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Original poster

School trips which are only affordable to a minority of parents - just why?

266 replies

Mintyy · 01/10/2015 21:10

Why do schools do this?

If someone can explain, I am all ears!

I am talking about non-leafy state comprehensive schools here.

OP posts:
BrendaandEddie · 04/10/2015 07:54

You would be surprised what kind of families actually do sometimes go on these trips, in my experience we have had a parents scrimp and save and get extra jobs to send the kids on the trips that they themselves no they can't afford as a family

Mehitabel6 · 04/10/2015 07:57

Maybe many of you have not had to try and find a family holiday to suit a 13yr old and a 3 yr old or you would be grateful that the 13 yr old could go off and do something at their level, freeing you up to dig sand castles and feed the ducks without feeling guilty.

Mehitabel6 · 04/10/2015 08:01

Apparently you are not allowed to scrimp and save Brenda - you are utterly ridiculous if you choose the new kitchen as first priority! (And putting your baby in a second hand outfit is living in poverty!).

merrymouse · 04/10/2015 08:14

Plenty of average families can't afford new kitchens and already buy second hand. Scrimping and saving to go on an expensive holiday only works if there is room to scrimp and save.

Nobody is complaining about reasonably priced educational school trips where everybody is enabled to go, or trips that genuinely provide a holiday for children who would otherwise never experience going on holiday.

It's not a question of everyone missing out on residential trips because some families can't afford them because nobody is questioning the value of low cost trips that can be subsidised by the school.

It's only the very expensive trips with tenuous educational value that are being questioned.

I have no idea about the PTA credentials of anyone on this thread.

GnomeDePlume · 04/10/2015 08:15

Schools should not be offering holidays. Full stop. They arent a travel agent.

The skiing trip, the French trip which is just a jolly to a supermarket and Eurodisney, the shopping geography trip to New York. All of these are holidays.

If as a parent you want your DCs to experience these then sort it out yourself. There are plenty of companies around which run these trips.

School time, resources and teachers' goodwill should not be wasted on promoting these trips.

merrymouse · 04/10/2015 08:22

I don't think it's really within the school's remit to sort out the problem of a 13 year old and a 3 year old going on holiday together. Butlins?

Mehitabel6 · 04/10/2015 08:23

I couldn't afford to sort it for a family of 5 and why would I want to take the 5 yr old to Russia?
When I went on my educational cruise 50 yrs ago I had never been abroad- my parents had never been abroad (unless you count the war). As a family we went camping in UK. I am very grateful for the opportunity ( which was in the Easter holidays)

If you gave every child a free activity week there would be parents moaning about the cost of clothing- even though you only need something from a car boot or charity shop to go down a cave!

The bottom line is that there is a demand and while there is they will continue. If no one wanted them they would stop.

Mehitabel6 · 04/10/2015 08:26

IT isn't in their remit but was very useful- long may it continue.

Certainly if the alternative you are trying to give me is Butlins!

Before I had children the only clear cut idea was to give them as many experiences as possible to widen horizons. That was top priority.

Other people are entitled to their priorities- I wouldn't dream of trying to stop them ( however misguided I think them).

Mehitabel6 · 04/10/2015 08:30

And where do you stop? Is the local scout troop not to do a camp in Switzerland every 5 yrs?

Mehitabel6 · 04/10/2015 08:31

Are children to only get what the family can afford so that some get no holiday, some get Butlins and some get the Bahamas?

Mehitabel6 · 04/10/2015 08:32

Is it fair for me to take my family abroad in August if other families can't afford it?

merrymouse · 04/10/2015 08:35

If you gave every child a free activity week there would be parents moaning about the cost of clothing- even though you only need something from a car boot or charity shop to go down a cave!

Maybe, but that is not what this thread is about. This thread us about expensive holidays with questionable educational value.

merrymouse · 04/10/2015 08:36

What is wrong with Butlins or somewhere of similar cost?

Washediris · 04/10/2015 08:46

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Horsemad · 04/10/2015 08:47

DS went to S Africa this year on a trip via school - £2.5K!!! Then there was the injections/malaria meds costing about £250 and the scuba diving qualification costing another few hundred pounds and the equipment/clothes etc.

Crazy money.

LittleLionMansMummy · 04/10/2015 08:49

I think they're horribly divisive. When i was at school it was who can afford the expensive trainers, now it's who can afford the expensive school trip. We probably could afford to send ds, but would need to be convinced of the educational value.

merrymouse · 04/10/2015 08:51

I'm only at the brownies stage but they certainly always offer to subsidise parents if lack of funds would stop them going on a trip.

Washediris · 04/10/2015 08:53

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

CrabbyPatties · 04/10/2015 08:55

I don't see why so many school trips have to be by plane nowadays. In the UK we are fortunate to love so near to France and Germany which have different languages to us and also have interesting cultural differences. Both are accessible by coach/ferry/train. They are fascinating countries with lots of relevant educational opportunities, language, history, geography, sports. Plus all the opportunities for trips we have at home in the UK. These types of trips can focus on education, they don't necessarily need to keep them away from school for many days and they give children the experience of going away independently from their families. What else do they need from a school trip? Why not save the further afield stuff for when they're adults?

Washediris · 04/10/2015 09:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

nokidshere · 04/10/2015 09:15

Our school do a weeks compulsory and subsidised residential in yr7, yr8 and yr9. The only children who don't go on those trips are the ones who refuse to.

From yr10 up there are a variety of trips offered, some educational and some not, at all pricing levels. The yr12/13 trips are likely to be in The Gambia or somewhere similar but the pupils have to fundraise part of the cost themselves. All the trips after yr10 are in the school holidays.

I don't see what the problem is really. All through our lives there will be some opportunities that are open to others but not us personally. We can't stop offering those opportunities just because some
Of us can't afford them.

Next year both of my boys will be going on school trips during school holidays. One of them skiing (something the rest of us don't went to do) and one climbing mountains and trekking (which would be my worst nightmare). I'm glad that someone else can take them and they will have a ball even if it will have taken me 18 months to pay for them. And both trips are under £800.

ISingSoprano · 04/10/2015 10:15

I went on a school ski trip. My parents weren't interested in skiing but it was something I REALLY wanted to do. It started a life long love of the sport and the mountains. I don't go very often but it is something I am prepared to save up for.

My dc both went on 'big' trips when they were 16 - ds did the previously mentioned sports tour, dd went on tour with the choir she sings with. Both of them contributed half the cost of the trip through their Saturday jobs and saving birthday money. Both were experiences we could in no way replicate through a family holiday. The trips weren't handed to them on a plate, they worked hard and went without other things to make it happen.

DrHarleenFrancesQuinzel · 04/10/2015 10:41

Sorry if this has been asked. Is PP the same fund that is also given to statemented children?

DS has a statement and recently went on a week's residential with school. We paid the deposit, but were then told we didn't need to pay any more as the funding was there for DS due to his statement. I thought the school had more funding to pay for things like TA or extra materials to help DS with his autism.

GnomeDePlume · 04/10/2015 11:04

It is interesting that the 'life is unfair so trips only available to a wealthier minority is fine' argument is almost exclusively offered by people who can afford the trips.

Since I was at school there seems to have been a steady inflation in both the scale and the number of trips offered by schools. The justification often seems to be 'but if we didnt offer these trips they wouldnt ever be able to go'.

This is a fallacy:

  1. if parents can afford the trips companies like PGL are more than happy to take their money for a wide range of trips
  2. these trips are not the only chance a person has to go to Iceland/India/New York/Wherever. These places arent Brigadoon, they will still be there when the young people are adults and can organise their own trips
Bubbletree4 · 04/10/2015 11:28

The answer is that life isn't fair op. Really it isn't and it cannot be made fair.

Because even if we redistribute wealth so that every person has in their bank account (say) £100, after a few days have elapsed, some of the people will still have £100, some will have none and some will have several hundred.

Life really isn't fair and it is a lottery. Some people are talented and clever. Some people have got a body/mind that lets them down or is riddled with illness.

I wish my ds didn't have learning difficulties. And I'd like a Mercedes. I also wish my husband hadn't had an affair and that my mum's cancer never happened. But that's life.

If school didn't offer these trips, parents would buy their children these experiences, those who could afford it obviously. If schools don't take children swimming for eg, some parents can buy private lessons. Etc. If school didn't offer these trips, private companies would.