To take DS out of school tomorrow

[IsabelleSE19]

DS is in Year 2. His year are on a one-night residential this week, over the course of three days (some children are going Wed-Thu and the rest Thu-Fri, out of school for two full days each). He was one of 6 DC who wanted to go but weren't selected (limited places). There are also about 20 DC who didn't want to go who are staying behind (out of a year group of about 85 DC).

So on Thu there will be about 25 children still in school. I haven't really been able to find out what they will be doing despite messages to teachers. WIBU to take my son out and take him on a trip of our own instead? I think I would tell the truth about what I was doing, rather than lie and say he's ill, although it will presumably be unauthorised absence. Am a bit that the school do this kind of trip (and bang on about how great it is for independence and bonding) but don't allow for everyone to have the chance to go.

Absolutely not acceptable. We had more students sign up for our camp this year than normal, so we changed venues to accommodate them all, we didn't say tough luck and make some stay behind. It's very unfair. I'd be complaining long and loud about it.

School is out of order. Take DS, have super time, post all over SM, write complaint to HT and copy to governors.

Absolutely take your ds out. In yr6 I will probably be taking dd out for a week as the school trip isn’t really suitable for her. She has a medical condition, where her heart stops beating and restarts but she isn’t able to move for quite some time. The school failed to supervise her appropriately for swimming. Yr 6 trip is mainly water based and I’ve taken advice from a swim instructor as to what would happen to dd - she’d sink a little so I’m very nervous that she would potentially not be very visible, could drown and die. No way on earth is she going to school that week.

Part of me thinks it's a learning curve for secondary, as in you don't always get what you want in life but for primary, NO WAY!!!

Problem in secondary was that some of the kids that got pulled were great students who behaved and had high attendance. However they do have a policy to ban very bad,y behaved kids from going. One girl got pulled last minute for making a fake school Instagram account in which the head was described as an arse.

I would do as others said and write to governors. If anything like this comes up again, complain before you know whether your son has 'got in' about the unfairness.

I can't fathom this. How can they run an activity that excludes 6 students?? That's absolutely rubbish. If they can't provide the same opportunity to all the children then they should choose a different place or activity that can accommodate all of them.

Ludicrous.

To answer your question, I would let him stay home if that's what he wants.

Thanks for all the replies. I asked the school what the children not on the trip would be doing, and the reply didn't sound like much fun (problem-solving in maths, team building competition, among other things ).

So he's not going in today. As luck would have it, it's DD's preschool trip today to a farm and other children are welcome so we're all going on that instead. I've emailed the school and explained why he's not going in - I don't want to lie and say he's ill, partly because I don't want him to have to lie and partly because I want the school to have to register unauthorised absence and to know why.

In answer to some PPs, DS is positively angelic at school unlike at home and has excellent attendance, so I believe the selection was totally random. Apparently he and the other ones left out will be given first refusal on next year's residential which is three times the cost of this one

Well that's good but I still think you need to complain properly that it's just not on to exclude six students from a whole year trip.
Hope he isn't too sad about it.

Could it be partly to do with the age of children to the ratio of adults that need to go? As they're younger they need more adults to go and if they don't have the adults, they can't take as many children?

Just got the school newsletter with lots of lovely pictures of the children on the trip enjoying themselves and now feel even worse for my DS.

I think I will make an official complaint to the school (there has been no response at all to the email I sent yesterday saying he would be absent) - should I write to the head or the governors?

He isn't just one of 6 though, he is 1 of 25, with 60 out of 85 able to go. I'm sure some of those 25 would also have loved to have gone because of their family circumstances, or they missed the deadline etc. DD's school used to allocate places by lottery and the children who stayed behind still had fun. The maths problem solving and team building games are unlikely to be just like normal lesso s and staff usually make a fuss of the ones left behind. Unfortunately this will the first of many trips he won't get a place on.

I think unless a trip can be open to everyone it shouldn't be organised at all, that's how the trips at our primary school were done, no one was ever left out at all. I would complain to the governors about that policy

As a (secondary) teacher and a (primary) governor I say keep him off and then complain to the governors - it is unacceptable that any kid should be left off the trip if they would like to go. If this specific residential can't cater for the whole year group, the school needs to find one that can