One of my stepsons is at a public school which include their voluntary contributions on their book list. My other stepson is at a private school (a specialised school for his needs) so his education already costs the world, lol. We stopped paying the voluntary fees a few years back when they were both at the same public school. The school was abysmal when it came to helping us with the issues surrounding DSS1. They were super quick to punish, and very slow to help. At the time we had just had a baby, were undergoing IVF treatments and expecting upcoming costs associated with another birth and baby, so finances were also pretty stretched. Even this year we have had major issues with the school in regards to DSS2. Seriously, when a child asks to speak to a counsellor, you damn well get on top of that straight away! A child must really want help if they have the guts to actually ask a teacher for it. He was having issues at school and at his mother's house and wanted to talk it over, and felt it wasn't right to talk to us about it, which is fair enough I think. The resources were available (psychologist on campus and available) and the teacher just didn't do anything about it until after DSS2 had asked three times and then DH gave her a rather stern phonecall... We've lost a lot of faith in the school and my desire to pay voluntary payments went with it. Looks like he's moving school next year...