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Original poster

£1800 for a school trip

468 replies

Patchw0rk · 25/05/2023 14:55

Is it just me, or what are the school thinking?!

DC desperately wants to go of course- all their friends are, of course 🙄and we could possibly afford it with a lot of hard work (on my part, overtime!) but we could take the whole family away for that.

DC is 13 so old enough to understand about money really but so wants to go. It's a week skiing in Canada. I want them to have brilliant life experiences but it's just so much money.

I just think school have lost the plot. Could they really not have come up with something more reasonable for a y9 trip?

OP posts:
Marygold78 · 27/05/2023 09:49

If they really want to go I will ask them to contribute half of it; birthday money, Christmas money, doing some jobs for neighbours like pet sitting, gardening, car wash, etc.

I would support them if it is really that important for them; thankfully mine have not expressed interest in the expensive trips and are happy we are going skiing as a family. My oldest went to annual trips but never the expensive ones overseas and youngest one was just asked about skiing trip to Canada for £1900 and said not it is fine as we are going away as a family.

WombatChocolate · 27/05/2023 09:49

That’s good value for Canada. You can pay £1500k plus if you go on a school trip flying to Europe.

YY to point that vast majority won’t be going. Parents are often more sensitive to this stuff than needed …it really isnt the case that nearly everyone goes and their child will be the only one not going.

People forget the tens and tens of hours needed for teachers to organise these trips and fact they are on duty 24/7. Honestly, it’s not about ‘free holidays’ for teachers….it would be much much easier for them not to run them.

ZenNudist · 27/05/2023 09:51

Our ski trip is 1400 and not even to Canada. North West. State school.

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Sugarfree23 · 27/05/2023 09:58

@Minime88888888 roughly when was your school ski trip?

I think mine was around 1988 and £400 but if you put that into the Bank of England inflation calculator that comes out at £1000

Sugarfree23 · 27/05/2023 10:00

BTW I have a similar background to you, never had a passport until I was 17 and that was also my only foreign holiday with my parents to visit family overseas.

LemonjeIIo · 27/05/2023 10:01

TeenDivided · 25/05/2023 15:12

I think it is OK.
Only a few will go. There is possibly more guaranteed snow?
There will be families that can afford this that couldn't afford to take the whole family, or circumstances dictate it isn't feasible.

To some £200 would be just as unaffordable, do you ban those trips too?

It won't be a jolly for the teachers they are on duty 24/7.

Im guessing that you are paying for the teachers too??

IhearyouClemFandango · 27/05/2023 10:02

Yes of course, they're working.

Minime88888888 · 27/05/2023 10:03

1992.....I think I'm going to call my mum this morning and thank her for the trip. She used to do a part time cleaning job in the evenings. God bless her.

TeenDivided · 27/05/2023 10:06

IhearyouClemFandango · 27/05/2023 10:02

Yes of course, they're working.

Exactly. they are working, unpaid.

I've been on enough Primary school day trips in my time to see how all encompassing and exhausting a school trip is.

I know there are teenagers so less 'needy', but they are also teenagers so more likely to do totally reckless stuff, plus steering them all through airports, ski lifts etc etc.

I wouldn't do that for free!

I am so grateful for the teachers who took my DDs on trips abroad giving them experience we couldn't replicate ourselves.

BustopherPonsonbyJones · 27/05/2023 10:16

Brightredtulips · 25/05/2023 17:24

Not inclusive at all. I think these trips are for the teachers really. Yes they do have responsibility but they also get their trip paid for by the parents.

I can promise you it isn’t much of a holiday for teachers, hence why I wouldn’t organise one. I guess this holiday is cheaper that taking a whole family skiing, which is where the parents are winning. Anyway, the best way to show your disapproval is to not sign up and then the trip won’t run. Parents organise ‘life experiences’ for their children and everyone’s happy!

CheshireCat1 · 27/05/2023 10:18

Going back a few years, but if we got letters to take home about school trips we never passed them to our parents as we knew they couldn’t afford it and that they would attempt to sacrifice other things to enable us to go. It was a different matter if it was a day trip out. We had very happy childhoods in a family that cared about each other.

PonkyPonky · 27/05/2023 10:19

I went on a ski trip in year 10 and looking back on it now, I’m horrified I even asked to go. I have no idea how my mum paid for it but we were not well off when I was young. I also broke my arm on the second day of the trip and couldn’t do anymore snowboarding for the rest of the trip. I cringe when I think of the wasted money there. If you don’t want to pay out for this, one day your child will get it (but probably not anytime soon). In the interest of balance though, I did have a bloody brilliant time. It felt like such an adventure to go on without my parents.

Vie8126 · 27/05/2023 10:20

My daughters school is skiing in Canada next year for a week and it’s £2100! It is so
oversubscribed there is a huge waiting list. It’s a state school in a pretty normal area. The cost is half board so a healthy spending money pot and of course clothes but ski hire and lessons are included. She was on the wait list then got a spot. Her father and I will go halves but she has been told it’s a large chunk of money and clothes and things she need will be largely doubled up as Xmas and birthday gifts. There’s a hefty payment plan to follow also as they want it all paid off by Jan so have give parents 9 months to pay.

My other children skied in Italy and it was half the cost not sure why the need to go to Canada has arose!

May09Bump · 27/05/2023 10:26

It's good value for a ski trip, but understand where your coming from.

I came from a deprived area state school and they still offered this kind of trip, it does divide and not all school's helped low income families (don't know what it's like now). They did do an "alternative" for those not going, UK based trip or a couple of theme park trips.

Agree with other poster - if you can't afford it make it a learning experience - explain why and maybe they will do another YR10 trip / start a plan saving for the possibility together.

If doable at a stretch, explain what sacrifices are going to be made, extra hours for you, maybe less Christmas money for presents for him, more chores for him around the house as your working more or to pay for the clothing required.

If you do decide to go, buy ski clothing on ebay out of season.

KatieKat88 · 27/05/2023 10:29

I've organised day trips and it is a pain in the neck due to the amount of time it takes to sort risk assessments/paperwork etc - I've always refused to even go on residential trips other than the one when I had a year 7 form and it was the whole year group going. Some teachers love it but always admit how much work it is. The stress and constant supervision required is not worth it to me, in or out of school time!

BustopherPonsonbyJones · 27/05/2023 10:29

droghedalady · 27/05/2023 09:36

Laughing at some posters suggesting it's to benefit teachers. I would never go away on a school trip as a teacher because it's quite simply too much hassle. It's not a trip, no matter where you're going. It's work. I wouldn't care where I got a free trip to, I still wouldn't go.

Completely agree! Please don’t knock the teachers who organise and staff these trips - they are the good guys. It takes hours of their free time just to plan them and the actual ‘holiday’ is just more work, supervising very excited children.

ForTheSakeOfThePenguin · 27/05/2023 10:32

I would consider paying for such an expensive skiing trip so far away if my child was an advanced level skier who would take advantage of some of the perks of the resort. But to spend £1800 for a child to spend days at the beginner slope and have a couple of days out visiting the local attractions… fat chance.

Having said that, I agreed to pay for such expensive trip on instalments because I didn’t want him to miss out, but decided to get DS to an intermediate level before he went by booking a week at a closer resort.

Be warned, I realised on that trip that my bloody child is a daredevil who is resistant to take advice even from instructors. I am proud that he managed advanced intermediate slopes in a week and almost managed an advanced one BUT I cancelled the school trip when we came back as I could easily imagine him skiing him off piste and putting himself in danger if he was left to his own devices.

mycoffeecup · 27/05/2023 10:32

Ski trips are always optional, they're not educational, and they're usually oversubscribe.

Sartre · 27/05/2023 10:46

Trips like this have always existed in state schools and it’s only ever the very wealthy children who go. I went to a bogstandard comp and the only people who went on ski trips had wealthy parents, most were only children as well.

If you can’t afford it, you need to tell your DC. My DC haven’t been on the trips abroad so far because, as you say, we can take our whole family away for that much.

Sartre · 27/05/2023 10:47

What I would also say is that the kids who went on ski trips were avid skiers. They regularly went to indoor slopes to practise. If your DC isn’t into skiing, I’d argue it’s a waste of time.

DisquietintheRanks · 27/05/2023 10:49

Patchw0rk · 25/05/2023 20:35

Oh and it is in term time!

Well yes, that will bring down the cost and means staff need not give up their holiday to run it.

It's fine for the school to offer the trip. It's fine for you to say no, you can't go to your daughter.

malarkyintheparky · 27/05/2023 10:59

TwigTheWonderKid · 25/05/2023 15:18

That's crazy and I'm amazed the school governors authorised the trip in the current economic climate.

This. If it was a private school it would be okay but as a state school when so many people are struggling it is totally inappropriate.

Schools need to provide opportunities for kids but all this opportunity is doing is rubbing the privilege of being better off in the face of the rest. They need to catch themselves on!

misskatamari · 27/05/2023 11:02

We just ran a trip that cost £17 and had kids that couldn’t afford to come. £1800 is obscene

456pickupsticks · 27/05/2023 11:06

if it's something you're keen for there's definitely places where you could go as a family cheaply (for a similar price to this school trip anyway)- a large group of my friends did a 5 night ski trip to Bulgaria this year -
return flights were about £80 each (we shared one hold bag between 3, and just had under-seat backpacks as hand luggage),
hotel was about £200 each,
ski lift passes were about £40 per day each
Ski lesson was about £40 each for a morning/ afternoon private small group lesson (about 2 hours),
Travel insurance was about £20 each,
Average evening meal with drinks was about £14.
Ski gear hire for 4 days was about £70 (inc skis, boots, poles and helmets)

Overall, three of us probably paid about £1,710 for hotel, flights, ski passes, insurance, ski gear hire and one lesson each (we'd all ski'd varying amounts before, so just wanted one lesson). Then probably about £80 on food and drink each per day, as we weren't trying to do it cheaply - we ate out for lunch and dinner every day, and had lots of drinks etc.

I do realise that there's something special and different about going on a school trip with friends v a family holiday, so feel free to ignore me!

Squirrelsnut · 27/05/2023 11:06

Think yourself lucky: DS's (indie) school is running one for £8000. 😯He knew from the get-go it was not happening for him.