Residential trip COST!!!

I don't really see why families with twins should be treated differently from families with children in adjacent years. Trips are an optional fact of school life. Isn't it 'just' a point of budgeting/planning ahead a bit more than other families? (I realise that may be simpler than it sounds, but over time the costs are the same.)

We just had a Paris trip for 545 plus spends and a passport. On the tail of that another geography trip was announced at over 700 to Italy...to the same year group.

I think in the scheme of things its not too bad a cost when weighed up on holiday costs but I do know for e,g, Paris will be youth hostel type bunk rooms so accom should be as cheap as chips

I have twins and we've been on several residentials. In year six we paid two lots of 400.

It was difficult to budget but their friends were going and we had to find the money.

I'm not sure, but do schools ever think about families of multiples? I'm not sure most people would, but imagine having to find double!

Haha to the idea that the staff get paid extra if trips are in holidays. No, they are giving up their time, often paying to put their own kids in childcare, but then some parents like to moan and say the prices give them a free holiday - yes, like being responsible for X children 24/7 is exactly what most people consider a holiday.

However, clearly people are willing to do it and they do it because they think it's valuable for the children. They will do the hours and hours of paperwork (still needed when an external provider is involved) and put up with the moaning from parents or the senior management about the cover it creates because it feels worth it. Many however are not willing to run things without an external provider now because the personal risk and responsibility especially that involved with activities is just too great. And already lots of schools are cutting down on trips because staff don't want to run them because of the increasing workload associated with them in terms of risk assessments, individualised risk assessments for children with medical or Sen needs and the risk of being blamed for anything which might happen whilst away, plus the difficulties in filling places, people dropping out, people complaining etc etc. With increasing workloads due to funding cuts and low morale, it won't be surprising when the no.s willing to put in the extra hours fall even further......and then the complaints won't be about the cost of trips, but the lack of them and 'remember the good old days when all schools ran a residential...'

gramaticus Staff are not paid for trips in holidays, they do it purely out of goodwill. And considering it a 'free holiday'? I would think wrangling a group of teenagers abroad or at an activity holiday would he high stress and exhausting and nothing like a holiday!

The school residential business is a form of coercion to make parents pay for something that is an integral part of state education. That’s bad enough, but what is far worse is that the private sector providers of such activities are exceedingly profitable. I disagree entirely with the politics of this model and will not be coerced into lining the pockets of private equity investors.

Hate PGL, paid about £450 for my boy to go after sats with his school. He was very poorly the day they left so i didnt let him go. Long and short of it still waiting for a refund, cant apply directly has to go through his disinterested teacher. He's now left that school and I am still waiting. Theft it is. Only £50 was non refundable

If it is over the holidays then obviously staff are paid for the extra time, and if it's a desirable destination then some may see it as a free holiday (not sure PGL would ring anybody's bells on that score though)

Hahahahaha no they aren’t and no they don’t! (Obviously)

Hmm, all residential trips are in holiday time or over a long weekend at our secondary. It was different at primary when the residential trip was seen as a rite of passage.

If it is over the holidays then obviously staff are paid for the extra time, and if it's a desirable destination then some may see it as a free holiday (not sure PGL would ring anybody's bells on that score though)

If it's in school time then I would question whether it is an "optional" trip and suggest maybe the school should be covering the cost, at least for pupil-premium students. I'd be annoyed if my kid was left behind because I couldn't afford it.

The activity centre business is, tbh, a scandal.

@Cauliflowersqueeze have you looked at bushcraft-style trips as an alternative? Camping is generally cheaper than staying in a hostel.

Regarding PGL, my DCs did it in year 6 and it cost similar, but there's a local charity in my area which routinely funds year 6 school journeys for families in hardship so very few don't go.

At secondary, I would expect a trip like PGL to take place in school holidays rather than term time, and that makes it easier for parents to regard it as optional - setting aside financial issues, some will have alternative plans anyway, and some kids simply won't want to go.

Don’t underestimate just how unchallenging/boring a Kingswood style residential week can be!

Scrub - nope. At our DC’s school the revised Y5 trip is a huge success and is extremely popular with pupils, hence there is now 100% take up as of course siblings rave about it to their younger siblings etc. The old Kingswood trip was very unpopular and younger siblings of children who had been on it never wanted to go.

ChocolateWombat: cheaply through Scouts because of the volunteers who run the trips AND run fundraising activities!

Fine, User, but this thread is about affordable trips for families that can’t easily afford activities for their kids.

I bet even these affluent kids would prefer bonding and peer team building over go-karting and 3G swing the nighttime mud-based assault course than traipsing around ‘cultural tourism’.

I think parents have every right to have an opinion on the value of a school trip, and that it is very wrong for parents to feel pressured into sending their child on an expensive week’s residential when parents have good reason to believe that their child will be merely enduring a experience of no benefit.

It's very difficult isn't it, when the more affluent families with children who've already had lots of experiences say 'we won't be sending our kids because they've done those activities before' - they might add that they did them more cheaply or free with another organisation or with the family. And then there will be families who say 'we wont be sending our children because it's too expensive/we don't think we should have to pay for school for school stuff' - so basically, lots of families are not supportive for various reasons.

In tHe end, each family obviously has to weigh up what to spend their money on, what to opt into and what to opt out of and make decisions based on overall finances, personal values and bigger family spending picture. I think it's a shame if children miss out on what might be the only residential trip if Primary school at the end of Yr6 - very much about time away with the year group as much as the activities themselves, although again, those adventurous activity centres which many schools use do provide lots of opportunities for personal growth, even to children who've done them before.

Secondary is often a bit different. Most decent sized schools offer a pretty wide range of residentials and the idea isn't that people go on all of them. Most will be in holidays and those v expensive ones are usually only for a group of up to 50 - people who don't go are certainly not going to be in the minority. What is a bit more tricky is trips related to the curriculum or during a school 'activities week' so during the school day. Curriculum trips need to be offered to all regardless of ability to pay, but if many cant or won't pay, these tend to be cut or reduced as schools simply can't subsidise many places or expect other parents to do so. However, if the trip is offered, all children should be able to go.

With activities weeks trips, I've seen good models where several day out/short residentials/school based activities were offered and families chose a selection for their child, based on their preferences and ability/willingness to pay - free things were always available, often in school. Most children spend some time in school and some outside and nothing is for the whole year, so there is less of a sense of exclusion. What is more difficult is the whole year residential in activities week which has to be paid for or a few get left behind. This model seems to be the worse if all - no funds to cover those who can't pay, plus no requirement to provide trip for free if it's not curiculum based, plus most people going and only a handful being obviously left behind with inferior activities.....fortunately this doesn't seem to happen much and schools work hard to avoid the scenario.

I'd say, that if school is running one trip which is for everyone and plenty of notice is given, then even if you've done the activity before it's worth going and deciding to value the 'being part of it with everyone' aspect. If it's an optional trip amongst many or one where only a few ever go, then either go or do t go - it won't matter really. It's distinguishing between the 2 types which is important I think and a shame with the first type when parents choose not to send their kids.

In our case, 0% of children in the school had never left their postcode. Most were taking 5+ family holidays per year and many had gone to summer camp without their parents. Cultural activities were far more relevant and held the children’s interest way more than Kingswood. The Kingswood trip had poor takeup among families, not for financial reasons but for quality reasons.

User: interesting! When you look at which parents get their wishes addressed (again).

ScrubtheDecks - residential activity weeks as part of the curriculum largely have in mind the sorts of children who don’t “get out of their own post code”. Obviously such residential activity weeks aren’t going to do any harm to those children whose families are able to offer their children a wide range of opportunities, but, certainly in our school, parents really questioned the benefit of a “centre based” school trip and, ultimately, the nature of the Y5 week’s school trip was changed to one focused on heritage and cultural tourism.

My son has just brought a letter home for a trip to China in Year 10. It's £4,500!

Ds's trip to Canada next year is £1900, I wish I was still laying PGL prices! However both my boys loved PGL when they want.

School trips are not comparable to family trips. Children want to go with their friends. It’s the culmination of their school career if it’s Y6 primary. It’s looked forward too by many and it’s very much an exercise in gaining confidence and bonding. They help their friends. They work cooperatively as a group. They solve problems and push themselves. It really isn’t the same with Mum and Dad! These children might be away from home for the first time without a parent. So much is learned that helps with academics and long may they continue.

I have always thanked teachers who organised trips for DDs. I know it takes a lot of effort but it was appreciated. Most teachers know what the children get from it and parental whinging is such a shame.

Most activity centres (I wont say all) will have all the paperwork at hand to send out to school - risk assessments etc and will be fully insured and will also have documentation at hand to send out to parents....they deal with schools children day in day out...I;ve often had the opposite issues is that we are a group of families and they have expected us to submit paperwork in a school format.

Here is another company who have two centres we have used which are much larger - can accommodate a larger group - both are geared to deal with schools also a lot of the larger YH's offer activity trips for schools with bursary options for those children/parents that do not have that large amount of disposable income (Castleton YH comes to mind again in the Peak District) . Both are in Wales but the facilities at Llangrannog are amazing with dry ski slope and indoor pool plus both located on the coast. My group paid £205 and £185 adult/child for 5 nights during summer holidays ...I know they get very busy with the Welsh schools.www.urdd.cymru/en/residential-centres/llangrannog/

Also look at Acorn Adventure - again they are geared to cope with schools and can make the process easier.

My DD is at an Indie school where some school trips are £££££'s but just to compare - they run a trip to Barcelona for 3 nights for £350 including transport.

I do take into account its not easy to organise a trip for over 100 DC's and therefore if you have a company that seems to handle it on your behalf it makes life easier - although I found Kingswood demands time consuming (but we were families)...the meals probably cost them £5 -£7 in total for the day they are fairly basic.