to post a friendly reminder about school residential trips?

[ErmNoNoNo]

Seems as good a time as any: lots of school posts (as always in AIBU), the wine is flowing (Friday) and the summer term is coming up (come on weather please)...

It seems every year that there are many parents that are genuinely shocked to find out that teacher and TAs who accompany the class on residential school visits do not get paid a single penny more than their normal wage.

Yes, we volunteer. Yes, we deal with all the tears. Yes, we are on duty 24 hours and sometimes get VERY little sleep. Yes, we deal with the vomit. Yes, we encourage and make sure they get the absolute best out of their time there. Yes, we deal with all medical issues even though, surprisingly we are not qualified. Yes, when its mid-week, we also have to go back into work the next day.

Yes... we would really, really appreciate it if you just say 'thank you', when you pick your child up at he end of it.

(all you REASONABLE parents, I know you do - but honestly, the amount of parents who think we get paid for this would shock you)

houseofnerds - and your post really doesn't reek of 'look how much better then you am I am because I ask for no recognition'...

Really, you can see the irony in your post???

*can't

Erm. In response to your "genuine question" I may not be managing children, but I do sometimes organise and facilitate training courses for staff and volunteers. As well as organise and carrying out the courses, yes I have had to deal with a drunken course participant in the middle of the night (& worse behaviour), meet and greet at breakfast. Sort out problems with hotels and travel arrangements over lost tickets and so on. And unlike children your are expected to spend the evening with them too!
I do think school trips must be stressful because of the responsibility you must feel for other people's children. But in some ways adults can be much more demanding, you do not necessarily have the same authority with them and cannot insist they must now all go to bed now and be quiet!!

Honestly SilverBirch, I am not the kind of person that thinks that teachers are gods and should be treated as such. And it was a genuine question (as much as I'm sure you think it wasn't) as I'm always interested in jobs outside of teaching as we teachers are always looking for alternative routes out! And I am actually interested to hear that you are expected to do these sorts of jobs 24hr a day, as in my head you get a nice cushy trip away all expenses paid (as some people have as a misconception about school residential trips) and it's good to balance that with your experience.

However - but sorry but:
"And unlike children your are expected to spend the evening with them too!...and cannot insist they must now all go to bed now and be quiet!!"

... did make me really laugh.

Don't know where the 'However - but' came from! Time to call it a night!

My, you are a bit touchy.

The inverted commas were not implying anything, they are used to denote a quote has been used.

My last comment about telling the children to be quiet was said with some irony, I can imagine how many times you need to tell some children it is time to switch off lights and go to sleep.

I was just trying to have a companiable conversation late at night. I actually originally qualified as a teacher myself, and still have my friends who are teachers who genuinely do believe there working life is harder than us civilians. So I was glad to voice my views here.
Good night.

*their

Obviously going above and beyond for no material gain by anybody should be thanked. I don't see how teachers who do that as an extension if their job are somehow less of a volunteer that a brownie leader. It's a very similar activity and role, neither of which gets paid or leads to any kind of promotion. As many teachers here have said it's about as voluntary as marking books in many schools.

I am both a teacher and a parent so get both the rough and the smooth of this. I can never sleep properly on a trip. The responsibility really weighs on me, and I take teenagers who stay awake until I stand over them and keep them quiet. I have been out doing woodland crafts in snow and blistering heat (35C). Lots if parents say thank you, but many just complain about things we do wrong. I've even had a parent helper try to tell me where to sleep and what I should do. AndYES the worry about overseeing meds is quite worrying, we're supposed to know how to deal with any emergency when we ourselves are in an unfamiliar place.

None of this is meant to be a whinge, more an explanation of how/why it is so much beyond the reach of our job descriptions and pay.

Dd is going away for 4 days in May. 3 of the faculty she's going with have really young kids/babies, but they are expected to leave them and head off for a week. It's no small thing to find the childcare for 24/7 for several days if they don't have a partner or they are usually the main carer. My own DHhas had to take time off before now because I "volunteered" to go on a trip.

Many of us care so much for the kids that we do this gladly, but people should be very aware of what it puts us through to achieve it.

My thanks go to anyone who is willing to do work with kids and provide all the extras.

When a teacher takes a residential visit, they have to set meaningful cover for their classes. For most subjects this translates into a shitload of marking the minute they get back, because a subject specialist is unlikely, so no real teaching happens.

In addition, the staff who stay behind are likely to have passed their quota for covers of the said colleagues who went on the trip. So the teachers who have waited for the last child to be picked up from the school car park at midnight (that was me), will be back in school the next day, picking up a cover lesson. Yay.

It was fun at the time - the trip, not the cover - but I can't be doing with it now. It's the cactus time between team and bedtime that does my head in.

Yes WorraLiberty but I don't know any hairdressers who don't get thanked and so they therefore don't have to make suggestions to people to thank them.

I think parents who don't thank teachers after trips are just plain rude and not setting a good example for their children who are likely to then also become rude.

All my friends with good manners have parents with good manners.

Well I sincerely thanked the three members of staff that took my DD away last week - because dealing with 23 kids with D&V (out of 37) is a job that I would have run screaming from - and I've been to war FGS .

All 3 looked like they'd aged 10 years when they got back. I thanked them from the bottom of my heart - and you know what, I did think they got overtime. So thanks for the heads up OP, I think DD will be going in with a small gift after Easter.

The difference kickass is as house and other volunteer youth group leaders have said, we give up our holiday time from work and more often than not, pay for the privilege. For example, we took our Cubs to PGL last month, we got three free places but Scouting POR states we need six adults. The three extra charged places were split between the six of us, so as well as loosing two days of my annual leave, I paid for the chance to supervise 24hrs per day for three days too. Most of our parents are very grateful but quite a few are not, the Cubs always are though and have a great time, that's why we do it. It won't help my CV but it does wonders for my self esteem to see young people enjoying themselves even while clearing up sick from too many sweets at 2am

I take my hats off to teachers, especially those that are also volunteers in Scouting and Guiding, thats real dedication for you, or madness.

silverbirch there is absolutely n you are 'responsible' for adults (even drunk ones or ones who have lost their tickets) in the way you would be for children
it's that sense of kresponsibility that would ensure I got no sleep

YANBU of course.

And if the paperwork from the school says "no phones" it's no bloody phones and your little darling must do without - do NOT sneak a phone into the bag!

(I'm not a teacher but my DSis was and I speak her voice there)

I'm a head of year and it actually costs me at least £30 to take kids away on a residential trip. I'm expected to organise it (I could say no, though. I do except that. I don't, because I don't want to disappoint the kids) and always buy the volunteers a bottle of wine or some chocs to say thank you. I like to make sure the volunteers feel appreciated so that they come with me again, but obviously won't claim the money back from school because it would impact on the pupils. It is hard work but worth it. There are elements of my job that I hate: the never ending targets, scrutiny, data, employment of education ministers who know nothing about education, daily news reports that begin 'schools are failing because' etc. However, I couldn't imagine doing anything else with my life. I know I make a difference. I work hard. Some days I'm working until 10 or 11 pm. During the holidays I'm in my office for at least 50% of the time. It is worth it though. And, when a parent or pupil thanks me for something I have done, it is always appreciated and uplifting.

Tbh even though a thank you is nice, I'd settle for not being openly hostile when I bring the children back. Just as an example at a sports event after school, that I've paid the petrol for and had to wait an hour and a half after collection time for some of the parents to decide to pick up their own children, we (the staff) were treated like absolute dirt. Some just flat out refused to acknowledge any of the staff or complained about 'our' need to take the children to these events. Really puts a downer on things for the children as well as they aren't stupid and pick up on their parent's attitude straight away.

12y dd is off on a residential to Germany leaving midnight on Sunday and returning 10pm Thursday - that is 4 very long days all in the Easter holidays.

I will of course be saying thank you and will expect dd to do so also - she would anyway without being asked; it's common courtesy and manners after all.

But then I've been a teacher and have done a residential. A 'free holiday' it was not!!! Parts were fun; lots were very stressful. I got very little sleep over the few days I was away and dealt with lots of issues whilst there. Yes I was paid my normal wage - no one asks for more. But you are expected to be on duty up to 24 hours a day and I don't remember any parent every saying thank you. I did one trip - never again!!! I am very thankful to dd's teachers who do offer their time, much of it free of charge, to allow dd to do go off and explore new places with her friends.

And IMO this isn't exclusive to teachers. People who give their time freely should be thanked without the need to be asking. I thanked the Brownie leaders when dd went away with them. I thank several people for their time, even when I know they're being paused handsomely for their time!

Saying thank you costs nothing but can mean so much!

God YANBU.

Really pisses me off when fellow parents grumble about teachers having 'free holidays' whilst they are looking after their children 24/7. Must be bloody hard work, hardly a holiday. Without those selfless teachers, our kids wouldn't get to do these trips and have the fantastic experiences they do.

Unfortunately however often it is said there will be some who think 'free holiday'. That attitude gets worse in secondary when they go abroad- as if being responsible 24/7 for a group of teenagers, in a foreign country, is a doddle!

Today DH is taking me to hospital in a minute to have a procedure done this morning. When we get back he will start writing assessments for 4 men. At 5pm he will go on call until midnight as a Community First Responder. Tomorrow he will have to finish the assessments. He will have worked the whole weekend, apart from 4 hours, for nothing. He does 7 hours almost every weekend for nothing.

I completely agree with Worra on this one. You never see posts from other professions asking for thanks. Did you see any posts requesting thanks from the forces when they helped out with the floods, or the fire strikes, or when so many of them had their leave cancelled so they could do the security at the Olympics?

Most of us know teachers don't get paid any extra for going away on trips and residentials and most of us are grateful that you do it. But imo posts like this don't put those of you who feel the need to post them in a good light.

DH travels with his job. He finds it tiring, especially when the travel hours are long or antisocial. However, he isn't responsible for anyone other than himself and constantly "on call".

I haven't been away with my schools other than curriculum day trips, but I am a leader in Guiding and go on plenty of sleep overs and residentials with the girls.

Many of our parents don't realise that we are volunteers. They think that the subs and trip costs are paid to us, not the basic running costs of the activity. The girls always appreciate the experience and talk about it for years. Many of the parents are also grateful, but some really don't appreciate the time and effort, and the benefits that their child has got from the experience. Given how dear our children are to us, isn't that worth. some appreciation?
When I worked in a shop, we were unpaid for the 30 minutes cleaning we were expected to do at the end of each day. I don't expect the customers to appreciate that as the stakes are much lower. (some legal pay conditions would have been appreciated though!) DH gets some form of appreciation through winning contracts and a pay bonus for profitable work.

I would find it extremely rude not to thank those who help in any way at all. I thank bus drivers, waiters anyone-politeness costs nothing.
Too many people think 'It is their job - I don't need to'.

I can't believe how people can argue about a quick 'thank you'!

Mehitable6 - spot on.

I always make a point of thanking the ticket guards at stations. I have a paper season ticket which has lost its machine readability. It doesn't take a second to say thank you as they let me through.

If someone one does something even slightly out of the norm - say thank you.