to think that this is too much money for a school trip

[aquariel]

Hi all,

Eldest son (13yrs) brough a letter home from school for a trip they are planning to Iceland in October 2015. Cost of trip is £790 and will take place during October half term.

I run a very tight budget (currently clearing off all credit cards etc aiming to be debt free by 2018 - just in time to help him with fees for university no doubt!) and while we could stretch to it if pushed this seems like an obscene amount for one child (although I guess at his age he's probably charged as an adult on international travel). School has said they'd like a £50 non-refundable deposit to secure a place to be paid immediately (I couldn't pay till payday anyway - mid month for us) so probably wouldn't be able to commit to the trip.

I really don't want to disappoint my son as he rarely asks for much and he seems really excited about the (possibility of) this trip. We have in the past paid up for trips to London and Belgium for him so I'm not worried about him missing out on that side of "the experience" (although I appreciate Iceland is a totally different kettle of fish) but the most either of those trips cost me was £350 including his spending money.

So .. what do others think? Reasonable price or unreasonable?

Just saw about your youngest complaining. I'd nip that in the bud straight away.

DS1 won't be going on the trip to Costa Rica costing £3,400 (plus more for "fun" activities). Apparently students can help raise the money themselves by, um...selling jam, and um...washing cars. If selling jam and washing cars raised that much money, I would be doing it every weekend.

I checked out what the cost of the trip covered and decided it was a £2.5K trip.

I think it's great schools offer these opportunities, though, for kids from families who can afford the cost of the trip, but can't for a whole family to go.

I disagree, £62.50 is an awful lot of money to be found every month if family finances are already stretched.

Flossie I hope that was to NZ or the moon.

whois bugger off then. Its obvious from the thread title what this is. YOU may have done it a million times but maybe the OP has just joined? Maybe we should shut down all talk topics and just direct people to the archives!

As others have said not too bad with a year to save, that's your DS saving as much as he can, which would mean no Xmas or birthday presents, only money towards the trip, you could ask relatives to do this. Doing odd jobs earning money also, then your DS could get a good way there with paying for it himself. Depends how much he wants to go.

Way too much for a school trip. Cheap for Iceland. Iceland seems a bit excessive for a school trip. What happened to Swanage or Chesil Beach in a youth hostel?

Where are these odd jobs that can be done to earn extra money? How many families have relatives who give big cash amounts as presents? My DCs' GPs give £20 each.

have you considered his brother, when he is in a similar position I would have thought you would feel you have to say Yes to him also, so unless you can afford both trips, dont feel bad about saying no. it is not compulsory

Bloody hell yes that's a lot unless he's in a very posh school...I would not be able to afford that unless I saved for a year...they've not exactly given you much notice :/

Celtic - that depends how much you earn, and what your outgoings are, surely

I think is a reasonable price for the trip (and gosh I'd love to go to Iceland), but being a misery I wonder why everything has escalated so much. Why do 13 year olds need to go to Iceland/China/New York? Can't any of that wait? what's wrong with a Youth Hostel in Borth anyway

I think your son may go to the same school as mine OP! not useful contribution at all

I'd want to see the itinerary, what they were trying to achieve with Iceland, and have an understanding of how it might benefit him long term.

Is it to see the northern lights? I'd like to go myself and take the dc! ( looks up cheap flights)

But I'd also like to know what else is planned for the next few years wrt trips. Rome? Paris? Maldives?:)

Lol I misread your post when you said October 2015. i thought you meant they had told you about it for THIS October half term hence the comment about saving for a year haha. that really would be unfair on parents expecting them to pull £790 out of the back of the sofa in mere weeks :s

Why do 13 year olds need to go to Iceland/China/New York? Can't any of that wait?

I agree, it is not like it is bloody Brigadoon!! These places will all still exist when students can pay for their own trips as adults.

terrified sounds like you went to the same school as me - 2nd year trip to the Lake District, 4th year trip to Swanage, 6th form trips to Slapton and Shropshire. Uni field trips were invariably Scotland or the Lake District. Highlight was a final year trip to Benidorm. But these were all field study courses, not jollies.

Whilst it's a fair price for a trip to Iceland (have been, it's fab but not cheap) it's not essential unless it's covering required elements for school studies. Perhaps I'm getting old, but I think schools have lost the plot when it comes to expensive activity weeks. Being marched up and down Scottish hills in the rain and staying in draughty youth hostels made me the bitter and twisted the well rounded and resourceful individual I am today.

itsfab it isn't a holiday for the teachers. Residential trips are a huge responsibility and after the long days, the nights are spent taking shifts in the hotel corridors, making sure that the kids don't sneak into each others' rooms, smuggle in booze, or climb out of any windows. One colleague of mine saved a child from serious altitude sickness while climbing Kilimanjaro by literally pouring the necessary medication down his throat. Worse still , I'm aware of two World Challenge trips where, deeply tragically, a child has died. I can't imagine the trauma of such an experience. You can't expect a professional to take on that level of responsibility and pay for the privilege.

Gnome I don't need to go to a nice restaurant with DH for Dinner on Friday night. I don't need to go on holiday next year. If we only ever did things we needed to do like would be pretty joyless, would it not?

It's a good price for Iceland. DS went in year 10 and it was just short of £1000. However they saw and did a lot. If we went as a family I am certain it would have cost more than that per head taking into account the activities, hotels and food.

One big trip each is the rule. dss got to go ski ing which was the same price.

If you can't afford it then he doesn't have to go. Is he bothered about going?

It's expensive but ok for Iceland. But if you can afford it ok, but if not, it's not the end of the world if your dc can't go. I personally wouldn't pay that sort of money for a school trip for a week (ok I spent shitloads more on a 4 week trip to Africa for dd). Your money, your option

It's a lot of money. If mine came home with that sort of trip, unless there was a very good reason it would be a "sorry, but no". I've done that before and that's life. It's not going to be a everyone going at that price and time.