To Be P***** Off at yet another expensive school trip

[meah]

Hi, my ds has is now starting yr 9 & dd yr 8, in yr 7 a school trip was offered but cost was in the £300s (i forget exactly how much) being so expensive i couldn't afford it and it left both kids gutted when well over half of the kids in their yr got to go. ive just recieved another school trip email (not sure which yr not that it matters) offering a ski holiday trip, abroad for 6 nights for £680. which would be fantastic if i where loaded!! Why cant schools offer school trips that are affordable to all like they're supposed to instead of making those whos parents cant afford it feel left out!!!

[JenaiMarrHePlaysGuitar]

YABU.

[BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack]

Yes but school trips tend to me about what they are learning about on the curriculum (well, the educational ones anyway) so if you are learning say about I dont know, Ann Frank, then the trip would have to be to Amsterdam wouldnt it.

Any trips that are just for fun, then that's like a holiday isn't it.....if we coudnt afford it then DS wouldnt go. Like Sparkling mentioned, one of her DC's trips is £1000 - well, DS wouldnt go to that but I wouldnt feel bad for him or annoyed that others were going, that's just life and the way it is.

[BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack]

I dont know Clipped, I am baffled as to why you even said that. Apologies if I have offended you in the past but I really dont think I have

[JenaiMarrHePlaysGuitar]

I don't think it's true that the only kids that can afford to go on the expensive trips are likely to go away with their families anyway

Me neither. The exact opposite in our case.

[armedtotheteeth]

I went on quite a few school trips back in the day but there were a few more expensive ones that I didn't go on (skiing amd Israel spring to mind).

It didn't bother me at all, especially as less than half the.children went on those.

Must feel worse to be one of the few children whose parents can't afford a £250 school trip to be honest.

As for those being taken to Auschwitz by history teachers, I.thought if it was an educational trip then no child could be excluded even if their parents can't (or don't want to) pay?

[Ithinkitsjustme]

I think there should be an opportunity for kids to raise money towards their trips - why not suggest a sponsored event or organise a Christmas Fair or something to help out for those who would struggle. We always raise funds for the rugby tour. There is no way at all that I could afford all the trips that are on offer for my DC's but we pick and choose which ones are the most important, and we will make sacrifices to pay for them, so eg a French trip for a child who decided to continue with their French at GCSE level. I get more annoyed at the excessive amount the school charges for those kids who CAN'T afford to go on these trips, last year it cost me over £250 for 2 children to NOT go on camp, instead they had day trips to Alton Towers/ paintballing etc, etc.

[Blu]

DS won't be going on expensive trips, thats for sure, and he won't be going ski-ing because he has a mobility disability.

But I can see that there is a way in which these trips make the big wide world accessible to some kids whom wouldn't otherwise go anywhere. A family that cannot afford for the parents and siblings to ever go abroad could perhaps save and enable the children to go, perhaps on one trip each.

There is clearly a demand for thise trips, I will just be explaining why it isn't possible, and doing my best to send DS on the cheaper and eduationally focussed ones when possible.

[Aboutlastnight]

I didn't get to go on the school skiing trip - in fact I never asked to go as I knew mum and dad coyldn't afford it and I didn't want them to have to say no.

[Dragonwoman]

I never went on skiing trips with the school. Tho they were offered most kids couldn't afford them so I didn't feel left out especially. I learned to ski as an adult paid for by myself once I was working. Just because you can't go with the school doesn't mean you' ll never have the opportunity.

[higgle]

We are not very well off but allowed our sons to go on 2 trips each at secondary school, at around £450 each time. I saved a little bit each month from when they were about 10 as I knew this would come up at some point.
Their school has run some expensive trips - one to China was nearly £3k - we couldn't afford this but I don't begrudge those that can.

[Sparklingbrook]

It sounds like the trip was very 'take a letter from the pile if you are interested' some kids just don't want to go anyway. DS1 jumped in the car and immediately handed the letter to me but he said it was expensive.

Ds2 (10) has had the opportunity to go on one of those outward bound zip wires/ low ropes / raft building/abseiling jobbies. He went on one in Year 4 and 5 and said he's had enough of that sort of thing. Shame as it was only £140.

[BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack]

Sparking - DS has just been on that sort of one - he loved it. Sounded so good I was a bit gutted I wasn't invited :)

[Startailoforangeandgold]

I'm sitting on the fence on this one.

Yes trips give DCs opportunities to do things they would never get to do with their families.

My DDad neither liked not could afford to go away, but somehow my parents scrapped together ski trip money for me (I've never dared ask what mum went without)

But they are a massive guilt trip. They also eat into the family holidays and days out budget very badly. So one DC has an amazing time, but parents and others loose out.

Especially if family circumstances change and parents can't afford to send siblings on similar trips when their turn comes.

For poorer parents they are just yet another no and each no eats into the soul a little more.

[ratbagcatbag]

My DSS has not asked about one residential school trip until this yr (yr10) it's for austwitz and Germany, it is useful to his history gcse. So we've agreed to go halves with his mum. It's costing nearly £300 per parent though, so not chap and needs to be paid by nov. we've always suspected he might want to go on one or two trips so a good few years ago we starting putting £20 per month away. The trip money is coming out of that else we couldn't afford it either.

[GnomeDePlume]

It's not about schools doing it for parents who done want to sort it out for themselves. There are plenty of reasons why a child's family might not be able to provide their child with trips that the school could offer.

But why does this mean that the school should step in and offer the trips? It makes no more sense than the school stepping in and offering a home decoarating service or car repairs.

The only reason these trips exist is because clever marketing people in travel companies have realised that schools are an untapped market. That there are plenty of parents who for whatever reason dont take their kids away themselves but are quite happy to pay someone else to do it.

If you cant/dont want to take your kids away and want someone else to do it then fine, companies like PGL will happily do it for you. I just dont see why any time or energy of the school is given over to it. It is just the school providing free advertising then disguising it as some sort of benefit.

[ClippedPhoenix]

In answer to people saying why should the kids who cant afford it miss out.....well, thats just life isn't it and the sooner they learn that the better. Why should my DS miss out just because some others can't go!

This is what dropped the stink bomb for me

I have friends from all walks of life, whenever I arrange a "group" outing I make sure it suits everyones budget. Because I know how awful it feels to be put in such an awkward spot of having to decline due to lack of funds.

Now if the school decided on a trip and subsidised or arranged fundraising events so ALL the children could go fair enough.

[TantrumsAndGoldAndOrange]

It's ridiculous. I've had to pay £1600 for dd and DS to go skiing next year, I've also just paid £300 for dd to go on a history trip to Berlin and next week £190 for DS to go to Belgium for a geography trip.

I know I don't have to send them and tbf we are given 11 months to pay for the ski trip and 6 months to pay for the others so we pay x amount every month but it is still very expensive.

[Pourquoimoi]

clipped - I don't think my attitude stinks at all. Surely I just quoted a fact, richer people have more choices, doesn't make it fair but it's a fact. Do you not think that is true?

Betty - we can stink together...

[BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack]

Pour - what a couple of stinkers we are

Actually, quite apt as sometimes life in general stinks , it's not a fairytale and we don't all get to do the thing we want, fair or not!

[OutragedAtThePriceOfFreddos]

But there is a benefit to travel, so why shouldn't schools provide it? They directly benefit children.

We expect schools to provide counsellors and pastoral care and support when needed. You may as well say schools shouldn't bother doing any of that and should just have standard lessons and nothing else. No extra curricular clubs, no additional sports activities like inter school matches, nothing. After all, parents could organise all of that themselves if they want to.

[ClippedPhoenix]

No I don't Pour not where things like these trips are involved.

[Fluffy1234]

I don't think you are being unreasonable. I was chatting to some friends with children slightly younger than my DC and they were asking about school trip costs. The school offers a trip each year that is during term time that nearly everyone goes on. It year it involves more nights away and ends up with a week in France. I could see my friends were really concerned about the cost and although I thought it was actually good value for what the children did lots of people just don't have that kind of spare money. My friends then asked if my DS is going on the ski trip which he is and I could see them thinking Spending 1k on a trip was nuts.
I know it's life that people can afford some others and others can't but it can be a real worry for families. My DC junior school got around this problem by offering a one night break on a boat at the beginning of year 6 and then a 2 night very local activity break at the end of the year. This was a lot more affordable than their usual one week activity holiday hours away.

[ClippedPhoenix]

I have taken my son away to various destinations.

His favourite trip was a PGL one to The Isle of Wight which cost £250. Because like I said up-thread kids just want to have fun.