTAs campaigning around some of these issues instead of organising cake sales and flogging overpriced tea towels.

https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/sites/default/files/At%20What%20Cost%20Exposing%20the%20impact%20of%20poverty%20on%20school%20life%20-%20Full%20Report.pdf

[mima08]

Very touching reading - thank you for sharing.

[scareyt]

Thanks for posting that. It's very powerful. I guess it's not rocket science that if you make a kid feel like crap every lunchtime they are going to disengage and would rather be anywhere else than at school. But it's not obvious until it's pointed out. I used to get free school meals for a while and everyone in the queue could tell. (But we also had no telly which marked me out as a total weirdo, so the free meals were the least of my problems!)

[redjam]

Agreed - v powerful and sobering report. But I couldn't let the dig at PTAs pass by. I don't know what it's like at other schools but our PTA raises money (yes, sometimes via cake sales!) to help subsidise school trips and pay for many resources which specifically benefit poorer students. We're currently raising money to develop a garden area because we know many of our pupils do not have an outside space in which to grow things at home. Last year we raised money to refurbish a school kitchen which is to be used to provide breakfasts for children who don't get them at home. I could go on. Suffice to say that as a working mum who volunteers much of what little free time I have to help on the school PTA, I rather bristle at the characterisation that we're all just bored housewives 'flogging overpriced tea towels' for the sheer joy of it.

Sorry, rant over - you hit a nerve...

[Coach Beth]

It is a very powerful report - thank you for sharing.

I think PTA groups at inner city state schools do an amazing job. I know that PTA at my son's school works hard to raise money for a range of things which support students from a range of backgrounds. Thanks to our PTA at Goose Green School, students have been able to go to trips to the theatre, have access to Ipads in all classrooms, have a wild-life garden and mini orchard, have external speakers/workshops including workshops for Black History Month. And just as important (if not more) than the fundraising work the PTA does, the schools annual summer fair and carnival (which involves all students and parents) just could not happen without the hours that the PTA give to organising the event and the volunteer hours that parents put in. Every year, when I go to the summer carnival at Goose Green and see each child perform in their class, and then perform in the music and dance groups and I see the total diversity and cross-section of society that comes together at the school, it reminds me how important it is to have events like this. Those events only happen because PTA's have volunteers who are spending alot of time and volunteering effort - and often on top of jobs as well. As a school governor, I want to say how much governing bodies and school leadership value the work of PTA's!

In terms of lobbying and campaigning work, I have been very involved in the NGO sector and political lobbying work (mainly in the women's sector). However, PTA groups are separately constituted charities and as such, are governed by their constitution. Often, this restricts their ability to take part in campaigning or political lobbying. It may be worthwhile however approaching the National Association of PTA groups - as an infrastructure body. they would be well placed to lead on campaigns and perhaps they could advice/support local PTA's who want to support much needed work on poverty and schools.

[bawdy-nan]

Yes, I understand that PTAs are not all bored housewives flogging tea towels but the endless requests for money (often directed via children) is part of the problem.

The work that PTAs do in enabling the school community to strengthen and grow can be wonderful: creating events and celebrations that everyone can participate in - exactly like the kind of event you describe, Coach Beth but sometimes I think they can get too over-excited by the fund raising aspect. I have been at events where no free tap water was provided because it was felt that would be a missed fund raising opportunity. This is pretty extreme, I realise but I have to say that attitude (which I tried, gently, to address) put me off and left a very bad taste in the mouth.

PTA s aren't and shouldn't just be about extracting cash from the parents, at least that's not the case in the constitutions I've read, but are also supposed to be about fostering communication and participation. For outsiders (for whatever reason) the PTA can seem like a closed club. Not always, of course, and I know that PTAs can provide all kinds of help and support in all kinds of ways. But there is a flipside.

Actively campaigning for their schools to implement government guidance on, for example, ensuring that school uniforms are affordable and have badges that can be sewn on rather than integral to items only available from specialist suppliers (or using uniform sales as a fundraiser), would be a great thing for them to do and would probably "help" more parents than any amount of cake sales.

[Coach Beth]

Sounds like you've got some great skills and ideas and contributions that you are bringing to your school bawdy-nan! Volunteering to affect change through the PTA or as school governor is a great way to have an impact although it can be frustrating and often feels like a thankless task.

The other point is that schools need to show how they are distributing the pupil premium effectively to benefit students in need. This info should be availble on school websites. Governing bodies have a responsibility to ensure this done. If there is a particular issue affecting students such as prohibitive uniform costs it should be brought to the attention of the governors.

[LI]

Interesting report. The uniform debate really strikes a chord with me because I had to buy one uniform for reception and a totally different uniform for year one. Both uniforms had several items that could only be bought in one shop and cost way more than non branded equivalents. Even more annoyingly the school likes the children to keep their blazers on all day so they get dirty and worn quickly, but it's not like you can afford more than one blazer is it? I think the school does it because of the correlation of private school uniforms with good results- but of course the results aren't caused by the uniforms.

I would love some kind of parent/ head teacher forum where issues like these could be discussed, but that doesn't seem to be at all in the remit of the PTA. And it is quite hard I think to be the one parent who raises issues as you don't want your child to suffer because of it. How would you raise things like this to the school anyway?

[bawdy-nan]

LI, I think it is always worth raising issues like this and you can usually do it via the inclusion officer or the Head (send an email or drop in a note asking for a chat? If you don't get anywhere you could make an approach to the governors whose contact info is usualy available online). Government guidance is really very clear about uniforms being affordable and not "specialist" supplied only but the guidance isn't always followed.

Whenever I have raised anything with school I've usually been listened to and I absolutely feel that my children haven't been singled out. Often there is financial help available that might not be obvious and more than that I think that schools are (perhaps obviously) genuinely and passionately concerned for the well being of their pupils, so they want to do as much as they can towards that: ie they want to hear about these kinds of things.

I do agree wholeheartedly, however, that striking out on your own is really tough, especially when the reason you are raising the issue is because of your own financial circumstances: it's embarrassing and can feel like special pleading when, in fact, it is often about asking the school to follow good practice that would help the entire parent and student body. This is why I think that PTAs should be interested in these kinds of areas. As has been pointed out, PTAs do more than fundraise - they can really help the school community to cohere and celebrate in all kinds of ways that are much, much more valuable than rattling tins for donations from the parent body.