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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask how many of you pay for your children's school trips.

134 replies

psiloveyou · 11/06/2011 11:25

This week I have paid
£10.50 for ds1 trip
£14.80 for ds2 trip
£5.00 for dd3 trip
Now dd4 has come home from nursery with a request for £17.80 for a trip to a local farm. Shock

All the letters state the money is a contribution but if enough parents don't pay the trip will not go ahead.
We are lucky enough that we can afford it. I have no problem with parents on a low income only paying a small percentage.
I just wonder if there are any parents out there who can afford it but choose not to pay.

OP posts:
HarrietJones · 11/06/2011 13:29

Dds old school always charged £15 ish for trips which was mainly on coach travel as they went to local zoo etc.

Dds current school doesnt have big end of year trips but regularly goes to local attractions, mainly walkable so are only £2ish. There are quite a few of these though. 3 so far this year. Year 5 has a residential to an activity centre(150) & year 6 are going to London (250) which are expensive but the value is obvious. Activity centre has 24 hour staffing & school can send minimum staff, 4 jam packed days & nights. London trip is including west end show, duck ride , London eye & red bus tour as well as museums. We live at the opposite end of the country so transport is ££££ too

foxinsocks · 11/06/2011 13:31

I'm amazed how expensive some of these are

My dc's day trips are never more than say £7 and mainly £2-3. But then they are free on London transport and the museums are free.

Dd has a residential trip this year which is more expensive. We have a fund at school (money raised by parents and children) that pays for children who can't afford the trips.

Mabelface · 11/06/2011 14:15

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emptyshell · 11/06/2011 14:18

The coach costs are ridiculous now. You can get it a bit cheaper if you slot in between their school run contract times - but that does require a day leaving at like 9.30 and leaving the venue at some ridiculous time like 1.30pm... otherwise you're into mortgaging your house-esque proportions of cost!

fgaaagh · 11/06/2011 14:20

There are some that we've been unable to pay for.

I always pay when we can, but on a few occasions it's only going to come out of the food budget. And when we're already feeding 2 adults and 3 children (1 teen) on £50 a week I just haven't got the fucking leeway some short-notice trips have.

So, although it's embarassing for our DCs, and it's cringe-worthy to admit, what's our choice?

Stick the food on a credit card bill and give our food shopping money for a school trip? Sorry but I won't do it.

There have only been about 3 or 4 occasions where I point blank refused to pay any money though. Across all DCs through the years.

But I won't be ashamed for prioritising our family needs/finances above an individual DC's school trip. I just won't.

fgaaagh · 11/06/2011 14:22

WTF,, one of the ones we couldn't find enough cash for (despite a good few months warning) was DS's trip to London in his last year of primary school, to see a show and stay overnight. Just couldn't stretch to the fare, ticket price and extra cost of contributing to £5 or £10 spending money. I think it was partly subsidised by the school, which makes it worse.

I don't think we were the only parents that couldn't (wouldn't?) pay though - the trip was cancelled in the end.

I'm sitting here Shock at the idea of someone paying £1400 to send their DD to Las Vegas. Shock That's a completely different world to ours.

Mamaz0n · 11/06/2011 14:22

I always pay. DS is at a SN school so most of his trips are either heavily subsidised or free. Plus they have their own transport so that is cheaper already.

DD is only in year 1 so not many trips yet.

I am always shocked to hear of children going on school trips skiing or to china etc. When i was at school you went to the odd museum or two and then your final year you got a week in Wales.

Nosleepandinpitofdespair · 11/06/2011 14:26

It's not really an optional thing is it? (unless you can't afford it and have talked to the school about it). It's voluntary because some people can't afford it, not because there's a hidden budget for those who just don't want to. If you don't pay, then the school has to find the money from somewhere else (books, paper, etc) or cancel the trip. By not paying, you are simply making those who do pay pay twice - once for their child and once for yours.

(i repeat - i'm only talking about those who CAN afford to pay and don't)

MoreBeta · 11/06/2011 14:29

DogsBestFriend - we are the same. Private prep school ad trips every other week it seems.

Is it me or this stuff easier to do than having teachers plan lessons? Does a trip to some place for World War II experience easier than actually planning it and doing it in school.

Never went on school trips when I was in Primary School. We lived in a village, half of thr children lived on farms and the local pond and stream were 500 yards away. We played in woods and climbed trees when e got home.

cheesesarnie · 11/06/2011 14:31

always pay.they all enjoy school trips.

KatieScarlett2833 · 11/06/2011 14:33

Farkin "Activity Week" has cost me at least £200.

Last one though, exams next year for you DS mwa ha ha.

inchoccyheaven · 11/06/2011 14:36

I am repeating what most others have said really which is the transport costs are what can make a trip expensive. DS2 has brought a letter home to say they are going to a jewish synagogue but it costs £5.50 which will be cost of coach as the synagogue is of course free.
I feel sorry for multiple birth familes, and don't blame the lady with triplets only paying for 2 sometimes. It's not as if you deliberately chose to have2,3 or more babies all at once and even paying for 2 at same time everytime would be hard for us.
It isn't often I have to pay out for 2 trips for ds1 and ds2 at same time so defintely not the same thing.

Goblinchild · 11/06/2011 14:38

'Is it me or this stuff easier to do than having teachers plan lessons? Does a trip to some place for World War II experience easier than actually planning it and doing it in school.'

Grin No, trust me. It is a lot easier to keep them in class and use the IWB.
worraliberty · 11/06/2011 14:39

DS2 starts secondary school in September. They run a trip to Las Vegas in year 8 cost this year was £1,400 for a friends dd. I'm dreading stumping up for that one and also wondering exactly how educational Vegas can be

See I wouldn't do that. I would tell my child that for £1,400 our whole family could go away together. Actually, they wouldn't expect to go even though we could scrape the money together if we tried.

Day trips/UK residential trips we always say yes to and pay for, but no child's life was ever ruined by not going on an expensive trip abroad (well presumably anyway)

KatieScarlett2833 · 11/06/2011 14:40

MY DC's loved the WW1 experience, very educational. DS got his first snog on the ferry, DD and her mates snuck out of the hotel and met some older boys....happy days.....

Don't grudge a penny, full of admiration for the accompanying teachers.

cjbartlett · 11/06/2011 14:41

I don't know anyone who in their right mind would pay £420 for a day trip to France Shock

cjbartlett · 11/06/2011 14:42

or maybe

DS 4 day trip to France £420

was a four day trip to france rather than a 4 year old going to france in a day Blush Grin

goinnowhere · 11/06/2011 14:48

It is the coaches. The prices have become unbelievable. In the last two or three years, coach hire has about doubled. Even for a free venue, a group of say thirty five pupils would have to pay about £10 each. In addition, the forward planning and paperwork is immense. I used to do lots of educational visits. Now I do barely any.

bellavita · 11/06/2011 14:48

I always pay for school trips unless they are ££££ for a holiday jolly then there has to be some compromise.

DS2 yr6 is going away next week Mon to Fri on a residential -£370
DS1 yr9 recently went to France and Belguim on a history trip £140 plus £60 spends.
DS1 has just brought a letter home asking for £30 for a theme park and cinema trip the last week of school before we break up.

DS1 did actually bring a letter home a couple of months ago about a trip to Barcelona the last week of the term -£540 to start with dependent on numbers. With spends, it would be close to £1000. I said he could go no problem, but he would have to have it as his birthday present (Birthday is on Monday). He asked if that meant there wouldn't be a present to open on his birthday and I said yes but if he did chose the present instead, he wasn't to expect something costing £1000. As it it he has chosen to have something to open.

Mabelface · 11/06/2011 14:49

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cjbartlett · 11/06/2011 14:51

bellavita - do they really need that much spending money?

MorallyBankrupt · 11/06/2011 14:54

I always pay for DS's nursery trips but I do get the feeling a lot don't....

crazycarol · 11/06/2011 14:54

DD off to Germany tomorrow for 8 days, cost £340. Her grandparents are paying. I could afford it (just), but as they offered it would be rude to refuse!

PfftTheMagicDragon · 11/06/2011 15:01

morebeta I'm not a teacher, but I cannot imagine any way in which it could possibly be easier to take children on a trip than it would be to keep them in the class.

Our school trips are quite reasonable. And they are not too often. 2 trips this year, relevant to the curriculum, fairly priced. A friend's children are always going on trips, about 8 or so a year, never relevant, cost a fortune.

megapixels · 11/06/2011 15:02

I pay (I thought if you didn't pay the child just didn't go?) and it usually gets refunded because not enough return slips/payments came back to be able to go. We're not in a deprived area or anything, well below the national average for fsm etc., but the parents just don't seem to want to pay for anything within school hours. Anything after school hours and there's a huge uptake (to the point of being oversubscribed) no matter what the cost the only criteria seems to be being able to dump the children at school for as long as possible. So the last school trip poor DD1 went on was nearly 3 years ago :(.