school trip for 13 year olds which involves setting off at 2am?

[Mintyy]

My child is going on a 3 day school trip to a European country.

Today I find out that the timing of the outward bound flight means that we have to get her to school for boarding the coach by 2.15am.

Aibu to think this is nuts?

Or we could find out that the teachers were wrong, TheFairyCaravan and that trips were neither wanted or missed. We could have been mistaken.

Delphiniums -really? My little kids (when that age) were always up by 5 anyway. A support network for an emergency is very different to a 'support network' for a complete non emergency. Dd1 was rushed to hospital with suspected appendicitis this week. I was abroad at a conference. Obviously I started coming home the moment I got the text (the moment I saw the text - some time after it was sent). It took me about 9 hours door to door. DH had no trouble at all organising people to pick up DD2 from school and have her for, potentially, the night and feed and water DS (he didn't need picking up from school but we didn't want to leave him at home alone for what would have been 5 hours). The work of minutes. We were in fact inundated with offers (including my sister who offereed to hop on a train from London). Completely different situation. None of those people would be in a position to take Dd1 in for her 3am school trip departure next term. School trips are NOT an emergency. Nor are they things you remember for the rest of your life (although apparently it will take DD1 a long time to forget the 'vegetarian' food in Belgium. But I did warn her so that's her fault!)

You really think children don't want school trips?

I don't just mean the days abroad trips, but any of them. A half day to a local forest, theme parks, museums, whatever. From what I remember, trips were the best part of school. When my dc come home with a trip form (even one ds1 came home with a few weeks back for a tour of a few other primary schools...something to do with gardening ideas) they're nearly peeing their pants with excitement.

Nor are they things you remember for the rest of your life

I disagree with that. Obviously not all of them...but I have many memories of school trips that I can't imagine i'll completely forget. OK, i'm only 28 so maybe by the time i'm 50 i'll be eating my words. But to date, they are things I have remembered 'for the rest of my life'.

I have to say I am a bit shocked at the attitudes of most of the teachers posting on here - it is interesting to see how much they begrudge having to go on these trips, and that alone would be reason enough for me not to send my dc on any. When I am on call with work, I am happy to get up and go into the hospital and do my job. I don't mind studying all day before a night shift, because I love my job. However, if I were in the op's position of having to get other dc up and organised and deal with their tiredness the next day - I would be pretty peeved!! We looked into going to euro disney but the flight times were rubbish so we didn't go - why would you want to go on holiday with exhausted children?

It amazes me how teachers get so worked up about parent's appreciation of them - I thought people went into teaching to help children, not their parents.

I have two children of my own, one severely disabled Miss Duke. When I was a young teacher I loved trips-away from the classroom, experiencing new things. Years pass and now as a mother of two the novelty has worn off a bit. I am looking forward to certain aspects of the trip but others I could do without. I am a part time teacher giving up a lot of time to be with other people's children whilst my own are being cared for in a respite centre or by relatives. I think this may be my last one.

So MissDuke, you'd stop your children going on trips because some of the teachers might begrudge the time?
Because I guarantee that you'd never be able to tell from my attitude, behaviour or words that I was less than 100% happy and enthusiastic. That's my Professional Gameface and it's a goodun.

Snap Goblinchild

Do you think a lot of parents don't understand that, stillenacht?
I've had a child with AS (man now) and often did my breathing exercises in the car to get my shit together before facing the class and their parents.
It's also why my resting face is friendly and a slight smile, rather than cross bitchface.

And this is why I would never be a teacher.

Op if the flight time/ferry time was perfect then the trip would be too expensive.

Generally kids love the trips although dds ended in absolute disaster which was no fault of the teachers.

Anyway it's what you do as parents isn't it. Suffer so your kids have fun.

MissDuke going into work is one thing. You are paid to do this.

The utter massive responsibility of taking children on a school trip especially residential abroad entails far more responsibility and planning than you could imagine even if you are a top brain surgeon.

I am in awe of teachers who do this.

I am probably not the person to post here as dds beloved teacher died on a school trip he had organised and led.

To be honest with the responsibility, bitching, complaining and massive insurance/health and safety concerns I am amazed teachers do any at all

I don't think teachers begrudge going on the trips. It's parents who complain about everything and anything to do with said trips they may sometimes begrudge.

It's the fricken parents who arrive over an hour late to pick up their kids and fuck off without apologising

Well they do say no good deed goes unpunished.

I ran summercamps for local kids for a couple of years (inner london estate), raised all the money, worked every day for no money at all, and still people moaned. And they were free!

But as a parent I still think a 2am start is a logistical nightmare for many parents.

Dear, dear dear; poor you. The school should have arranged to pick each child up from home and save you any inconvenience; (the child could wait outside so you wouldn't have to hear the door open and close.) Or better still, cancel all school trips and concentrate on teaching.

ha ha! what a witty way to make your point!

'But as a parent I still think a 2am start is a logistical nightmare for many parents.'

No question there, including the teachers who are parents and abandoning their families for a couple of days or a week.
But I can see trips becoming a thing of the past in most State schools in the future.

OP i wonder if it would be possible for all the children going on the trip to be dropped off at school earlier, say 8/9pm and bed down in the gym on those mats with a blanket each then all the parents and siblings have said their goodbyes and gone home at a decent hour and trip goers are all in one place in plenty of time for all organisation to be sorted.

Mass sleepover!
That's an interesting solution.

I think that sounds rather sensible, actually. Because while I could actually walk ds to his school for a 2am start, no one in their right mind would walk through our, er, vibrant neighbourhood at that time.

I think a lot of the problem is the hard to shift assumption that all children come from two parent households and will have cars...pretty old fashioned. If I also had a smaller child, I would be pretty scared to be dragging them around at that time by myself.

So a creative solution like that would work.

Suzie, that would involve extra work keeping the school open, having supervision, tidying up after etc

Who will supervise the mass sleepover at school?
Who will pay for the staff time to watch and supervise said children?

I honestly wouldn't blame teachers for refusing to do trips, wouldn't bother me in the slightest. It would be preferable to them going miserable. Perhaps my feelings are skewed by the fact that my dd won't go on a trip though!

I have nothing against teachers by the way! We have loads of fundraising things at our school organised by the PTA, and most of the teachers go along and help out at them all - clearly in their time. The teachers at our school are, on the whole, amazing. Especially dd's current teacher. They really are amazing!!! I very much feel that teaching is a whole different profession in my part of the UK though. But that is a whole other thread!!