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

[Mintyy]

Why do schools do this?

If someone can explain, I am all ears!

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

Bubble you missed the point. The point being that schools dont have to organise two weeks to Africa for 20 kids they could organise a trip for all the kids to Wales .. thereby narrowing the gap, making it affordable. They could do both.

I haven't missed the point, I've tried to explain why the gap cannot be narrowed. School takes kids to Wales, parents will take kids to Africa as well. Gap not narrowed.

The difference is that school.is for all, and they should cater for all, and not just those that have deep pockets.

Exactly Sally and every second of time and ounce of goodwill spent on these trips takes away from the majority

It still wouldnt make any difference. I know parents can afford the trips but don't go, and ones who can't afford the trips but wouldn't go anyway even if subsidised.

We have had trips cancelled due to not enough take up so then none of the children get to go. Even curriculum ones where you only pay if you can.

There is never going to be an even playing field. Not in school, work or personal lives

I'd still like to go back to a previous point - what happened to proper school field trips? Looking at glacial features in the Lake District, running around Norman ruins or measuring long shore drift on a Devon beach? Trips at DS's school have been kayaking down the Ardeche or similar - fun activities but I'd much rather they got something useful for school courses out of it. Fine to have something like a skiing trip just for fun, but I think schools are missing a trick.

My DCs went on trips that were for school subjects. (Apart from the one ski trip)

Our school doesn't do any residential field trips - we have Activities week, which is really just expensive holidays for the S1-S3s.

Guilty for letting my kids go on Europe ski trips with their Academy as it was something we could never afford as a family. However we drew the line and certainly couldn't afford trips to LA and Hollywood, New York, Iceland, Peru which the school boasts about and uses as a sales ploy to encourage middle class 'achiever' families to join the schol from out of catchment at open days. However we note it is always the same kids and same teachers (strange how the teachers so keen for free trip and have to be in staff room clique to get on!!) our school does not subsidise FSM kids on such trips. It is not realistic to say that children could raise the thousands required, unless they have very supportive parents with time to spare. There is only one 'inclusive' 3 day camping trip in Year 7. The children who would benefit most tend to have the least supportive or able home lives. In comparison, the local grammar and private schools do trips to Wales, Isle of Wight at reasonable cost. IMO yet another Academy fail.

Of course there is not equality of opportunity in life, but there should be equality of opportunity at school.

When schools advertise expensive trips they normalise the idea that this is the kind of thing your parents should pay for, not the kind of thing you wait maybe 5 years to pay for yourself.

Agree, merry mouse. But that doesn't seem to be an OFSTED requirement for 'outstanding' and thus the career progression of involved staff, who are praised for their extra curricular commitment and creative curriculum choices??

Oops tablet fail on ??

If parents don't want their children to go on expensive trips or they can't afford it thennt send them, easy. At my ds's secondary school all pupils who get free school meals get to go completely free on all days out and trips away and it makes my boil. This year I paid £724 for my ds to go Barcelona and i'm shelling out another £692 for him to go to Berlin next year. I can afford it so I'm not going to allow my child to miss out but why should other people get it free of charge?.....so i get a little annoyed when I see parents moaning about the cost, if you don't want your child to go then don't allow them to.

Pupil Premium for 2015-16

£1,320 for pupils in reception year to year 6
£935 for pupils in year 7 to year 11

Thats not going to cover the cost of some of the trips mentioned on here.

"Schools are free to spend the Pupil Premium as they see
fit. However, they are accountable for how they use the
additional funding to support pupils from low-income
families and the other target groups. "

So, if a school does use it to pay for trips they must report that and demonstrate how it helps to close the gap, and what impact it has on progress for pP children as a whole.