To be a bit scared about financial implications of new school?

[LovelyBath]

OK so it looks great, the local secondary school. However it does have very expensive trips etc. I know I should be grateful as it's a state school and has lots of opportunities etc etc. BUT I'm a bit worried about how much it's all going to cost. Apparently most of the after school clubs are free at secondary though so I suppose that's good.

To be honest some of the trips don't sound exactly necessary, but I guess if they didn't go on it they'd be well, left behind (which I suppose might be a lesson that we can't always do as we wish)

When we looked around I asked the boy showing our group around about the trips. What happens, about the trips costing a lot? He told me, well the ones who can afford it go and the others don't. I'm not sure how true this is or if there is some sort of a fund to help people.

I would have thought it might be better to have some sort of fund raising for charitable type trips maybe but the ones which were described were ones like:

A trip to (somewhere hot can't remember) to go snorkelling
A ski trip to the USA which cost thousands
Geography trip to Iceland

They have trips every year apparently so you can see that with more than one child this could add up!

Any thoughts? You might think, well don't send him there but it has a great reputation and it's our local school. Other options would mean a costly bus pass, which again I'm too stingy to want to do.

[Rememberallball]

Surely the pertinent word in the statement by the school is 'offered' trips to X, y and z place? Not that every child will attend.

At my school trips were offered - language exchanges, geography or history field trips, science trips. The science residential in GCSE years was pretty much compulsory as you had to do a project based on the experience but was only relevant to biology/combined science exams. There was also a skiing trip and outward bounds trip to Wales. The umportant thing was, except for course specific trips, they were all number specific trips and never more than 30-40 places so, if there were more applicants than places, they held a ballot for places.

[LovelyBath]

Just had a look on the school website to see what it says about the trips. It just says this, so no idea of numbers etc. They aren't that sporty so that might cut some of them out.

"During their time at School the children will be offered skiing visits to Europe and the United States, projects in Lesotho or South Africa, sporting tours to Devon, South Africa and the Caribbean, together with language exchanges to Italy, France, Spain and Germany. These opportunities are supplemented by an array of experiences which they will remember for many years to come, led by staff who are passionate about the positive effects of such activities."

[LovelyBath]

"skiing trips and lots of fancy expensive holidays and they are usually in a ballot system so I just leave it a bit late to apply and he doesn't get on them anyway."

I will bear that in mind worth a try!

[LovelyBath]

"They are expected to work or pay for those" (in the sixth form) That sounds like a good idea.

[LovelyBath]

Thanks for your replies, it is helpful. I agree it is the education that is most important not the trips. We will have to see about the trips as they come up, as to which would be good to go on and think of the cost at the time. I'm not going to pander to him just wanting to go on stuff for fun or because his mates are going, that sort of thing (or he can save up himself with a job or something for those kind of trips).

Even if most of them are going, there will probably be some who aren't.

[Babelange]

Don't panic; there aren't many trips (2 DSs Y8 & 10) and they are fairly well spaced out eg. DS1 (Y10) is going to Iceland this summer for 5 days costing £870. The school have given us a whole year to pay with a deposit and then 3 payments. Payment can be made via the school portal with a credit card so you can further space out the payments or move onto a 0% card. I did do a cat's bum face about the ski trip in Y10 but there's another opportunity to go in the sixth form - which we'd consider if still interested as a reward for good GCSE results. The expensive trips come in the sixth form - month in Costa Rica or Thailand but generally as they are older, they are expected to work or fund raise for those (£4000ish). The language trips generally only take 1 coach load and there's a ballot.

As to 'haves and have nots' which you allude to in your post. Your DCs will go to secondary and meet loads of people and will mostly be in the dark about their circumstances. It's quite refreshing as they turn up looking like little clones in their school uniform and seriously - no one is any the wiser!

[BertrandRussell]

"And these are trips that every single child goes on"

Really? Expensive trips that the entire year go on? All 150/200 odd?

[ZiggyMoondust]

Only a small number go on each expensive trip. If you can't afford it, your kids don't go. It's great that teachers are enthusiastic enough to arrange so many trips. I'm happy that my kids' state secondary offers so may choices but there's no way they'll go on all of them. I have no problem in them only doing what we can afford, neither do they.

[Sparklycat]

There will only be about 30/40 places on those expensive trips anyway and a year group of 200 it's marketed to so your child won't be in the minority if they don't go.

[redexpat]

I wouldnt panic just yet.

You could always encourage DC to get a paper round and then a job when they are 15. Or babysitting or dog walking or whatever.

You could also try grant giving organisations.

If I were you I would set up a savings account and a standing order of a certain amount each month. eg my 2 dc have 2 accounts each, and each account gets 10 quid per month. So when they get confirmed and want a year at boarding school the money is there (am abroad, different expectations for teens).

[DG2016]

Mine are at a private school and we could afford all the trips and they never choose to go on any which in my view is missing the opportunity so don't assume people don't go on them because they cannot afford them. Some children just like to stay at home and if going away to go away with their family ! Mind you their father enjoyed a good few trips - the teachers go free so it's quite a nice perk in a private (and presumably state school too).

[Babyroobs]

Kids will manage perfectly fine without going on an African safari or ski trip before they are out of their teens,it's ridiculous. A lot of the cost of these trips is all about insurance and travel costs and can probably be done a lot cheaper when they are adults. The most I ever went on as a teenager was a sixth form trip to Whitby fossil hunting and staying in a youth hostel. I'm really not sure when these trips became the norm.

[Heavens2Betsy]

My dc don't go on every school trip.
I try and do one residential trip a year and the as many of the various field trips and day trips as I can afford.
DS2s school is a grammar and offer skiing trips and lots of fancy expensive holidays and they are usually in a ballot system so I just leave it a bit late to apply and he doesn't get on them anyway.

[wotoodoo]

I am very glad our state secondary offers annual ski trips, African safaris, icelandic geography trips and other interesting trips in Europe and in this country. They also help children to go whose parents can't afford to go.

It definitely is not one glove fits all with regards to state secondaries, a lot have control of their own budgets nowadays. Ours is highly regarded, hs high expectations and has an excellent, well earnt reputation.

[Katenka]

Dd secondary is quite large.

None of the trips include whole years groups. Places are first come first served. Even on the language trips. Everyone who is studying French isn't going on the France trip.

Some go and some don't.
Dd doesn't want to go on her Spanish trip and she knows there is no way she would be spending the equivocal of a family holiday on a holiday for her.

I would be really surprised of all or most pupils go on several of these trips. I bet there are loads that don't go on any. Some through lack of funds some through choice

[Helenluvsrob]

The trips are optional.

DD2 is planning on going on the USA history trip for year 13. She will pay with a small inheritance from a great aunt I think as the message with the money was " use it to do something amazing" .

Previous trips we have paid for ( and 2 tours in the summer this year!) but we do get her to use her singing bursary for spending money ( the bursary is intended to recompense parents for travel and inconvenience re singing , it's not strictly " pay" ).

[Seriouslyffs]

Don't worry. The numbers are likely to be tiny. My dcs schools have the ski trips, ski team trips, antipodean sports etc. Iceland and I doubt DC could tell you who went!

[BoomBoomsCousin]

That makes it harder. Maybe investigate how many do go on the trips and see if you can find parents who are close to your financial circumstances you can talk to to see what the school feels like for their children. Then it's a matter of judging how yours will react to the situation.

For what it's worth, I was the "poor kid" at secondary school and got on just fine. It isn't always isolating. But the school was quite progressive and there were a fair few in my situation and not that many who were very well off. Plenty of trips I didn't go on though.

It feels very wrong that a family should feel a state school isn't for them because they don't have enough money though. And the more people who pull away because of it, the more entrenched the privilege becomes.

[Foxyloxy1plus1]

I don't think it would be the majority that go on expensive trips. There will be restrictions on numbers in any case.

I've been on school trips to France, Holland and USA. There were about 30 students and 6 staff. My own children didn't want to go on the school trips when they were at school and my parents couldn't afford for me to go. We weren't allowed Saturday jobs to help pay for them either, so I never went. I'd still like to go to St Jean de Luz, although I have been to other parts of the South of France.

I would be more concerned about the standard of education in general, rather than occasional trips abroad.

[LovelyBath]

I think they are in term time. I know they have a school cottage in Wales where the children do in the first few weeks in a kind of out of bounds trip and I don't think that is as expensive as they have the cottage for the school etc.

[Mistigri]

I don't understand why state schools run trips that many or most students can't afford. My daughter went to Madrid (language exchange) and Rome/ Naples (trip for Latin class) with her middle school and it cost under €200 each time. There was some fundraising to reduce the cost and they had to slum it a bit (they took an overnight public bus service to Madrid) - no child was excluded for lack of funds. I appreciate that we're a bit closer to these places, but the school also managed to run a very reasonable trip to Galway, which is much further away.

[LaurieLemons]

Even if the majority do go, there will be many that don't or can't afford to. Are they in the school holidays? If so he won't be feeling left out or anything. You and DS (pocket money) could try and save for one but he might not even be that bothered.

Sounds like they need to make up their minds whether they are private or state!

[LovelyBath]

I got the feeling the majority of the kids do go on the trips though. I think quite a few are wealthy and could well send their kids to private school but save the money and then have it for the trips. If you see what I mean. It is in fact a state school but also takes paying pupils as boarders I believe.