No such thing as a free education

Sending a child to primary school costs parents nearly £700 a year and rising, a government survey shows.
Although state school education is supposed to be free, parents stumped up an average of £683.79 for a child at primary school in 2007.
Uniform, PE kit, and school trips were the most expensive items. Nearly every school required children to wear a uniform and this cost on average £163 in primary schools. One in six parents said the whole of their child’s uniform and PE kit had to be bought from a particular shop, and four out of five had to buy items of clothing with a logo on.
Less than one in twenty parents got financial help with buying school uniform.
Nine out of ten parents had been asked to pay for a school trip. The average cost of a day trip for primary school pupils was £9.47, and for a residential trip it was £153.14.) Less than half the parents were offered the chance to pay for day trips in instalments.
Other expenses were swimming lessons (nearly £70 on average), and requests by the school for contributions to the school fund. More than one in four primary parents was asked to make a contribution to the school fund of £27 on average.
School lunches and travel to and from school, school photographs, and contributions to charity on behalf of their child also added to the expense of sending a child to school.
But most parents (nearly three quarters) said they were quite happy or very happy with the costs of sending their child to school. Those with low incomes were the least happy.
Cost of schooling 2007. DCSF 2009

Schools urged to take on TA apprentices

Schools secretary Ed Balls wants schools to take on 4000 apprentices in the role of teaching assistant.
Balls told a committee of MPs that sixteen year olds could be taken on to work in classrooms as part of the government's bid to expand apprenticeships.
It could mean 16-year-olds working in classrooms as teaching assistants for as little as £80 per week.
But critics point out apprenticeships in schools have been around for a long time with very little take up. Unison's Christine Lewis said, "You become an apprentice to learn skills that you hope are going to earn you a living. Becoming a teaching assistant at the moment is not seen as an attractive career prospect."

MPs to debate support staff pay body

A new national system of pay and conditions for school support staff has come a step closer.
The government published a bill which will set up the School Support Staff Negotiating Body - the body which will eventually tell schools how much teaching assistants should be paid for the work they are doing.
Discussions are still going on about the details of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill - especially concerning the legal weight the new body will carry.
School employers’ representatives will be happy if schools have to `"pay due regard" to the pay body, but not if they are legally bound to do as it says.
Unions on the other hand fear that some schools will ignore the new pay structure if they are not under a duty to adopt its recommendations.
There are also worries about the government's own role, and whether ministers will have a veto on the pay body's recommendations.
The Bill also strengthens the system of apprenticeships and gives a duty to local authorities to provide enough Sure Start Children's Centres to meet local needs. It also changes Ofsted's inspection responsibilities so that they will visit schools judged successful less often.
The Bill is at a very early stage and is likely to be changed by MPs before it becomes law.