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Stuart McMurray
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Dad hits out at ‘voluntary fee’ to take part in sport on the school playing field
14/ 5/2008
A FURIOUS dad has hit out at Bramhall High School, claiming it is forcing him to pay £90 so his daughters can play on their school sports teams.
Stuart McMurray, says his daughter Dawn and her younger sister have been barred from representing Bramhall High in athletics until he pays a £45 Sports Membership fee for each of them.
The school says the payment, which it requests annually to fund transport to sporting competitions, is effectively voluntary, as parents who cannot afford it are not expected to pay.
But Mr McMurray says he can afford to pay the fee - it is the principle that angers him, because Bramhall is a state school.
He said: "My eldest daughter has been told they can’t represent the school unless I pay.This is the only comprehensive school that I know of in the north west that requests this payment. I think they believe they are a private school.It used to be an honour to represent your school in a sports activity, but now you can do that by making a payment."
He added: "If I wanted to pay for things I would send them to Stockport Grammar."
But headteacher John Peckham said parents who genuinely could not afford the £45 fee for extra-curricular sport are not expected to pay it.
"For most youngsters it is peanuts," he said. "The biggest complaints are not from the people who can’t afford it but the people who won’t pay. If the school had to meet competition costs out of its main budget, he added, pupils would not be able to compete to such a high level."
He said: "That’s the question I have always put to parents, and overwhelmingly they say: ‘ask us to make up the shortfall’.
"We encourage them to see this as a contribution."
But he added: "I freely admit we haven’t done a good enough job of explaining to parents why we are doing this."
A spokesman for Stockport Council said it is common practice for schools to ask for voluntary contributions towards extra-curricular activities, but the authority does not keep information on which schools choose to do so.
Most recent 2 of 3 user comments
When in future years, the Government wails about the lack of British success or representation in international sport, no doubt we will have forgotten why.
15/05/2008 at 15:58
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