The three words that fill many of us with dread at this time of year are not, as you might initially expect, Rose of Tralee. They are back to school.
Most children hate the words with the burning passion of a thousand suns while for teachers they herald the death of what once must have seemed like an endless summer full of opportunity and freedom.
Folk without children of school-going age also have reason to loathe this time of year as they have to contend with the return of school-run traffic congestion.
And then, of course, there are the parents.
RM Block
Although many of these – the ones who have been juggling childcare with work commitments and ferrying their young ones from sports camps to play dates and digging deep to pay for cinema trips and zoo visits and the like – will breath easier when the routine returns, they also know the return of school will heap all manner of different pressures on their shoulders.
There are lunches to be bought and made, schoolbags to be bought and packed, homework to be overseen, earlier bed times to be negotiated and a seemingly endless series of school-related costs from voluntary contributions and school uniforms to tracksuits, trips and learning materials to be paid for.
Over the course of the summer, two related back-to-school stories made for depressing reading.
The first came from the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU). Its annual survey on back-to-school costs found that one in three parents will go into debt to pay bills that fall due in the weeks ahead while a similar number will be forced to deny their children at least one back-to-school item because they simply can’t afford it.
In a separate study published by Barnardos last week, it emerged that parents of children going into fourth class will spend more than €700 on back-to-school costs in the coming weeks while those with children starting secondary school will spend more than €1,100.
The children’s charity’s annual back-to-school costs survey put the costs for primary children at €725 when uniforms, school trips, classroom materials, voluntary contributions and extracurricular activities are totted up while costs for older children were an estimated €1,113.
When the children’s charity carried out similar research a decade ago the same items for a child in fourth class were €400 while parents of a child entering secondary school spent an average of €785.
The research suggested that 50 per cent of parents of primary schoolchildren and 60 per cent of parents with children in secondary school were worried about meeting costs, with only 34 per cent saying they will be manageable.
It is worth noting that the roll-out of free book schemes and the introduction of a hot meal scheme across much of the primary school network has at least eased the burden on many parents.
But more needs to be done. And governments have known this for donkey’s years.
Pricewatch has been writing about the price of Ireland’s supposedly free education system for the guts of two decades and while various ministers for education have made some of the right noises – and some positive changes have been implemented – too many things have remained the same.
In the spring of 2017, for example, a circular was sent to all schools by the then minister for education, Richard Bruton that was supposed to make things better by getting all school authorities to adopt “principles of cost-effective practice”.
Among the measures schools were directed to introduce were generic uniforms; mandatory book-rental schemes; a ban on workbooks; iron-on or sew-on crests; and the provision of lists of all items parents would have to buy for their children, with indications of the likely costs at the best value stores.
The circular did not seem to make a whole lot of difference and according to the Barnados research many parents remain concerned about costs, in particular in relation to uniforms, voluntary contributions and, for secondary school parents, the price tag attached to digital devices.
On average, primary school parents will spend €125 on uniforms, and secondary school parents spent €199 this year, with the biggest issue identified by parents being their schools’ insistence on expensive crested items instead of generic clothing.
Almost three-quarters of primary school and 92 per cent of secondary school parents who responded said their children had to wear crested/branded uniforms. Only 34 per cent of primary school parents said their school offered an affordable uniform option, with only 14 per cent of secondary school parents saying the same.
Many schools also ask parents to pay for classroom resources averaging €74 for secondary school and €51 for primary schools. And the vast majority of schools request a voluntary contribution, with the average amount asked for by primary schools put at €87 while secondary schools request €133.
A total of 73 per cent of primary and 78 per cent of secondary school parents said the payment did not feel voluntary.
A significant number of parents raised the issue of having to pay for school tours and additional extracurricular activities and highlighted how such costs could come up suddenly. On average the costs was €144 for secondary and €64 for primary school.
So that is where we are but where might we make some savings?
1. Carry out an audit at home to establish what you have when it comes to uniforms, lunch boxes, schoolbags, sports gear, bottles and all the other paraphernalia your children will need for the coming school year. Sort them into three categories – perfectly fine, potentially usable and beyond saving. And keep reminding yourself that not everything has to be brand new in September. That sort of thinking is bad for your wallet and bad for the planet.
2. The back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance should be one of the first ports of call for many. It is a means-tested, one-off payment to help cover the extra costs of school clothing and shoes. You qualify if you are in receipt of certain social welfare payment or taking part in approved employment, education or training support schemes. Household income must fall within set limits and any children you’re claiming for must be aged between four and 17, or 18 to 22 and returning to second-level education this autumn. The payment is €160 for children aged four to 11, and €285 for those aged 12 to 22. Applications can be submitted online using a MyGovID account, and the deadline to apply is September 30th.
3. Shop around like a retail Ninja for school materials and make comparisons between bricks-and-mortar shops and online operators. Exploit any deals you can find in the cheapest shops you come across and, if you have the wherewithal, by in bulk.
4. Drive a lot less. A 5km round trip in a car is not going to cost you a whole lot in fuel but, done twice a day for 182 days, the cost of driving your child to school will reach just under €200 over the course of a year and it will have a not insignificant impact on the planet too. Around half of all school-going children get lifts even though a fair amount of them could do without. If you live within a 2km radius of your child’s school, consider walking – it might take 25 minutes compared with 15 in rush-hour traffic. And if you live within 5km or even 10km, then cycling should be an option, particularly as they get older. Apart from the financial and environmental benefit, active transport is better for the mind and the body. It does take commitment, mind you.
5. Car pooling is worth considering if your neighbours happen to have children attending the same school as yours.
6. Invest in a label maker. Children are forever losing things or leaving them behind, so get a decent label maker – they can be found online for less than €20 – to give yourself some chance of being able to recover what has been lost.
7. Buy second-hand sports gear. Everyone wins if kids retain an interest in sport for as long as possible but it can be pricey – not least because gear can be expensive and children have the habit of growing. Use the likes of DoneDeal and Facebook Marketplace to buy the things you need second-hand. And don’t invest heavily in a new pursuit straight away – wait a while to see if they actually like it enough to make it worth your while.
8. Invest a bit of time into meal planning at the weekend so you have at least some sense of what you are going to feed your young over the course of the week. Batch cooking can save a huge amount of time and a fair amount of cash over the course of a school year, while buying a decent flask will allow you to send your offspring to school on a winter’s morning with the hearty leftovers from dinner the night before.
9. Use a shopping list. When you are shopping for lunch materials always shop with a list and buy the products with the longest shelf life.
10. Put variety into lunches. As all parents know, children can be a capricious lot so mix it up a bit over the course of the week to save yourself spending money on feeding the lunch box but not the child.
11. Promote add-on crests. For years parents have identified school uniforms as an issue, and the reliance on jumpers that have embroidered crests and are only sold in specific shops is frustrating. An alternative – and cheaper – approach would see all schools with uniforms and crests making them available via a patch that could be sewn or ironed on to a jumper or coat or tracksuit. The look would be exactly the same, yet the cost to parents would fall dramatically. A jumper with a bespoke crest can cost as much as €50. A generic one can be bought for less than a tenner.
12. Buy for durability. If you are buying uniforms make sure to buy them slihtly bigger than they need to be and remember that the very cheapest options on offer sometimes do not last as long as you might want them to last.
13. Look out for promotions. Keep your eyes peeled for promotions such as three-for-two offers and, if you can afford it now, consider buying a couple of sizes up and then setting them aside for next year. It is also worth keeping an eye on the racks in October as shops will be looking to get rid of the stock they didn’t sell when demand was at its highest.
14. Avoids false economies. While the temptation to buy the cheapest schoolbag or lunch box or water bottle is entirely understandable – and in many cases unavoidable – it can be a false economy. A bag that costs €20 but falls apart by Christmas and needs to be replaced is terrible value when compared with one that costs a tenner more but lasts the full year.
15. Put a little bit aside each week. Back-to-school time is as predictable as it is dear. If you were in a position to put a tenner in a jar each week between now and this time next year you would have the back broken on the costs for the 26/27 school year without it causing that much financial heartache.
16. Remember that voluntary is not mandatory. Speaking of financial heartache, another one for many parents is the so-called voluntary contribution, which rarely feels voluntary. We do have sympathy for some schools on this score as a chronic lack of funding from the State means that many have no choice but to chase parents for money just to heat and light their schools and cover the cost of repairs during the year. But it should not be like this. If you can’t afford it you can’t afford it and that should be the end of the matter. There is no shame attached to that and any school that questions parents in this regard needs to take a long hard look at themselves.
17. Ask around. Most parents will be familiar with class WhatsApp groups. They can be very useful in sourcing stuff second-hand. Most parents love getting rid of stuff their children have outgrown so don’t feel any shame in asking if anyone on your WhatsApp group has any uniforms or extracurricular stuff their child has outgrown up for grabs.
18. Use a library. About 20 per cent of Irish adults are members of their local library and many of those who are not members have children who are also not members. They are missing out. They can be a great – and free – resource for school-going children. There are about 400 around the country so make it your business to find one close to you and join up. You’ll be glad you did. There aren’t even fines any more.
19. Remember refurbs. When it comes to buying electronics for kids, look to by them refurbished rather than new. A refurbed iPad bought directly from the Apple store can save you hundreds of euro and Apple promise that all such models come with a new battery, and new outer shell, are backed by a one-year warranty, have free delivery and returns and are repackaged in a brand-new box with all accessories and cables. There is also the likes of refurbed.ie, which sells second-hand electronics – including phones – for a lot less than they cost new. While you can also buy them on online classified sites for cheap, you are taking a risk and have little by way of a comeback should things go wrong. When it comes to phones, look at SIM-only plans. They can offer really good value, with some packages costing less than €15 a month.
20. Streamline streaming services. We started this list by suggesting parents carry out an audit of the kit their kids might need going back to school. It is also worth carrying out an audit of streaming services. You might well have signed up to a couple to keep your young folk entertained during the grey days of summer but, if they are not be watched frequently during the winter, make sure to axe them now.
