Cost of year 6 school trip.. AIBU?

[BanginChoons]

My dc came home from school today with a letter for a school residential. It's for 4 nights in the UK, at an activity centre. The children will be doing things like canoeing and high ropes. The cost is £360. Aibu to think this cost is too high? I would prefer a shorter trip and a lower price, I am concerned that families on lower incomes will struggle to afford this.

It happens on MN , and in RL, that some people seem unable to comprehend being on a tight budget.(I'm not making any assumptions on whether the OP can afford it, or whether at the outset it just seemed a bit steep)

"Go and book it yourself" or explaining how good value it it is in volume (I fully accept that no one is making a killing on organising school trips) doesnt give someone on a tight budget any extra money to spend. Even a year in advance "just £40/month" might still feel a lot, especially if you're paying for more than one school trip at a time (which I was last year)
It's like on the birthday or Christmas thread when posters say "you might get away with spending £50 on a toddler but wait til you have teenagers" ...what if the person isnt "getting away with it" what if £50 is what they can reasonably afford? You dont (sadly ) magically find you have more money when your kids become teens and have multiple growth spurts, eat enough for a small village, and get expensive taste in clothes!

It happens on MN , and in RL, that some people seem unable to comprehend being on a tight budget

But people are just saying that this is what it costs

Whether someone is on a budget or not is almost irrelevant when talking about the cost of the trip. It costs X, this is why. If you dont have the budget for it, that doesnt mean the trip is overpriced. It just means its outside of your affordability.

Pretty standard. Costs have gone up a bit because most of these centres had to close for more than 12 months due to restrictions.

Schools usually offer a payment plan so that it can be done in installments.

Its an amazing experience for children and young people that they will remember for the rest of their lives.

Seems about right, 4 nights is 5 days of food and activities

Same arguments every year on these threads.

As a scout leader we charge around £120 for a 7 night camp.
Activities are usually £40-£50 per 12-15 children.
Even our international camps are £400 for 7 nights.
Travel will be the biggest cost. Coaches are expensive.

Ask for a breakdown.

Following with interest as we have our meeting this week for dd1's Yr6 trip next year.
2 nights PGL so based on this thread ca. £200-£250
Has anybody been allowed to use childcare vouchers to pay??

But people are just saying that this is what it costs

Whether someone is on a budget or not is almost irrelevant when talking about the cost of the trip. It costs X, this is why. If you dont have the budget for it, that doesnt mean the trip is overpriced. It just means its outside of your affordability.

I agree that is what it cost, I havent said anywhere its overpriced or that school or provider are charging extortionate or unreasonable prices.

I guess it depends how you look at it and in what way it could be deemed too expensive.
The posters saying it's not expensive are saying
a) its not expensive for me and my household income
b) it's not expensive taking in to account what is provided

I dont think anyone has disputed point b, but a will depend on individual households.

But (a) cant really be properly debated on a forum like this as theres a million different sets of circumstances.

@itsamegladon

Same arguments every year on these threads.

As a scout leader we charge around £120 for a 7 night camp.
Activities are usually £40-£50 per 12-15 children.
Even our international camps are £400 for 7 nights.
Travel will be the biggest cost. Coaches are expensive.

Ask for a breakdown.

The difference in cost then between Scout and school is accommodation type? Assume Scout camp is basic camping out youth hostel type whereas school is something a bit more sophisticated?

If it is accommodation that is making the school trip much more expensive then surely a youth hostel type scenario would be adequate

*camping or youth hostel

When DS was in cubs they had a camp at a water sports activity centre. The activities were run by the activity centre not the leaders. The cost was about £80-100 for a weekend starting Friday after school.

The cubs slept in a scout group tents. Food was provided and prepared by the scout groups.

Parents had to get their children to and from the activity centre. That is usually how scout groups keep costs down

What people are saying is that such a trip cannot be done more cheaply. So what OP really needs to ask is not "is this too expensive" but "should schools be required to plan residential costing a maximum of x".

There's never an easy answer though.

Sometimes you get people coming on mnet who are struggling with every single cost of having children. School uniform is too expensive. School trips are too expensive. Children's shoes are too expensive. Childcare is too expensive.

Yes - children cost money, and if your budget is stretched to the max before you have kids you probably can't afford to have them, sadly.

Ours was £415 for 4 nights/5 days. Sounds very similar set up to your op - an activity centre and high ropes/kayaking/abseiling etc with one day at a local theme park for the day. Our son did the exact same one 4 years ago and it was £315 then, so they've definitely hiked the prices up. We paid it and dd is currently there and having a blast, so I'm glad we did. Our school won't leave a child behind of they can't afford it, and will subsidise/pay for that child#s trip.

@Fizbosshoes

It happens on MN , and in RL, that some people seem unable to comprehend being on a tight budget.(I'm not making any assumptions on whether the OP can afford it, or whether at the outset it just seemed a bit steep)

"Go and book it yourself" or explaining how good value it it is in volume (I fully accept that no one is making a killing on organising school trips) doesnt give someone on a tight budget any extra money to spend. Even a year in advance "just £40/month" might still feel a lot, especially if you're paying for more than one school trip at a time (which I was last year)
It's like on the birthday or Christmas thread when posters say "you might get away with spending £50 on a toddler but wait til you have teenagers" ...what if the person isnt "getting away with it" what if £50 is what they can reasonably afford? You dont (sadly ) magically find you have more money when your kids become teens and have multiple growth spurts, eat enough for a small village, and get expensive taste in clothes!

No, the OP asked was the cost too high and PP have said no

It's about standard I think.
Some schools try and save money by going in low season (autumn / winter) but the weather then is even more of a gamble than the summer term...
It would cost just as much, probably more, for a hostel, all meals, a coach to drive them round for five days and 3-4 different activities per day led by qualified instructors. And think of the paperwork for all the different risk assessments! No wonder schools use these centres.

When planning a trip teachers have to fill in a detailed breakdown of costs that are examined by the governors before the trip is given the go ahead. The risk assessments and coatings also go to the LA who also look carefully to see everything is in order. It's a massive job to plan and a huge responsibility. The price will be as cheap as it possibly can be.

Please talk to the school if you are worrying. My school has helped many families, not just those on PP.

I think it is average, and actually fairly good value if you consider everything that it includes (travel, accommodation, all food, all activities, insurance, staff wages at the centre and for the activities etc.).

It is still a lot of money though for many people. I used to have to pay in installments and even then it could be a struggle.

Sounds about right. My kids are only a year apart and often both went. 4 nights was £460 each. They did loads though. Also the coach that took them stayed the week with them to take them on days out.

@khakiandcoral

Good! It's not the fault of the kids that they come from low income households. Why should my kids get more opportunities than them?

because the current system is encouraging people to do as little as possible! Why should I work to pay for MY kids and for other people's kids too?

Why should people be encouraged to have kids they can't afford and have a hand hold all the way? Send the kids by all means, but deduct the fee at the source.

thats a bit harsh.

i don't work because i'm a carer for my oldest child.. so i'm surviving on Child Tax credits, Child Benefit and Carers allowance (And his DLA) and couldn't have afforded to send DD on her yr6 residential without the help of the council or whoever paying for it because we're entitled to FSM.

I didn't exactly plan for my child to be disabled so i'd have to give up work.. why should DD miss out because of her brothers health?

Ours was a 2 night stay 195 pounds. DC thought it was not worth it. I paid it so she would not be odd one out. Several did not go though. It is a lot of money imo. Our school could not afford to subsidise any families, it was sold as a voluntary weekend trip.

It seems awfully last minute. Usually when trips are going to cost a fair bit they will let parents know months before so the costs can be spread. I know we've been in this pandemic which has out things on hold but my DS's school decided not to bother with the residential this year not knowing what's going to happen. They are camping at the night instead costing parents £10.

YANBU.

Assuming it's so soon being near the end of term? How can they expect some parents to afford it last minute??!

Camping at the school for the night I mean

It's standard. I had to pay for twins!

Thank goodness we can moan about that sort of thing again, rather than having to miss out on trips and being stuck at home due to Covid.

It’s about average I’d say.