In thinking almost 5 grand for a school trip is beyond the joke ??

[BabySharkAteMyHamster]

We live in a town with a massive, rich poor divide. A lot of jobs here are highly skilled so if you can't do those there's little else. It has massive pits of deprivation as well as very wealthy areas.

There are two schools. One being an academy in the middle of one of the poorest areas of the town but also next to an estate where houses sell for upwards of 500k.

Who the hell thinks these trips are a good idea ?? It serves nothing but to highlight the massive rich poor divide and yet again kids who have heard 'no' pretty much from the day they were born will be on the outside looking in whilst the wealthier kids swan off on a month long trip to south America to build schools and lord knows what else . Options are pay half now and half later or pay £60 per week for the next 2 years (( my food bill ))

Why the hell arent these things capped ?? £1000 yes, families could make cutbacks over 2 years and give their kids a chance to experience life outside their barrier but 5 grand is just an impossible task for so many.

Considering so many schools these days obsess over stupid details on school uniforms so that 'every child is equal' isnt it a bit odd they seem to think it's ok to constantly remind them just how unequal they actually are 🤔🤷‍♀️

It's not compulsory, if you can't afford it don't send the kids. I don't see why others have to miss out.

It's a charity trip. Those kids in South America need (and deserve) 'schools and lord knows what else'. I think it's great your kid's school is running it.

@schoty77

'Those kids in South America' do not need a group of teenagers who'd never be allowed on a building site in the UK to 'build' them a school.

@Akanamali A lot of my students have done similar work with successful outcomes (and the life experience was invaluable). But you're free to your opinion, as I am to mine .

Wow, there is a lot of bitterness on this thread.
I have said numerous time that my daughter is from a single parent household and will be fund raising to pay for her trip.

No one is forced to pay for anything.

@schoty77 Unless your students were skilled builders the only outcome was a few Gap Yah stories and Facebook albums.

And I completely respect your right to an opinion. Just pointing out that it's misguided and a bit ignorant.

@TopBitchoftheWitches Your daughter sounds like a good kid wanting to make a difference and has probably be sucked in by the holiday company's very effective advertising techniques. The failings of this industry aren't your 15 year old's fault and I can't remember what my replies to your posts said but I apologise if I came across as personally attacking her.

It's not a school trip as such because it isn't organised by the school to tie into the curriculum, but rather run by an outside organisation.

I can't get worked up about an optional adventure holiday being offered to sixth formers, in the holidays, however expensive it is. There'll be a lot of interest initially but the majority won't go, so no stigma attached whatsoever.

My issue is with the unpalatable voluntourism as pp have said, and the unethical way these companies sell themselves to the kids. They push push push the fact that the kids should self fund and raise the money themselves but raising £250pm is actually extremely difficult. By the time kids realise this and try to pull out they're responsible for a big % of the holiday cost and it's a lot. Booking a luxury family holiday with any tour operator would allow you to cancel up to about two months before travel, albeit losing the deposit. Within a few months of signing up these kids are legally committed to paying 50% even if they don't go.

You can travel anywhere in the world for £5000. My advice, if you have the cash or your kids are confident they can raise it, is to let them organise a holiday/trip themselves and cut out the mercenary and unethical Camps International or similar.

I often think the destination of some of these trips are chosen by the teachers who will be supervising as it's on their bucket lists. our school did te battlefields trips for year 8 which was educational, they also did California and Vegas every two years for year 12 which most definitely wasn't and the students needed far less supervision!

@Akanamali The very definition of ignorance is the lack of information. Since you don't know myself or my students, nor the work that was completed, your opinion on its validity is both ignorant and misguided. I'll leave it there.

I'm glad to read some of these posts. I'd like to add that the total amount spent is actually more than the, say, £5000 that needs to be paid. This year I had two friends' kids in two separate schools who were going on these trips. Both private schools. To fundraise there were many activities organised, including balls. One (that I know of) was haggling the suppliers hard, on the basis it was for poor children in [developing country].

So the caterers DJ etc all expected to work for less.

Then there's the actual costs involved, so from the £100 or whatever for the ticket, say £40 money went to paying the cost of the ball. This is normal, obviously, but it means that the cost of the trip, the money spent is higher than £5000 for the trip.

Having lived somewhere that would be ripe for this type of voluntourism if it weren't for the religion, it makes me physically sick knowing exactly what all that money could do in a single community. We simply can't imagine.

And to the poster who said we can't give the money to there people/communities directly because they're corrupt: 1. I'm sure you didn't mean to tarnish the majority of the world (we're the minority, living in "developed" countries). 2. If corruption is taking money meant for one thing (building a school) and use it for other/personal purposes, then what's the difference with these trips? Money taken to build a school/teach kids and spent on unskilled, completely inexperienced builders or teachers so that they can have a bit of fun both "building" or "teaching" before doing a PADI course, or whatever.

TopBitchoftheWitches

All credit to your DD for raising and saving the money herself - the work ethic and self-discipline will stand her in good stead.

In terms of things to think about and ask the school when you see them, this Guardian article gives a really good summary of what's wrong with voluntourism. It also illustrates how careful you need to be when wanting to work in charitable endeavours abroad - because in a lot of cases you can end up doing more harm than good.

schoty77 I'm sure the life experience was invaluable for your students. Was it truly the same for the community in which they worked?

Build a school / dig a well / teach English etc., are more effective when they are completed by the adults who live within that community - it provides them with employment and economic benefit and leaves lasting skills which can be passed on. Imagine the difference these project leaders could achieve if they were dedicating their time and energy into training and supporting the adults within the community, instead of supervising groups of Western children on a 'life changing' school trip experience?

I used to work with a guy who was a former builder. He used his holiday time from work to go abroad every year, paying for his own flights, travel and accommodation in situ (which was more often than not a tent). He'd start a building project - like a school, or washing facilities and take a group of adults within the community and show and teach them how to build. He'd go back to the same place a few years running and each time the level of skill and knowledge would be increased - leaving adults behind with solid training which they could then use to not only improve their own communities but also find paid work.

Likewise I have a friend who is a nurse and goes to the same charity clinic every year to help - her presence allows a permanent staff member to have some leave and downtime, safe in the knowledge that a trained professional is covering their absence.

ResistanceIsNecessary
But that makes sense. They have skills to share and offer.
I know of some school trips where the UK school has built a relationship with the overseas school, UK teachers offer their skills and training etc and then they can bring maybe 12 students with them when they travel. The central focus is on the school partnerships.
That also makes sense.

What doesn't make sense is the idea that 15 year olds with no life or work experience somehow are going to make a better job of building a house, decorating an orphanage, teaching children than specialist adults with training and experience in those areas.

We had a trip for £3800 - we said no way. But kids were fundraising for it, some got jobs. On a side note I completely object to "fundraising" for exotic charity trips eg walk the Great Wall of China etc people should pay the holiday element themselves or choose something closer to home to raise funds for the good cause of their choice

I think this sort of wildly patronising school trip where rich British children are led to believe they have something valuable to offer poor communities in developing countries feeds Brexit madness and ideas of British power and superiority. The whole thing is a huge delusion.

Maisy yep, totally agree.

It's so difficult to have this conversation with kids as well, because they are excited (understandably) and feel that they are doing something positive. You don't want to remove that motivation and desire to help but there is an absolute responsibility to ensure that their personal development and growth does not happen at the expense of someone else's kids, just because they happen to be "poor".

School children in the U.K. could do so many positive things in their own country, given the chance.

That's far too much. We counted ourselves lucky to get a day out in Derbyshire. Times have changed and expectations are higher. Just say no.

Bumper lf you read my post l wasn't connecting the two trips. One was an adventure holiday diving and helping a turtle conservation charity restore beaches and the other - the one l wasn't very comfortable with - was a Y10/Y11 trip to Poland. DS1 went and came back full of tales of shopping trips and illicit vodka sampling. The format of death camp visit in the morning then chocolate factory after lunch didn't sit happily in my head. I'm aware of the sponsored 6th form visits that you are describing and they sound nothing like the trip DS went on - which is great.

This is why I prefer the D of E scheme as it encourages volunteering locally over a longer period of time - less glamorous and more of a commitment. Less expensive. Etc

Agree that commitment over time to unglamorous and worthwhile projects in your own community is much more formative than short exotic trips.

DD16 has been invited On a trip to an Asian country cost £3900. Beyond our pockets. It's a build a school, humanitarian type trip. DH and I think £3900 x 30 kids = £117k......just give the poor village £117k, they'll probably do more with that money than have a load of school kids rock up needing to be kept busy and entertained.

I used to work in a school which offered one of these ‘trip of a lifetime’ holidays for the sixth form. It was a big company beginning with W. One of the trips was to Nepal and involved a Himalaya trek. There was a H&S incident involving one of the leaders and, had it not been for the fact that the accompanying teacher with that group was a very experienced climber/hiker, it could have ended very badly.

Over the years, and having seen many students work towards and go on these ‘adventures’ I came to the conclusion that they are an absolute rip-off. It’s not just the cost of the trip - there is all the equipment, the vaccinations, the ‘preparation weekens’ etc.

On top of that, for an individual student:

• they have to go to the destination chosen by the school
• they may end up in a group with students they don’t know/don’t like
• they may end up wiht an itinerary not of their choice
• they may end up with a teacher they don’t like

All very fine and ‘educational’ and brilliant for developing interpersonal skills, but if I’m spending £5,000+ on a ‘trip’ I bloody well want it to be my choice from start to finish.

If my kids want to do some overseas volunteer work, there a better ways of doing it. If they want a luxury overseas trip, there are far better ways or organising one.

TBH the air tickets and eye watering health & travel insurances suck up most of the cash for these trips to far flung destinations.

I agreed with the awfulness of voluntourism. Maisypop our bog stanard primary and it's even more bog standard feeder comprehensive, don't do these trips, the £1200 USA sking trip was abandoned no one could afford it.
But both schools raise money, every year,
The primary pays for 2 girls in Botswana to go to school. 1 is now a teacher in her village, the other is a midwife in her's.
The comp pays the salary of a teacher in Nambia and for all the books and equipment for around 300 pupils to attend the school. This is the number of students it educates each year.
Surely much better use of money.

I am unsure of Holocause visits, there was the 2 students from an very posh independant school who where arrested for stealing and many seem to be only a hour or two in a week long jolly.

In our school, the holocaust survivors bring their stories in person. You see their tattoo numbers, all three still had personal items from their youth. In the assembly before they speak, they show the original cinefilm from the camps been liberated and then interviews with survivors filmed within days of liberation. Many students have to leave to be sick.
Much more hitting then a few buildings 70 years later.
I totally accept that for Jewish people and relatives of survivors they are important to visit. Plus they need to be perserved for history but not sure it vital for my kids too visit. The 3 holcaust survivors did a brilliant job.