£1800 for a school trip

[Patchw0rk]

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?

The farthest I went with my state run high school was the grass surrounding the biology lab. We had a primary school trip when I was very young, 5 days adventuring in the Scottish Highlands. Years ago of course, not sure if the school does more exotic trips now but can't imagine so. That's crazy money but it seems that expensive treats are being pushed now more than ever.

While parents keep paying they will keep these trips going and sod the ones struggling to feed themselves it's poverty discrimination and winding the gap that Ofsted says they should be closing.

I can’t see the issue really if it’s not in term time and is optional. Plenty of other families manage a sunny holiday every year and we’ve had one in the last 15 years 😆 I disagree with others about skiing as it would be unaffordable for us to go as a family and is much more fun with friends, I’d be far more likely to send a child on that than a sightseeing holiday that we can just as well do as a family. Compared to our school skiing trip which is £1200 for Europe on a ferry and coach for 6 days it seems like much better value!

Can you find something in February half term? That's when most schools have to go.

I see the issue as not just cost, but the long flight and carbon footprint. What lesson is it teaching children to across the Atlantic when you could go somewhere in Europe for good skiing?

Such as the Austria example.

That's bonkers. Say no - it will be a harsh lesson for your daughter but immensely valuable. She can help you plan the family hol, book accommodation etc. She won't be alone in not going.

The ski trips schools offer aren't a "school trip". In most schools places are limited and barely a third of the year will go. Most children won't go, why does your DD need to? She will be one of many/most not going as its very expensive/non essential.

These type of school trips are expensive for a pretty nondescript package usually. The marketing of 'experiences' is a racket, parents seem to have fomo by proxy. Our kids never seemed to mind not going (they are mostly grown now) and we've had other fun/valuable/happy times with the money.

"All their friends are going" is like when they "all" have phones aged 8 or "all" watch 15 films aged 9 or "all" got a Nintendo switch at birth. They fib/exaggerate.

Ask the school how many places there are. It will be well under half the year, unless it's a private school.

@whumpthereitis ha ha £1800 may be a "reasonable" price for skiing but for many families they simply cannot afford that much for a holiday for just one member of the family regardless of whether it was skiing or a trip to the moon.
What I meant though was so many people do go on amazing trips all over the world, have amazing experiences, learn about different cultures etc but so many have never even experienced or visited places in their own country.
The UK may be a small country but Cornwall is very different to Yorkshire, which is different to Scotland, which is different to the south coast, which is different to Norfolk etc etc.
I think it's sad if people don't know about their own country.

Madness!

I feel your pain. I remember my DD had a school trip to Italy on a bus from Scotland. It cost £700 then back in the 90,s. 5 days. I was a single parent, had to borrow money from my mum so she could go. She hated the trip!!.

Not only is it really expensive but the thought of my kids going so far away on an plane without me or their family fills me with dread but I am quite an anxious person. When they're an adult I have to let go but my eldest is starting high school this year and it's a worry. France maybe but Canada and South Africa 😬

That's because at Private schools the school pays for teachers tickets in state schools the pupils have to pay.

While I can't speak for every school (like the bonkers one upthread where teachers pay to accompany school trips), this is not true in my experience. I have worked in state and private schools and organised overseas trips in both. Most trips are run through travel companies and they quote a price per pupil according to the size of the group and offer free staff places. Of course, those free staff places must be pushing up the pupil price, but nobody pays for the teachers places specifically.

Are you absolutely sure that all his friends are going? Just wondering as my son's school does an expensive abroad trip every year but only takes 40 students so it's not just the families who can't afford it who don't go. Then they take the year 7's on a £200 activity residential that everyone goes on. The children on pupil premium get a discount but I'm not sure how much.

My dd's (state) school announced a trip that cost double that. Pretty sure the letter was sent out the week high inflation and energy increases were announced. It was rather tone deaf. They had enough uptake just about to make it viable but not sure how many parents wished they'd never committed to it.

It is a lot. However, there is now way we could afford to go as a family. So this is a way of my child seeing places that we couldn't take her to. Currently, I don't even have a passport.

Thankfully, our school usually give us a years notice, so I can pay monthly. I do take on extra hours to pay for it but I'm glad she is getting to see the world.

We’ve just had a letter home for an overnight London trip to visit arts galleries and a musical £282!

If it's during the school holidays, I view it more like sending your kid to activity camp. Some families pay to send their kids to sports/music/theatre day camp in the holidays either for childcare reasons or to give them something to do other than stare at screens and broaden their horizons/teach them new skills.
Others don't (or can't afford to)
This is the same thing albeit more expensive than a day at the local riding school or musical theatre school

DS went on a ski trip to Canada this year that was over £2k. He's in a private school and no, not everyone went, in fact the vast majority of kids didn't go. We paid because DS loves skiing and whilst expensive, it's way cheaper than going as a family.

Mine never went on any of these trips because they were so overpriced, and I have 3 kids. I'd rather spend the money on a family holiday. They went on more local PGL type trips but nothing past Y8.

Nothing new about expensive school trips, my elder sibling went on a Mediterranean Cruise in 1978 when in equivalent of Year8 at state secondary school.

When it was my turn a few years later it was going to cost £2k but the Falklands War stopped it happening and parents got a refund. I remember taking in £10 a week even while I was at primary school towards paying for it - I remember the queue of kids doing so clear as day - yes 3 years before the trip itself.

Many will do dry slope lessons so those going on the ski trips will get some experience.

But UK snow and weather isn't reliable enough for a weeks skiing.

I really hope they get to go 😊

When my DS was 15 he came home asking if he could go on a school holiday. We were elated as he was one of those kids (just like I was at his age) who never wanted to go away with school. We stupidly agreed thinking it would be to France or somewhere. Turned out it was to New York and Washington! It cost us just under £2,000!!

We could afford it but it meant we didn't really have a family holiday that year but he had a fantastic time and got over his anxiety about going away so it was money well spent for us.