to not let five-year-old child go on school trip into central London

[Blueflowers2011]

as title says, Year 1 (age 5 mostly) are going on a trip into London, which consists of 30 children and supervising adults travelling on 1 rail train, interchange to 1 underground tube train then a 20 min walk when they get to the other side to visit a shop.

A couple of parents are now saying they are not allowing their child to go which is also confirming my thoughts initially, which btw is mostly due to anything happening in London in general.

I have worked in London all my life and it's bad enough travelling on the tube everyday as an adult, let alone a 5 yr old child. Many parents also feel it's an unneccassary trip at this age just to visit a shop and how it works.

I encourage most things and experiences for my children but just feel this one is a bit too much for a 5 yr old. Am I worrying too much or should I just let them go?

thanks all for your further replies, they are appearing in dribs and drabs so my wifi is probably not working at home properly again. Appreciate your reassurances and i always try to understand other's worries too.
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Luchi, thanks for sharing and your advice, must have been worrying times in the US during that time for you.

There have just been some nice replies about not belittling people's fears and emotions Craigie...

No, I wouldn't have let my DC travel through central London on public transport, in a school group, at the age of 5.
Your DC's teachers must have nerves of steel.
Also can't stand 'educational' trips to places like 'Hamleys' or 'build a bear' but that's a whole other thread

Nope not a chance my dd would be going!

Plenty of time for that and not age 5

Craigie how about you stop being so very unpleasant and attacking? How about that? Totally unnecessary viciousness towards the OP. I have reported you.

I'd feel a bit edgy about it, but then I feel like that with a lot of things my 5yo ds does. If he's confident enough to want to do something then I generally try very hard to hide my anxieties and let him do it. Freaks me out a bit, but providing his safety is paramount and any risks are mitigated, I put my (usually irrational) feelings to one side a bit. He'd love to do something like this, as I suspect most 5 year olds would.

Absolutely no chance id let a 5 year old go on that trip ! .....

Its absolutely unnecessary !....

Im taking the kids to EuroDisney on Friday

Is going to EuroDisney necessary?

Honestly, I work very close to a major Central London museum popular with school groups, and probably encounter 3-4 large groups of children every day. I have never once witnessed any scenario that would give me cause for concern if one of the children on the trips were mine. It's pretty annoying for everyone else as they clog up carriages, ticket halls, pavements, pedestrian crossings, etc. But the children are fine.

The parents who commute probably do so at peak times when the tube is akin to the seventh circle of hell. I would assume from the need for an overground train that none of them actually live in Cental London so don't actually spend much time travelling off-peak, when you could easily fit a class of children in a carriage. They'll probably be using the Central, Victoria or Picadilly lines, all of which only have gaps of 2-3 mins max between trains, so even if it's unusually packed, they can let a couple of trains go.

Also, TFL staff are pretty great and keep an eye out for all vulnerable travellers. A child stranded at a tube station would be immediately spotted on CCTV and collected by a member of staff who would radio through to the next station(s) to alert a member of staff there who could then track down the teachers.

As someone who has done this for paid employment, it is far more worrying taking a large group of young teenagers on public transport and into a shop, than very young children. There are lots more things that can go wrong. With young kids you hold hands, wait for a quiet tube, and get them all into the same carriage. I agree with someone else that it will be a harder job in Hamleys for the staff to keep them all together. The tube is actually the easy bit.

I am and at this thread!

There are going to be an awful lot of terribly sheltered kids growing up with no concept of self-sufficiency.

For me it would depend on the adult/child ratio

I'd want it to be 1 adult to 3 children for a trip of this nature. When my dd was ks1, school trips would be staffed 1:6 by teachers but the addition of parents would make it 1:3. I have helped on the trips and they seemed very safe. I was told to make sure I could see child X, Y and Z at all times when we were roaming a public museum. One of them was my own child so there were no restrictions about helping in your own child's class.

My Ds (9) recently went on a trip to London.. Due to him not talking much about it I am not entirely sure everything he did..However I can say the schools asked for as many parents as possible. There were put into groups of about 4/5 to teacher of helper.

My DS had a great time ..Was I anxious yes...I find been in London with him anxiety provoking ...However I had confidence it would all be risk assessed there would be lots of counting. A teacher was in London the weekend before doing all risk assessments.

I haven't read all the thread but I would just talk to the teacher about your concerns not on the playground...All parents tend to work each other up into a frenzy.. those not sending their kids will want you to join them to confirm there decision is right.

Sometimes mumsnet reminds me I am in fact on another planet. A planet where London is just a place where we go about our daily lives and children are brought up doing all the things children do everywhere else (plus obvs a few other things besides, like stepping on escalators...) And a planet where, when a school trip is planned, I just assume the school will have thought it through and have everything in hand, and sign the consent form in an un-angst-ridden fashion.

(Why does London alarm people so much? I know I live here and it's my home - but I'd really like to understand a bit.)

Does anyone actually know a child who has been left behind on a tube platform? I mean actually know, not "my friend's neighbour's cousin's kid" or similar...

I don't know of a child who has been hit by a car Greatbigwho but I still hold my dc's hand when we cross the road. Slightly dramatic comparison yes, but you get the point.

Probably much much safer taking 5 years to London than teenagers - I went as a 6th form helper on a year 10 trip to London once and lost two of my group in Leicester Square!

I wouldn't allow DD to go. Most of people would because they are open minded, that's why so many shot her inside their heads. You're right OP

*so many shit gets inside their heads

I don't understand your post flamingo

Care to translate that into human, flamingo?

You on the other hand have a closed mind then, flamingo? Funny how we can tell...

Littleflamingo, could you think about what you are trying to say and then try again with your post?

Teenagers are a nightmare to take to busy places on trips. And in a shop you have the added stress of checking none of them are shoplifting. 5 year olds are way easier, and the ratios are much higher.

I would let my son go. I've taken him into London and 2 and he adored the hustle and bustle. To the poster who thinks it's safer to take their children to euro Disney when I was there we actually experienced a bomb scare and the park had to be evacuated in the summer which has never occurred to me on rare visits to London in my 28 years!

As other people have said children get buses and tubes in london every day and it's very commonplace and as long as the trip is well staffed I'd be fine letting my little one go! I'd probably try to volunteer as a helper but I love any excuse for a day trip lol