School trips

It would make more sense for the schools to investigate costs, available grants / support etc for upcoming events as part of the planning - anticipating issues and ensure fairness regardless of a family's 'means'.

DS's school has a policy of only asking for £30 in trip money across the year excluding y6 residential). He has a £5 trip next week, an £18 big trip just before Easter and a £7 trip in the summer term. The date and cost of all of these were given out the first week in September.

That would have been a no from me!!

No I don’t think the amount is ridiculous, it includes literally everything, 5 hours ski school every day, lift passes, air fare, transfers, food etc. it’s the fact they want £150 within 2 weeks, which some people will struggle with this close to Christmas. Then £175 every month until July, I know a lot will not be able to afford it which is a shame.

My son came home with a skiing letter when he was in secondary, always an expensive trip. Due to the fact he had never showed any interest in skiing, I said no 😂

That's crazy to ask for £34 to be paid at such short notice.
But it seems really expensive for a day trip?
What's the trip for is it a show or something that has suddenly dropped in price ans school have thought they'd be able to take a bus load of kids?

Decline, you could even pretend you did not read the note until after the deadline.

I know of quite a few schools that go on residential in Yr3, 4, 5 &6... I do wonder how parents afford it (and whether the increased demand drives up costs!)

I've got a double whammy this year... First residential trips for both DDs. But in Yr6 and Yr8 (elder DD didn't get a Yr6 one due to Covid... they camped at school). £800 between them. And DD1 chose the cheapest of the three trips on offer! The most expensive was over £2k!

Georgeandzippyzoo, I appreciate all that, but £10-20 might seem trivial and affordable to you, but when people such as nurses and teachers are having to rely on food and clothing banks to survive, for many it is by no means trivial and would buy a lot of food.
I couldn't justify asking a parent to cough up if I knew that some of the kids in my class hadn't got a change of underwear and socks - surprising how many haven't - or a waterproof warm coat, had inadequate heating at home or were going hungry. Priorities have to be made - if a school can't pay for the trip for those kids who's families can't afford to, then the question has to be asked - which is more important, a good educational trip or a family's basic survival
Parents make huge sacrifices - including their own meals - to make sure their kids have the right uniform and don't stand out from their peers by being seen to be too poor to join in activities, schools should be sympathetic to that (and many are, particularly in schools in poorer areas where this is the norm for a large proportion of their intake)

For those complaining about winter residentials, schools will have chosen them either for availability or lower cost or both. Of course every school wants a residential in early autumn or summer when the weather is better. Funnily enough, companies charge considerably more for trips at this time of year and they get booked up over a year in advance.

Unfortunately due to costs now if nit enough money is brought in then trips are often cancelled. Bus costs have gone up massively in the last 2yrs making many of our trips financially impossible. Our school do subside trips. Each class will be going on an Xmas trip which is capped at £10 -12 and school having to subsidise the rest.

@Quornflakegirl my Y7 is going on her OP in mid January 😳. They are supposed to be coasteering, raft building, etc etc. In bloody January. £670 I’ve handed over for that for just one DC.

It might be difficult for your child if they don't go on a class day trip which is part of the curriculum and will be the basis of the next few weeks work

If the trip is pat of the curriculum (like a geography field trip) and the school is a state school, then they are not allowed to charge parents.

If the school wants to take all pupils for something that will enhance learning, then they can ask for voluntary contributions in line with the law - it doesn't mean payment is optional, it means if you really can't afford it then you must not be harassed for it. They are also not allowed to exclude a child because the parents cannot/will not pay. So unless the school has a fund to make up a shortfall, or a body like the PTA stumps up, the trip may have to be cancelled.

If it's a non-essential add on like a ski trip, then it's fine to make it paying pupils only

Late communication is really shabby though - too few schools review their parent comms (at all, let alone from the point of view of the parent on the receiving end of it). One very good school near here did have a page on its website listing the major forthcoming trips, so even though costs unknown, you had an idea of what was in the offing.

But, OP, I bet they managed to ask the teachers who are accompanying the trip about their availability (esp if longer than typical day) with rather more notice than they are giving you to pay up. However, an undertaking to pay, even if the money comes in instalments, should suffice (unless there has been a very shoddy history of parents bilking)

We had to pay £160 today towards residential. I know it's optional but my kids want to to go (twins) so £320 before payday. Great.

School trips/residentials are optional, you can say no!

As a parent I totally understand but as I teacher I know that a lot of the timeframes for payment are dictated by travel companies who sometimes demand a deposit within a few days.

If it's a smaller amount schools may temporarily cover it, but if it's a huge amount, parents may be asked to pay at short notice. It puts me off organising trips as i know it looks like it's the school asking for money quickly.

School trips are so expensive because of all the insurances etc and the travel companies that have to be used are often dictated to by local authorities, so not as many options to shop around.

mindutopia it’s £500 per child and I have twins but even that is insane.

Wait, £1000 for a 4 night local residential?! Will they be served gold leaf in every meal?! 😳

Dd is going for 4 nights in France in June and it’s costing £250 plus £20 spending money.

Our school are the same with the short notice, then they cancel the trip as not enough people have paid

It might be difficult for your child if they don't go on a class day trip which is part of the curriculum and will be the basis of the next few weeks work - and you could get a letter asking you to pay, but as far as I remember no child could be excluded from a trip if it was part if the curriculum if they did not pay when i was teaching. Things might have changed now that schools are part of an academy chain but it would be worth finding out.
Whole class field trips for a week etc, which are an educationally valid experience, should come into the same category that no child should be excluded if the parents can't/won't pay and the school should have to foot the bill. Whether this happens or not I've no idea
Expensive ski trips and other types of holidays on offer are a voluntary thing - no child has to go on these, and in my experience, most didn't

I’ve been notified about a trip happening in early February for my year 11 DC and the deposit of £80 is due next week. I am not impressed and thought about complaining but I didn’t want to sound like a dick.

If it's a curriculum trip, the cost should be voluntary.
If it doesn't have limited places, send in the reply slip with a note saying that you are unable to pay immediately, but are happy to discuss a payment plan.

If there are limited places and they're giving them on the basis of who can stump up the money fastest, politely point out that this is advantaging the more well-off children, who may well be the ones least in need of the opportunity.

The other thing that's annoying is when several trips are offered in the course of the year, but you don't know what else there is going to be - particularly in secondary where often each department works independently. If schools were to list the expected trips (and ballpark costs) at the start of the year (even better, in July), you'd be better able to make decisions about which you are happy to pay for, and to plan ahead for the costs.

I guess it depends what kind of school you choose

2k for a five day trip to New York. Does look amazing. They wanted £500 in oct nov dec and jan!!

To be fair, that doesn't sound way off. Fifteen years ago I always used to budget £1000 for a week of skiing, staying in the absolute crappiest studio flat. That didn't include any meals.