How does your child’s secondary school handle paid for trips?

[Fookinwot]

DC1 goes to an academy secondary and brought home a letter detailing a trip to Europe for next year £500 cost, the letter details a payment installment plan over the next four months, trip must be paid for on the school online payment system.
I can’t afford £500 in one go so opt to pay the first installment using the online system.
DS came home today and told me that he’s been informed by the trip leader that I need to pay in full now to secure the place?! There are 36 spaces and the trip is being offered to the whole of YR9.
Feels like the low income families are being excluded here a bit, no way can I afford to fork out £500 like that and I expect it’s a similar case for lots of other families like us.
Is it a case of ‘oh well that’s just tough luck’ and I need to accept it, ask for a refund and disappointment poor DS or query this with the school, seems a bit unfair that only the better off kids get to access opportunities like this.

DD's school is in a v affluent area and every trip is paid in instalments. One trip had a deposit then the balance had to to be paid in full by x date. We used Parent pay to choose when to pay chunks in.

If it’s true, OP, then please take it further-the policy is unfair and discriminatory.. all school trips have to be agreed by the Governors, and if there is a letter about instalments, it sounds as if the “payment in full” thing was instigated after the governors agreement.

When the trip letter is posted online/emailed out it’s a first come first served policy,
You reply to say your DC would like a place and pay a deposit on the online system.
When your place is confirmed you have the option to pay in full, pay in set instalments or just pay off the balance by X date (a friend of mine prefers this as she gets paid weekly and like to chip away in small amounts)

It seems really strange they would say on the letter it can be paid in instalments but then demand in upfront.

That's very odd. DDs school was pay the deposit and the rest in instalments, they can't expect everyone to cough up the full amount.

And, although they say 'first come first served' it often isn't in reality. My DDs had a two week trip abroad in year 10 and there were only 30 places (200+ students in the year), at least 100 students applied. We were surprised to see the final 30 that were going - there were approx. 6 friendship groups 'picked randomly' …. it's obv a lot easier for the teachers if they pick groups of kids that get on well together. Not right or fair though!

At ours you pay the initial deposit with a cheque. If the trip is over subscribed (common) then names are 'picked from a hat'. Those children who miss out get the deposit back. After that you pay installments or all at once if you wish. At this stage if your child backs out there is no guarantee of money back. The is help for those on free school meals but I don't know how much.

I thought most pupils who were entitled to free school meals also qualified for pupil premium. The school has an allocated budget for each child on pupil premium which is usually used for trips or extra curricular activity but can also be used for equipment and uniform. I can't remember exactly how much it is per year but it's quite a lot.
Back to the point. It seems wildly unfair and possibly not legal to change the goalposts. Surely it's basically a contract which you agree to once you pay a deposit?

Installments in all 3 secondary schools I have dealt with (within the last 2 years) Also 2 of schools when approached have supported different instalment payment plan to what they originally suggested to suit our family.

Sounds pretty shitty to me. My dd went on a school trip to Germany and we could pay in instalments as long as we paid the initial £50 deposit to secure her place.

Gooseygoosey12345
Schools get given additional money for the cohort who are eligible for pupil premium funding. It's not a pot per child (which is what's regularly claimed on MN).

The school has to demonstrate how they use pupil premium funds to improve outcomes for that cohort. That might include (for example) subsidising a GCSE geography field trip, buying equipment for students in art/DT, private music lessons for someone studying music or instrument hire, overstaffing core departments so those key PP students get smaller classes, literacy/numeracy intervention, fund access to university link schemes, training for staff on strategies for teaching and learning, additional pastoral workers to help improve attendance.

Each year the school publishes the impact report for last year's funding.

Schools will often offer financial assistance with some trips, some may be PP, others may come via PTA donations, but the idea that any PP student has a pot per student is a popular myth

The PP+ kids have ring-fenced money (supposedly), the PP ones don't.

@LolaSmiles ah right! That's just what I was told by a teacher. I didn't look into it any further as it didn't concern me but that just goes to show that I should have! Thanks for enlightening me

DS' school is an affluent area and all trips were deposit and then instalments apart from the cheapest day trip ones.

His 6th form college is in a less affluent area and a letter has come home about a trip where we had to pay a deposit and then there are instalments.

I think a mistake has been made in the OP's case. And yes it does matter about inclusion and less well off families. Also their letter - they didn't say it had to be paid in one go, they said it could be paid in instalments. They can't change it after the event.

Instalments at ours. Who would have £500 to hand in one go? Hopefully they confirm it's just a deposit that's required to secure the place

At DS's school a deposit used to be payable within a week (and yes I did feel it penalised less well-off families particularly as the calls for often used to come just before Christmas!). BUT the balance could usually be paid for over a matter of months at least. I believe we paid for the history trip to the USA (a sixth form one) over a matter of six to nine months, so it wasn't unaffordable.

Some schools don't offer such trips for the very reason that many won't be able to afford them. DD's school is one.

It's really commonly spoken about in those terms goosey. You're certainly not alone in thinking that. The teacher is right that children in that category can access the funds, but the funds aren't allocated per child.

For example a child on PP would probably get put forward for intervention funded by PP money, another might have a field trip funded, another 10 might benefit from a nurture group for English/maths at ks4, another 10 might benefit from the school employing a couple of mentors. Some students will access more than others because it's driven by educational needs.

There's an extra category called Pupil Premium Plus for looked after students (and those formerly in care) who have a pot allocated directly to them. Those funds have to be specifically tracked eg. If PP+ money is used to cover a child having a tutor then the hour of the tutor is documented for that child on their record, if they show talent in a sport then school would keep an itemised list of everything bought for them etc.

Our trips are first come first served with the option of instalments or pay in full. You go on the waiting list should someone not pay the balance.

Dd is going on a ski trip in Feb, once we paid the deposit she had a guaranteed place. We pay the rest in installments
Double check with school, it doesn’t sound right

Non-refundable deposit to secure place, then installments here.

Hi everyone thanks for your replies, I’m reading through them now.
I didn’t get a call back today, I can’t access my phone at work and had to stay late today and no missed calls or voicemails when I was able to check. Probably Monday now to find out, still got fingers crossed it will all work out ok in the end and he’ll be able to go.

I hope he gets to go OP. I agree with the PP, my DD's secondary have a deposit and then instalments for the remaining balance. They say that the place is at risk if you do not pay the instalments on time but there is no way that they say the money must be paid all at once!

Perhaps they are rethinking their policy after your remark, and so they should be.

Private school (day and boarding). Trip places are secured by a non-refundable deposit, followed by instalments on end of term bills. For example a trip to Spain next June needed a £250 deposit in September, then there will be two further instalments of £200 each payable in January and April.

Ours do a deposit (non refundable to secure the place) then instalments

That seems very strange. So if you pay an instalment they could tell you later you don't have a place?