Schools With No Funds

[granny grump]

My grand daughter in law started a new teaching job today. We spent Saturday
buying supplies for her first class project with the children because the school doesn't run to coloured paper and double sided sticky tape and various other items. She spent £25 of her own money and this is just for one project - the school doesn't have the funds. Is this normal? And does it count towards performance related pay? I think not

[woofgang]

Not sure about normal but if I were her, I wouldn't be doing it....it sets a terrible precedent.

[black_cat51]

why doesn't she just do something with the supp;ies they do have?

[granny grump]

She feels that the supplies they do have won't do such a good job as they are very very basic She is a bit of a perfectionist bless her

[Buenchico]

Well it's a long time since I was teaching but that sounds about normal to me.

I spent a lot of my own money on buying classroom supplies and I well remember the complaints from the kids when they noticed that the 'tracing paper' purchased by my head of department had the word 'Izal' on every sheet!

[DaisyNonna]

It worked though Buenchico!

[black_cat51]

well, if you wanted to make a project about shiny things, gold leaf would probably do a better job than tin foil, but someone has to draw the line somewhere

[sherrardk]

Quite normal - your grand daughter in law either needs to adapt her plans and work with the supplies available or pay out of her own pocket for 'fancier' stuff.

[granny grump]

Thank you all for your input - she is so keen to make it right

[Canary42]

It's the Big Society at work - everybody helps each other, after all we're all in it together.

[factor-fiction]

As others have said it does happen as schools will normally stock only certain standard items. If she feels she cannot manage with the standard stuff and still wants to proceed she will need to ask the budget holder to make/approve a one-off purchase or she will need to pay herself. Many teachers will buy things like gold star stickers or posters themselves but it should be kept to a minimum or you'll end up paying for essentials.
As to your last point, no I don't see how it can count to performance related pay.

[Graham-W]

She should approach the big craft shops for some sponsorship or at least some sort of deal on old stock they can't sell any more. Even the smaller stationers could have old stock to get rid of.
One persons rubbish is another mans treasure.

[DaisyNonna]

No change then.
When I worked as a home tutor for an LEA I found myself paying for most , including paper pencils etc. Supposed to be supplied by pupil's family. Text books, supposed to be from pupil's last school. Joke! I supplied any art, craft, cookery stuff. Zero hours contract. Usual tutor time 2 or 3 hour session. No pupil show (eg wouldn't get out of bed) could claim 30 Minutes pay. Travel claim to first appointment of the day only. Two or even three per day if one hour sessions. Public transport. No holiday pay and sick pay too complicated to contemplate.

[granny grump]

Thank you all - it seems to come with the job from what you are saying

[joko]

perhaps she could ask the parents to start saving stuff - like toilet roll tubes, yoghurt pots, tin foil etc etc

[boxtops]

She's doing herself no favours by setting that sort of standard and buying stuff in - the sponsorship idea sounds good, but she'd need to do it formally through the head teacher, not just arrange it herself.

[Tilly2]

Toilet rolls are not allowed anymore, joko. H&S.

[boxtops]

Tilly, noooooo - there's me still making Christmas crackers out of toilet rolls!

[Tilly2]

Ah, just checked. It might be a myth.