Teachers are saints on MN so probably IABU

[Sportycustard]

DS is going on a school trip in 2 weeks time. It's a complicated trip to two countries with two different currencies, flying into one and out of the other.

I contacted the school yesterday to ask for:

Departure times - so I can plan accordingly. The kids seem to think that drop off will be in the middle of the night so I need to sort out a plan for my younger DCs as DH is away on business.

The airline (so I know what case to buy as it's hand luggage only)

Some sort of idea of what meals they need to buy so I can order the two currencies

I've just had a rather abrupt email from the school office telling me that they "hope to have this information in 7-10 days".

AiBU to think this is completely unacceptable? We don't even have a plan for the trip yet - even down to knowing which country they are going to first!

I know the teachers are giving up their time etc etc but I have a life too!

So you will potentially know three days before they travel? That seems very disorganised to me.

That's madly unacceptable. Unfortunately, your thread title is also madly goady.

YANBU and I’m a teacher.
This is all info they must already have.
Whenever mine were going abroad there was a meeting a few weeks before AND they asked for copies of passports and EHic cards well in advance.

I would be very anxious with this. I’m all about the planning. Dd is traveling with school in April and I’m starting now to feel uneasy with no confirmed information now. Giving three days to plan is just not on.

Is there a department head that you could contact to explain the need for more notice.

If you know the airports they're travelling to and from you can work out the travel details yourself.

Teacher here: that's not good planning. I'd be pissed off too, in your shoes.

Someone does have a plan as flights are obviously booked- this is ridiculous.

I would expect more information at this late stage. Sounds a bit disorganised. Ive organised school trips many moons ago and most of this info is available at the time of booking.
Maybe there are communication issues between the school office and whoever is organising the trip.
Can you bypass the school office and go straight to the horses’s mouth?

Definitely a goody title.

Perhaps you would better asking questions or answers you actually need eg will it be handluggage only? and how much of each currency do you recommend for food?

Are teachers responsible for making the arrangements?

No it’s isnt good planning. So yanbu. Yabu to be so bloody rude in your thread title when you have no call to be.

Sorry about the title. I am really angry about this and it probably overflowed.

We don't know the airports, airlines or flight details. Also no idea of hotels except that one part is half board, the other just bed and breakfast.

Nope, YANBU.

Staff do that kind of thing to me all the time when I'm trying to get stuff organised. It's the most frustrating part of the job, knowing you need to do x, y and z by a certain point or it's prone to going tits up/you'll get a constant stream of bollocking messages from parents, but the one person who is able to solve all this in an instant either hasn't got around to it yet or has but won't tell you in case they decide to change everything at the last moment. although parents seemingly incapable of paying in full with only 9 months to pay and countless reminders or not producing the passports they were told they needed a month before because they're too stupid to think that 'you need to ensure their passport is valid one month before departure' applies to their child and decide to try and renew it the day before leaving sometimes have a lot to do with it

Unfortunately, rather than bothering the office staff, you need to bother whoever is technically in charge of the trip - Head of History, Deputy Head, Head of Languages, whoever. The office staff will probably be more than happy to give you their direct line and email address as they're already sick to the back teeth of this shit happening with every trip .

If you know the airports they're travelling to and from you can work out the travel details yourself.

How, exactly? Depending on what country they’re going to, there could be several flights that day on at least a couple of different carriers. They could each have different baggage allowances. And knowing the airport won’t give OP any information about how much currency to buy!

Also not allowed to email head of department directly. All emails go through school office. Tried to call today but they would only take a message.

There is no meeting about the trip planned.

I am actually wondering if this trip is safe.

I am a teacher and this is extremely poor organisation and I would complain, so YANBU.

However, your sarcastic, pretentious title is very unreasonable. It made me and I'm sure other teachers feel very pissed off.

I am actually wondering if this trip is safe
I've pulled my DS from a trip before when the lack of organisation concerned me - and I'm a pretty laid back parent. But the thought of my son on the other side of the world in a country where he couldn't speak the language, relying on people who couldn't organise for toffee really worried me. To be honest, the lack of information so close to the trip would concern me - surely they've booked the flights already??

Yanbu. I expect the trip itself is already organised but someone somewhere can't be arsed to put together an information pack for the parents. That's really poor.

I'm a saintly teacher and I would say YANBU. You should have had an itinerary and a packing list ages ago! However I'd hate my emails having to go through the office, much easier to deal direct and any mistakes are your own. Is it the same rule with a phone call?

Personally I don’t think the OP title is goady, quite accurate in my opinion.

But NO OP I’d email back and say that the waiting time is unacceptable and advise of the above, and how they they expect prents to be organised if they are so lack with the specific!

I mean it’s not as if they haven’t had the time to plan and gather the relevant information required for the trip

It does sound like a bit of a shambles. How old is your DC?

Poor organisation and you are right to be annoyed. I'd definitely be asking for more information sooner than 7 -10 days.

"Teachers are saints on Mumsnet"? At last - a forum that recognises the hours, effort and emotional input of teachers.

I’ve organised a good few trips in my time. Cannot understand this shocking disorganisation. Definitely complain.

Sounds awful. My ds is off skiing soon and we had a trip meeting about 4 months ago and regular update emails. I would not be happy!

heyha yes phone calls and emails go through the office and staff emails are not made available to parents.

I appreciate the need for work life balance but it's a bit of a pain right now.

DD's school do allow parents to email directly and I always start emails by explaining that, although I am emailing out of hours, I don't expect them to and that I am just doing admin at a time that works for me.