Working Bee - Yay or Nay?

[Butterfly Dawn]

think that's great. $50 back/ discount and a choice of days. hope there is a good turn out

Sent from my Galaxy with the barefoot princess covering me in kisses, so please forgive the mistakes

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

The other thing they did was at the start of the year sent out a newsletter with a list of dates (someting like 8) that we had the Bunnings Sausage Sizzle - it was to be shared between the 3yr old class & 4yr old class BUT if onyl 3yr old parents attended then 3yr old class got the profits andif it was half half then it was split.
These are both Saturday & Sunday offerings and you couold pick your time slot, mine is next month - not sure if i'm sending DP (if he's not working) or if i'm getting MIL & FIL to come from Flemington to watch the girls so i can drive 30min away to do the BBQ

It's interesting to see the limits, thanks everyone.. like iaid no-one is right or wrong, i just wondered how many people volunteer.

Next yeear both of my girls will be there so i figure what i do now is asistiin both of them next year, they rrealso tearing down a big fence b/w the 2 groups backkyards this holidays and making it 1 big play area, which is great,even though i did the 4yr olds yard this w/end it's really goingg to benefit Miss A in 2weeks time anyway

[Butterfly Dawn]

Opps- didnt read the thread properly.
I think its a good idea if you can be told how the working bee will help- no funding so need help or fee increase etc. Our fees keep going up and while its nice to see new things and paint jobs, if given the option I would rather we helped then pay for contractors.
DH barely gets a day off every week and I know he would rather pay extra so he didnt have to help. However I also think its good for kids to do and good for sense of community.

[Teeki]

I'd love to volunteer at DD's daycare. So far they haven't had a working bee, but if they did DH couldn't go during the week at all, and I could only go Friday afternoons. We could also do Saturday afternoon or Sunday.

Work just makes everything difficult, I'd love to be much more involved in that area of DD's life, but as it is I don't even pick her up at the end of the day, DH gets her earlier. I also felt guilty when not a single person I know would buy a tub of cookie dough for her fundraiser.

But yeah, I'd do a working bee if I could. Actually, I get one day a year paid volunteer leave which I would definitely use to help DD's daycare

[Mak]

ZF I was quite shocked at the participation rates when we first started kinder with DD1. We struggled to get people to do fruit duty, working bees and fundraisers. I have now realised that that is how it is. Whilst I understand that family time (for the working bees etc) and time to get stuff done is important I also am a little surprised at the high level of service and presentation that is also expected. The community run kinders are chronically underfunded (and the teachers are not paid anywhere near enough IMO) and they really rely on the help from families to deliver a safe learning environment for our kids. I also believe the kids learn and benefit from the involvement of their families. We've done quite a lot with kinder (and now school) and have definitely gained much from the experience. We've made friends we possibly wouldn't have, have had a great rapport with the teachers which has helped enormously at several points and our kids have loved the experience.
School seems to be similiar in terms of people being classroom helpers etc but there is much less commitment for out of hours help.
In short - yes we go and try to focus on the reasons why we are rather than why the other 16 don't! Our kinder has increased the non attendence donation to $100.

PS I think there are situations that make it hard to help out, work, injuries etc but generally there is a way to contribute elsewhere.

[Heaven]

Wow, that is pretty poor, I agree.

I don't have any kids in Kindy yet. The one DD is going to next year though is pretty clear that parents are expected to have big involvement in helping at Kindy. I think it's great! And we will definitely be helping out. I also think it's a great lesson for the kids in community and working together.

[Phteven]

I'd help at a working bee if there was no conflict with any prior engagement at our current school. I wouldn't have done so for our childcare center because it was a private enterprise and I don't really see why I should donate y time to a business.

[Trillian]

I used to, but now I don't. When my older 3 went through preschool I was heavily involved in the parent committee and would spend several days a week there doing various things. I was involved in that for 5 years. Then I had a year off before DS2 started and I was often asked if I would be doing it again, but no, I've done my 'time' helping out and now it's time for others to step up and help out. Some might think that is the wrong attitude to have, but I have moved on and am now doing a lot of volunteering at the school the kids go to, which I find gets less helpers than the preschool.

[RhiChiChi]

I think it is each to their own - some families can help, others can't because of whatever reason...
I know the 3 yo side get heaps more volunteers than the 4 yo side & that is b/c the 4 yo side is government funded. Interesting about the fee for non attendance at a working bee - I am going to bring that up at committee for 3 yo side and I think that would help then out with their funding greatly. Having said that though, it isn't cheap to send the kids to 3 yo kinder b/c ours employ all fully qualified kindergarten teachers, so makes it difficult when fees are already exxy. Next year I won't be helping at kindergarten b/c I will have no kids attending and DD starts school so I will be contributing to the school. I know of one couple who still volunteer at our kindergarten and they have no kids attending, which I think is really wonderful of them to do.

[Astrid]

No - got burnt after I did not cut the fruit quite right with fruit duty one day. So now I volunteer with things that I know I can do and am happy to do. I am not interested in committees etc, I just don't enjoy them and therefore end up not doing it well.
We also often have scheduling conflicts.

Going to be honest, this thread does not make me want to help out at working bees.

[Kazbah]

I attend the working bees, have for kinder and CC and will for school. I think that as my parents have a very strong ethic along this it helps - each time we go past *my* old childcare, Mum points out the trees that Dad planted! And about how they were a very small minority of parents to turn up ...

This year I'm also on the committee, although only for document writing with the new NQF. One thing that does interest me is that the $50 is considered as part of the fees ... not on top of it ... so the actual $50 for each family that doesn't turn up twice / year doesn't get spent on labour!! bit weird actually. Having said that, I enjoy the buzz of a good working bee, the comaderie after. And looking at a perfectly fluffed tan bark

Sadly when they put out a working bee request for the day before Open Day, my DH was the only person who turned up ... complete with 2 kids. Ah well. He got to know the assistants and teacher very well, which is worth more than anything. I truly believe that creating those links with the teachers / aides helps with any behavioural issues that may arise - gets over the awkwardness!

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

No - got burnt after I did not cut the fruit quite right with fruit duty one day. So now I volunteer with things that I know I can do and am happy to do. I am not interested in committees etc, I just don't enjoy them and therefore end up not doing it well.
We also often have scheduling conflicts.

Going to be honest, this thread does not make me want to help out at working bees.

You can cut fruit wrong? Hmmm how petty can some people be.
I bet your fruit was fantastic.

This thread wasn't to try and guilt people or make them want to help, we all have our reasons, I was just interested to see if it was only our kinder

Thank you everyone




Sent from my iPhone, more than likely while I should be doing something else!

[~Hestia~]

Got Moo's kinder enrolment yesterday...has a $110 parent contribution fee and states there is no compulsary fundraising on top of it, does that generally mean no working bees either? Don't mind if there is, just curious how it all works.

[RhiChiChi]

No - got burnt after I did not cut the fruit quite right with fruit duty one day. So now I volunteer with things that I know I can do and am happy to do. I am not interested in committees etc, I just don't enjoy them and therefore end up not doing it well.
We also often have scheduling conflicts.

Going to be honest, this thread does not make me want to help out at working bees.

Well, I wouldn't want to volunteer after being told off for cutting up fruit wrong either! Far out, they should be grateful for the help not whinging....

[Boo Boo]

JMO - i think if you are sending your child to a government kinder or school, where the govt is subsidising parents need to step up and help out. if you dont want to help ,then pay top dollar and send your child to a tprivate school. State/govt schools rely heavily on parents and the community support. and yes i do help our at working bees even to the point of paying for a bsbysitter when DH was away so i could contribute.

[lilima]

But even private schools ask for volunteer help.

I don't go to working bees. I don't feel guilty for not going. I don't like being in social situations where I don't know anyone, and a shift working husband means we never know if we are available till quite close to the day.

I volunteer with canteen once a term, and I am happy with that.

[Astrid]

But even private schools ask for volunteer help.
.

True, plus the ones down my way also run massive fund raisers. They have the money to put on massive fairs, which in turn raise plenty of money.

Also the Govt subsidises Private school. So the argument of "public = you must help out" is massively flawed.