Cost of trips at secondary school

OP, I think you should:

(a) ask the school for details of trips that the vast majority of people in the year group go on, and approximate cost. You might want to ask about any other trips further up the school that are pretty much compulsory for those doing a particular subject (eg geography field trips) and the approximate cost of those;

(b) re trips that are optional, consider what trips you are willing and able to pay for and then have an upfront conversation with your children to set ground rules in advance and manage expectations, whether that's, "I won't be able to pay for any non-compulsory trips", or "I'll pay up to £X per year" , or "I'll pay up to £X for a trip that I consider to be genuinely educational, but I won't pay for a trip that's essentially a holiday".

If setting a fixed budget, be clear as to whether the cost of equipment for the trip comes out of the budget, eg the cost of ski wear can add up .

When I was at secondary school 10 years ago there were 2 expensive trips offered in the 6 years I was there, one was a ski trip for around £1,000, I wasn't allowed to go on that one and very few actually did but in a school that size you didn't notice. The second was a trip to America , same price roughly, which my sister desperately wanted to go on so my parents paid some and my sister paid the rest from her part time job.

The only residential I went on was the battlefields trip that was £250 but was educational so my parents paid for that.

I will probably take this stance with mine once they are there as I have 3 children so would cost a fortune if they got to go on every single one they wanted

I organize trips in a school. At our school only a very small percentage of children go on most residential or day trips - except those that form part of an 'activity week' or those that are compulsory for the subject, eg Geography. We take into consideration who has been on previous trips when offering places. And everyone is invited to write to a named person should they be in financial difficulty - there are always some children on each trip who have received support.

At DD's school there are a variety of trips at a variety of prices.

Some children do none.
A few do any trip they can get their hands on.
Other children do one or 2 trips.

No one is 'left out' because for any one trip the majority don't go on it.

Agree with BertPuttocks our school residential trips only ever seem to have around 40 places, when there are over 200 children per year! So most don't go
If you like the school, I certainly wouldn't let it be a deal-breaker for you.

Local day trips - most kids will go, and there will be a fund for those struggling with the cost. The trips abroad will only be attended by maybe half the year group, with again some funding for those that struggle (eg pupil premium funding may support those on FSM to go).

but certainly there is no expectation that the entire year group will go abraod like there is at primary. For one thing no airline or hotel provider would probaby be able to accommodate 200 kids plus 20 staff!

Plus once they get to year 10 or 11 any trips will be for those doing that subject at GCSE.

IME the essential trips at DD's school are heavily subsidised and the "fun" trips are not. This year she is going to Germany for £420 but it is not an essential trip.

If it's anything like the school my children go to, boy you spoke with is right. There are lots of expensive trips and those who can afford it go on them. Some kids go skiing, watersporting etc, all costing upwards of £600. Watersports is 7 days for £900. Cheaper trips are around the £400 mark. Ds2 is going to London for 4 days in the summer for £450, which has been split out over several months but we're still behind with payments. About 50% of kids do these trips and it's the same ones every time.

Don't get me started on Activities Week in July. £15 just to be in school, to "cover costs" of cheap activities run by normal teaching staff. Plus extra for any trips out, eg £20 for Drayton Manor etc. Kids don't have to go on the day trips but they have a shit time if they're left in school when the rest of the year are rollercoastering (or sodding waterskiing in the Ardeche). Attendance during Activities Week is compulsory, as is the £15 payment, which you are hounded mercilessly for. Think emails, letters, phone calls home.

Help is available only to those on Free School Meals as it comes from Pupil Premium money as enrichment. Low income/working tax credits etc get no help at all. PP children go for free. Very unfair, I feel, and it actually disadvantages children from low income backrounds (like my children).

Brace yourself for an expensive ride!

Our school are doing a 2 centre trip to China for £3,500

I think that's quite expensive for a 14 yr old.

My DS' school has similar trips but only a tiny minority of the students actually go on them.

A recent skiing trip was offered to three different year groups (so several hundred students). I think about twenty students actually went, and that was after repeatedly extending the deadline to apply.

The trips that are actually related to school work tend to be much cheaper so that as many people as possible can go. Those tend to be just day-trips.

Other big trips (eg exchange trips) are organised so that the students who go on them help to raise a certain percentage of the funds themselves.

My DS hasn't gone on any of the big trips and it's made absolutely no difference to how he gets on at school.

I would check this out with the school itself - both in terms of how many there are, what year/s they are in, and how 'educational/part of the school learning experience they are. I'm sure there will also be support for those on low incomes - at least for those that are educational.

Ime ski trips are likely to be un-educational/go if you fancy it type. So very easy not to go if money is tight. Snorkelling sounds similar. Iceland sounds to me more likely to be a 6th form/geog A level type.

So you may well find that actually there are fewer/many of them are only open to some anyway.