AIBU for £900!

[NCsally]

AIBU to think £900 for a 4 day school trip for 13/14 year olds is a tad excessive?? I would understand if it's a private school or even a school in an affluent area but it isn't! It's a poor area with very low wage jobs! Parents can barely afford school lunches let alone £900 for a trip which doesn't even include spending money etc

Over 20 years ago my parents paid £500 for me to go on a school skiing trip, it’s was a school in a deprived area but that didn’t mean everyone was on a low income, plenty of kids went and it was a good trip. I’ve always loved skiing and it’s my parents idea of hell, so it meant I got to go proper skiing on real snow for 5 days rather than 30 minutes on a dry slope.

I take it you haven't had the World Challenge lot round yet

“Presumably, none of the adult professional wildlife biologists who live in the country and have a hands-on knowledge of their own nation's ecology and environment was capable of doing this so it was decided that the only people with sufficient skills would be a group of random 15yos from the UK....”

Or failing that- even a group of random 15 year olds from the country concerned. Unless they were all too busy volunteering in food banks in the U.K........

I’m lol at the thought of teachers paying for there own trips! They are already giving up their own time- there is no extra pay available for them working overnight.
Reminds me when I took brownies on a trip, parents queried why the fee was a little bit more than they thought - to pay for the leaders tickets. Why aren’t the leaders paying for themselves? Because they are taking your ch8ldren for the day and actually probably won’t be able to make the most of the day as they are supervising your children round the attraction. It’s hardly rocket science.
But getting back to the op. £900 is a lot for a 4 day trip, especially if the area is deprived and school should know that kind of information. Is it the first time they’ve offered this kind of trip or have they done it before?

For the people who want the Swedish school. Do you want to pay the taxes that allow this kind of thing to happen?

Agree it’s not about how good value a trip it is. It’s £900 that most families at school will have to say no to. Not very inclusive.

Also agree that at least it’s way too much and that probably trips that are a £200 are going to be tricker for parents to say no to. Especially if good value.

I've paid £900 for a week all inclusive in Rhodes during the Easter holidays for 2 of us so £900 for 4 days for a child's trip is expensive wherever they're going !! Ski trip at our school was £810 this year

The whole “what trips should schools offer” debate is an interesting one. Ds’s school serves a catchment of significant social deprivation, and it was a subject we talked about a lot as Governors. We used to do a Year 7 trip to Cornwall but we decided that it was too soon for parents to have a reasonable chance of saving the money, so we stopped offering it. There is a skiing trip in year 10- but it’s possible to start paying for it a couple of years before. The trip to Ypres in year 9 is heavily subsidised and all other trips are as local and cheap as possible. As a school, we have been able to give the kids some fantastic opportunities through Erasmus- who knows what will happen there in the future?

There’s always a trade off between broadening their horizons and money. It’s a bugger, really. Particularly as it’s a grammar school area (sorry) and the kids from the school a mile down the road are likely to have many more travel opportunities both at school and at home.

It does depend where it's to, if it's NY, then understandable. Also would think excessive for a European ski trip.

But those saying it's not accessible to everyone, normally these overseas trips have limited numbers, and require a level of physical fitness and emotional ability to be away from families, so are never aimed at taking the full year group.

Take the money out of it (as that's only one reason not everyone can go), there's an argument against these trips that are planned for only a small group - but also for them as is it unfair that unless a non-complusary trip is suitable and possible for the whole year group to go, it shouldn't happen. (Essentially meaning no school would be able to run overnight trips)

Oh fgs OP do give us a bit more info

Doesn't matter where it's too. School shouldn't be proposing any trip with that sort of cost involved. It's far too exclusive.

What OP is trying to say is, regardless of where it is, schools shouldn’t expect patents to fork out £900 for a trip. Whether it’s worth it or not. She/he would rather spend that money else where. Yep I agree, unless it’s a private school, trips at under £30 per child should suffice.

Of course you pay for teachers to go on the trips for goodness sake.
I’m a teacher and trips aren’t particularly chill.
Thirteen year olds starting their periods when we are due to go for a hike up snowdon.
A fifteen year old threatening to let the boy he was supporting fall down an abseiling walk.
Going on a coach from Plymouth to Alton towers with vomiting children
Losing a teenager in Paris
Trying to stop year ten boys screeching Hail Hitler at auchwitz.

Honestly I would rather be at home. It’s not a jolly. And we don’t get any more money for the greater responsibility. I have to pay for my dog to board or ask my very kind mum to watch. Colleagues struggle w childcare.

We can’t possibly tell if YABU until we know where it is

Depends where it's going? South America - "no". South Croydon - "yes".

If it was Croydon, they'd have to pay the kids to go!

Bamchic absolutely hats off to you!

@BertrandRussell, just to clarify I wasn’t suggesting in my post that it is unreasonable for parents to subsidise teachers supervising trips. I was simply explaining why the cost is high and nothing more. I fully understand where you are coming from.

I don’t understand why people moan, if you can’t afford it then don’t send them.

Happynow001 I've asked that question before and not received an answer. Suspect it to be the case though (about subsidising the teachers' costs).

YABU

• Whatever price a trip is some families won't be able to afford it.
• Some families will pay for one trip per child during the 5/7 years of secondary.
• Sending 1 child on the trip is likely to be cheaper and more educational than trying to take the whole family.
• Most children won't do the trip so it's not a point of being one of the few left behind like a primary residential might be.
• Presumably they also offer other trips at a range of prices

Banana Yep I agree, unless it’s a private school, trips at under £30 per child should suffice.

So no MFL trips? No trips to Auschwitz for GCSE History? No West End Shows for GCSE Drama students? No helping broaden the horizons at all?

What OP is trying to say is, regardless of where it is, schools shouldn’t expect patents to fork out £900 for a trip.

But they are not expecting anything. It's an optional trip. It's offered. The parents can either send their kid or not. It's not compulsory.

Whether it’s worth it or not.

Well that part would be important to me when deciding whether to send my child or not.

She/he would rather spend that money else where.

That's ok, she/he can do just that.

Yep I agree, unless it’s a private school, trips at under £30 per child should suffice.

Haha haha.

“I was simply explaining why the cost is high and nothing more”

How much do you think including the teachers will push the cost per child up?

“Happynow001 I've asked that question before and not received an answer. Suspect it to be the case though (about subsidising the teachers' costs).”

It’s not a secret. Of course the teachers costs are included. Do you pay for your work trips?

DS has done three 'expensive' trips in his time at his secondary school. First one was £500 and then two in the sixth form (course-related) which cost £2300 in total - we were given a year's notice for the latter ones, so plenty of time to pay into the 'pot' on a monthly basis. His school offers on average three expensive trips a year - skiing is an annual trip and there's one to Iceland which occurs regularly too. Some boys do multiple trips every year.

In stark contrast, DD's school, much more mixed in intake (although there are girls from very affluent families), does very few enriching trips at all, even to the theatre. She's been there nearly two years now - the only one offered was an outward bound one which would not have floated her boat at all.