School trips costing £1,000 (state school)

It is about choices. We make the choices, not the school system.

At our schools the fund-raising for trips starts in the 6th form. E.g. a month in Madagascar is going to cost £3000. Students are expected to raise that money over 2 years.

At my old school I went on the ski trips and they were about 500-600 each. I was very grateful to my parents as it wasn't easy for them to get that kind of cash for a weeks trip. In Upper sixth the school tried to organise not only the annual ski trip, but also a trip to Italy AND a trip to New York. The New York trip had very little uptake (it was going to be about £1200) so it got cancelled. I was told to pick between Italy and Skiing and picked skiing. I figured I could see more of Italy myself for less money once I left school. On top of that, in between lower sixth and upper sixth I had two course trips - 1 to Paris for art and 1 to France for Georgraphy!

The school neither supported or suggested fundraising for any of these trips which seems crazy! It was a state school and the majority of peoples parents could not afford the trips so not many people scrimped and saved for them and many just didn't go. By contrast, I have friends who have attended private schools that organise trips to Kenya, Thailand, Malawi and they are all expected to do some kind of fundraising, despite the fact their parents are likely to be in a better position to pay.

This isn't about choices.

It's about the role of education in our children's lives and whether their schools should be encouraging division.

I'm actually very selective about school trips, PG. We all make choices and prioritise. It's a healthy lesson for children to see this too.

AMS - do your kids go to private school by any chance? If so how does your meagre teacher's salary stretch?

choices, pp

hmmm, lets see,
my mother has a PhD.
dh has a masters.
guess who earns more?

and, in order to earn more, dh had to set up his own business. the result is that whilsthe gets paid more, he can also lose his contract if he is sick for more than five days.

o, and bil? doesnt even have gcse's, earns almost as much as dh.

Yes I can understand. How can a trip to Poland (last year) not help with second world war history.

Funny you should mention Shakespeare. We had a letter to say that next years study of 'much a do' was being played locally. Took DD to see it even though it cost a bit. Could have spent the money on something else but didnt.

lol ravenAK I've just had a flashback to being tken to see Macbeth by our English teacher at the NT. We were studying Pride and Prejudice at the same time and as we came out for the interval, a heavily puzzled girl said: "I can't really understand the language, and I'm not sure if Mr Darcy's come on yet? Is that woman Elizabeth? Brodie's notes didn't say anything about her wanting ot kill anyone, should I read the book?"

Bliss, sheer bliss.

puzzled at the puzzlement

AMS what a strange and philistine assumption you seem to be making, that education = money.

Why should being educated enable anyone to provide luxuries?

Well, it's a bit tricky. If I organised a half term trip to Stratford, say, then obviously part of the rationale for it would be that it'd do the students no harm at all to see Richard III or Romeo & Juliet, say, in performance by the RSC.

If I started shouting the odds that this was an integral part of their SATs/GCSE studies, I'd have to do it in term time & arrange subsidised places where needed.

It's a bit weaselly, I agree.

I was explaining that's how it was marketed. DD didnt come back fluent .

Magdelanian, "it will help with German language" is a very vague statement!

DD2 did the German exchange trip; DD1 didn't. DD1 got a better GCSE grade. They do a lot more German in class than on a 5-day trip!

Ah well, that's for you to deal with, PG.

You make your bed, you lie in it. If you are so successful educationally, why can't you provide luxuries for your children? Those of us who voluntarily enter low paying jobs pretty much know what we are getting into. I have little sympathy, I'm afraid.

No, AMerry, not at all jealous, but I do remain angry at you and your earlier post.

Pukka. I think that applies in term time but not outside. For instance how can a trip to Germany for £300 plus "which will help with German Language" not apply to the syllabus.

'they can send their kids on any trip they want, organised by anyone they like'

& what if they like to send their children on trips organised by adults they know & trust, in the company of their friends?

Believe me, the Head & the Board of Governors don't sit down & say 'Right - let's get a £1k skiing trip on this year's slate'. If my two colleagues took their bat home tomorrow - decided actually, sod it, they're going to spend their next Easter break watching daytime telly - it'd be curtains for the ski trip.

They are able to organise this sort of trip because they have the relevant child protection clearance, are trusted by parents & are able to get group holidays at what is actually a discounted rate.

Yes, there are private companies offering activity holidays to unaccompanied minors. But to a great many young people - & their parents - going with people they already know from school is a much more attractive proposition.

My older kids had £300 from us towards one trip each, and they were fine with that. DS2 had the same for his Italy trip. (The 2 exchange trips are different, because he is actually good at and keen on languages, but he is still contributing.)

Apart from field trips (for eg Geog and Biol) afaik there are no sec school trips which are required; and for those which are there is a fund to help those who really can't afford it, isn't there?

As well as being angry, PG, are you jealous of families who have somehow managed to have enough disposable income so that they can divert some of it towards school trips?

I'm not Xenia...

I would imagine that nurses and social workers have long ago come to terms with what they can and cannot afford. Heck, I'm a teacher, I am in the same boat. We have all made the same choice when we entered caring professions over others. We have the courage of our convictions.

I can honestly say that my kids don't think they are entitled to every trip. I think that is healthy too.

If the trip is being marketed as part of a curriculum, and the school has an equal opportunities policy, then the money has to be a voluntary contribution. it cannot legally be enforced as a' pay up, or you cant go' scenario.
at least that was the situation when i organised school trips in 99 and 2000. dont see why it would have changed.

"You don't have to penalise families who have worked hard to achieve what they have"

I BEG your pardon? Are you insinuating that because I haven't got £1k to spend on one child that dh and I do not work hard, and did not make the most of our education?

I am incandescent with rage. Not on, AMerry. For your information I have 2 degrees, as does DH. Education is incredibly important to us, and from that we have both gone on to good jobs, with good incomes. However, we do not have that amount of disposable income.

So nurses and charity workers have squandered their education by not getting highly paid jobs?

Are you Xenia AMeryScot?