state school ski-ing trip too expensive?

DSs private school skiing trip in December, to Europe, is under £1000. £1500 seems OTT.

Tignes is top notch. One of the biggest ski areas in the world.

And they get to improve their French too - bonus !

Normandy beaches, tick
European City for art/language trip, tick
UK based outward bound type trip, tick

Massively expensive US ski trip, no way and completely unnecessary.

OP
they do another trip in the 6th form apparently.
The letter said that this might well be the last trip tot he USA despite the ski instruction etc being so much better there.
The comparison price proposed was to Tignes which isnt exactly cheap either - hey ho

Mine went to Europe about 5 years ago and it was around £650. I can understand this price for America but not for Europe, it's seems far too much.

PS. School have funds for kids who's parents are in receipt of free school meals so they don't miss out. I don't think it applies if any income is earned though.

My DS didn't even bring me the form home as he wasn't bothered about going on the ski trip.

Instead he is spending four days looking at the Normandy beaches etc. Much cheaper!! And less kit to buy!!

I couldn't give a monkeys if my dds never go skiing.

It's not something we are going to carry on with anyway.

I never went, they are so active anyway with ponies and sports etc it seems unnecessary.

The mountains are pretty but there are always cable cars and nice walks!

My kids school skiing trip is on a coach to Europe and is about £600 all in, it is in the easter holidays not in term time.

Both my DS ski with school, it is the one thing DS1 really excels at and has been great for his confidence. He isnt very sporty but skis like an angel and wants to be a ski instructor when he is old enough. The sports staff and the other kids where when they saw him ski

aha
i think it is the same school as mine. I wrote and complained - utah?

Apparently it's the insurance which increases the cost. DD is going to Austria in Feb and that's £900. £1500 seems quite steep, but it's further, I suppose.

Agree with IShall - its an optional trip and you may find its only aimed at year 9 or year 11s each year.

My DCs never ask to do this. We do it as a family and tbh as a family of 5 spend about 5K tops so my kids realise that it is overpriced.

I think its a good idea for schools to offer though, sometimes parents are just not interested in or have injuries which prevent them from skiing.

God so many trips. Don't they ever do any work?? Dd1's sports matches take her out of school enough, I don't want her to spend 10 days out of school skiing. Think I'll offer her £500 to stay at home!

Also as I recall, the whole school years 8 and upwards are invited and there are rarely more than 100 places and you have to go and sign up usually with the pe teacher so its not as if everyone goes or that its public knowledge who isnt and why.

That is expensive! I had a SIOB when DD's trip to Switzerland came out as £1090.

But, it's not compulsory, and in fact there is another trip which takes precedence over it (ie, if you can only afford one, you have to go on the other, cheaper, one).

Portofino, I love Belgium, and now I have another reason for wishing we had moved there when the DC were younger!

I wouldn't have thought skiing would be marketed as the "main" school trip though, just as an optional one? DDs school offers skiing, but also has a Food Tech/Art trip to Italy, French exchange, numerous day/2 day subject trips, a 5 day camp in Y8, DofE expeditions. There's also a paid-for-by-fundraising True Adventure thing.

The only one the school push (other than required-by-coursework ones) is the Y8 camp; none are considered a "main" school trip.

Sheesh! That is horrific! My dd will go in year 6 as it is part of the Belgian national curriculum. It costs about 650 euros for 2 weeks in Switzerland! And they offer you a savings account in Y1....

I don't understand why schools, even state schools, insist on skiing as the main school trip.

Why not horseriding? Or mountain biking? Or hiking?

Why skiing? It is always prohibitively expensive and also it is one of THE most expensive sports to carry on with.

It seems such a random trip to go on.

The thing is, I dont see a way they can offer the trip any cheaper. They could NOT offer the trip at all but, having been on one, they are incredibly worthwhile.

It is too expensive for a school trip. Fair enough, some parents will be able to pay it - either easily or may have to save up a bit. But there will be other families who just cannot pay that. Those children are then missing out.

DSS went on a ski trip earlier this year - and that cost just under £1000 - Austria, on a coach. That made me shudder a little - but he enjoyed it - and I 'think' he is aware that it won't be happening every year. We just couldn't/wouldn't pay it for all three of them to ski each winter, and then all the other trips within the year.

Thats standard price. We went to Austrua when I was younger and relatively speaking it cost the same. At least in the US its cheaper for stuff once you are there.
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Its trips like this which is why ive started a savings account for dd from birth

It's about the same price as the skiing trips at our state school, also to the USA. DD didn't go. Way too expensive, especially as she is going on what I feel is an overpriced history trip in the autumn. I offered to take her over to Belgium for about a quarter of the price but she declined. Can't think why.

America is always a bit pricey to go to. But sounds fair enough I guess as it is often the ski hire, lift passes etc that put price up. However we went to Finland skiiing guaranteed snow all 6 of us £3000, so I guess the school should do a bit of research. Maybe do some fundraising as a group, my dc go to a state but it is a wealthy state and kids love to do random fundraising together for trips especially one so special. How long have you got to pay, with our pricey trip we were given a years notice.

I agree it's dear, but skiing trips are, wherever they go. We couldn't afford it for two DC. But I don't think that means they shouldn't be on offer. By secondary, children know that they can't do everything. Do you think schools should cut out trips completely just so that they don't upset poorer children?

Most expensive trips are advertised with plenty of notice, and I think it's fair enough to have a wide range. FWIW, our school is doing a ten-day trip to the USA this month. I think it was about £2k, but there have been plenty of smaller ones too.

And as for paying for the teachers... Let's face it - would you spend your own money to have the responsibility of a group of boisterous teens 24/7 for a week?!