To be angry with holiday camp?!?!

What do you think happens in “Central London”? She’s as safe there as anywhere else.

How would Op have known there was only one child ? It’s entirely normal for some children not to go on a trip and stay at the holiday camp with staff. DD went to one during school holidays frequently but never wanted to go on any of the trips, she and other kids who weren’t going. Entirely normal.

Apart from anything else, it is in the company’s interest that the staff be well trained and vigilant about the children on the trip to London. They’ll want to avoid anything that might leave them open to litigation or unhappy parents that might adversely affect their business by word of mouth. How old is your daughter? Four? Nine? I understand your anxiety, but agree that miscommunication and assumptions on both sides contributed.

If you are not happy with teenagers (and I don’t believe they are all teenagers) taking your child to central London then I am amazed you are happy for them to look after her at all.

I knew the trip was happening but stupidly assumed she "would" be be going as I had only booked a morning session.

Took me a moment to work out what the issue was here - presumably you meant "wouldn't"?

My dc did camps, if you did half days but there was a trip you had to do the trip, nobody stayed on site

The booking system is shonky AF if it allows you to book a half day on days where half days are not available. It would really stressed me if I'd turned up to collect my child, only to discover they were miles away on a trip I hadn't anticipated.

YANBU

I don’t really get what you want from this forum. Yes YABU to be angry. Maybe the camp didn’t make it clear she was going, but you didn’t ask either. I don’t see why that’s their responsibility.

Every one we sent our kids to in the original papers it covers this by say about trips and by completing the form you give permission
granted it’s not glaring obvious
and tbh I only know be we panicked we’d missed a permission slip for a trip and then this is when it was pointed out

I think the problem is were that used to the way schools do things we assume this is the same

They shpuld have clarified there were no 1pm pick ups today in advance.
I would have thought it was obvious as they are on a day trip sue to the time it takes to get somewhere and organised and same for rounding every one up and travelling back.

Why were they offering afternoon sessions on that day? Imagine paying for pm childcare so you can go to work, turning up at 1 to find a locked building 😵‍💫.

And regardless of the fact it went okay, they still took your daughter off for a day trip without permission so they should expect feedback about that.

People love to be pernickety on here OP. I totally get where you're coming from. You expected: All-day kids going to London. Half-day kids have someone looking after them till 1pm at the usual place. That's what I would assume too.

@ldnmusic87 it’s not the OP who should have done the checking…

Absolutely not! OP booked half day and then found her kid had been taken to London without her consent.

why on earth would be pay?

I expect she thought that there were several kids on the short day!

im surprised that they took - especially as OP hadn’t paid. I’d have thought that would have been a prompt to the organisers.

You should have checked it properly, why would they have staff stay behind with one child?!

Yeah OP, fancy getting cross when you turn up collect your 8-year-old at a school club only to find the organisers have buggered off miles away with her without your permission and won’t be back for hours even though you may have had an important appointment or a plane to catch or something, it’s not like it’s a massive safeguarding issue or anything.

It sounds like poor admin on their behalf.

It seems that Fridays are trip days, but if you still have the option to book (and pay for) just morning or afternoon slots on Fridays then it's reasonable enough to assume that your child wouldn't be included on the trip.

It could be very inconvenient for a working parent to arrive at 1.00 to drop a child off for an afternoon session they had booked and paid for, only to find the place closed as everyone was on a trip.

I have learnt to question things rather than assuming, but I only learnt because of situations like these. So OP, the next time you find yourself in a similar situation, question it.

I can understand why you were confused. I wouldn’t necessarily be bothered by the teenager part unless they’re all teenagers. I’m assuming the leader was an adult. I’d be bothered by the whole admin aspect though which seems lacking. I’d also want to chat to my child about any worries … being sick on transport in our case. What did they go and do in central London ?

I understand the mistake, and why you would assume she would stay at school.

But you are completely over-reacting.
If she's safe enough when it's convenient for you, she's safe enough for a full day. "central London" is not Bagdad, what's the issue?

Would you really have preferred that she was left at school all morning, alone (with only one adult to supervise) when everyone else was on a tour?

You are not missing out on spending time with her for a short afternoon.

That’s really poor actually. They should have got permission from parents to take kids out(either as a one off or ongoing) it sounds poorly managed.

No that’s a fair assumption from your point of view. Up to you if you don’t feel your daughter is ready to travel to central London with teenagers.

Blimey OP, sounds like a colossal balls-up on their part taking your half/day booking when no half/day bookings were available that day and obviously not checking everyone on the trip had the relevant permission forms etc. I should think they bloody well aren’t charging you.