To think the school need to get a grip?

[Tyrozet]

Just had a text from my son informing me of a letter he is bringing home from school about a trip abroad next year.

The cost of the trip alone is nearly £1000 - it is a skiing trip so on top of the basic cost of the trip, special clothes need to be purchased, passports paid for and of course spending money - I'd say all in it will be at least £1500.

It's a state school in a town with many deprived areas.

I know you can just say "no" if it's not affordable but AIBU to think the school shouldn't be putting on trips like this at a time when many families are having to choose between which basic essentials they can afford?

Things are shit enough as it is for alot of people without having the added kick in the teeth that this is completely unreachable at the moment.

My DCs' school eventually gave up on the school ski trip because it was so out of line with local affordability that even with opening it up to all years there was insufficient take up. But that still took several years of dwindling interest.

What is the obsession with offering a ski trip? Why skiing?

@ragwort school is not the place for that lesson.

Believe me, dd gets it. But it should not be something that extends into the school life.

Interestingly the people who are saying suck it up can all afford these trips !

C'est La vie.

But as a PP says, where does it stop? £1000 is unaffordable for most, £500 is unaffordable for many, £100 is unaffordable for some, £10 is unaffordable for a few. Therefore, in the interest of fairness, we shouldn’t have any trips that cost more than £5? That’s the approach my school seem to be going for and it’s pretty miserable. Nothing residential, nothing that costs money, nothing that’s outwith the local area. So all you are left with is a trip to the museum on public transport. Is that what we want?

Our school funds or significantly reduces the cost of trips for students receiving free school meals/ families who need extra help which means all kids can manage to go on the £100 residentials.

Interestingly the people who are saying suck it up can all afford these trips - precisely, @stillherenow. Even the ones saying "we sacrificed X to send our child" either aren't that poor or have no idea about money management. If my parents could have saved £1000 over the course of a year it would have gone towards a damp course or heating bills for our freezing old house to benefit the whole family, not a one-off week skiing. Ski trip time at school was the first time at school I felt that the relative wealth of my classmates was being rubbed in my face, thankfully I had a close knit group of other poor kids who couldn't go either, but not everyone does.

@LoopyGremlin

But as a PP says, where does it stop? £1000 is unaffordable for most, £500 is unaffordable for many, £100 is unaffordable for some, £10 is unaffordable for a few. Therefore, in the interest of fairness, we shouldn’t have any trips that cost more than £5? That’s the approach my school seem to be going for and it’s pretty miserable. Nothing residential, nothing that costs money, nothing that’s outwith the local area. So all you are left with is a trip to the museum on public transport. Is that what we want?

It stops at the point where the school can easily afford to subsidise all children who want to go but can't afford it. 5 x more kids could be taken on a £200 week youth hostelling or orienteering with the subsidy money from a £1000 skiing trip, especially if it was by coach.

@EatSleepRantRepeat but the £1000 isn’t subsided- cancelling doesn’t create money for a cheaper trip.

@LoopyGremlin

But as a PP says, where does it stop? £1000 is unaffordable for most, £500 is unaffordable for many, £100 is unaffordable for some, £10 is unaffordable for a few. Therefore, in the interest of fairness, we shouldn’t have any trips that cost more than £5? That’s the approach my school seem to be going for and it’s pretty miserable. Nothing residential, nothing that costs money, nothing that’s outwith the local area. So all you are left with is a trip to the museum on public transport. Is that what we want?

Exactly. I can't afford to take us both skiing, it's an interesting thing to do that isn't just lying by a pool and eating at an all inclusive which a lot of family holidays seem to be. So I'll try and find the money so she can experience it.

It seems a bit of a shit argument that skiing is just going off on a jolly and has no value. The independence, experience of travelling (especially on coach where you stop through different countries), food, language, people etc are all valid learning experiences.

I wouldn’t be able to afford to send Ds on such a trip but that doesn’t mean I don’t think they should be offered.

It is a way that children can experience things they wouldn’t otherwise. There will be so few going that not going isn’t going to mark someone out as different.

Ds school released a trip abroad last week for 40 pupils out of 400ish children. The ones not going aren’t going to be left behind.

@EatSleepRantRepeat
What subsidy?

Trips do take up school resources. Letters out, responses back, handling payments will all be using school resources. The teachers who go on the ski trip may feel that their goodwill has been used up for the year and not want to assist other trips.

We are constantly being told that school resources are scarce so why should those scarce resources get frittered on a trip which is out of the financial grasp of the majority of students?

And why skiing? The school ski trip seems so outdated. It seems to hark back to the 70s when skiing was seen as exotic.

I used to work in a school that ran one every year. Always the same "in crowd" of teachers that went. A kid always came back with a broken limb. It was about 20 kids max that went

I was able to go on one of these trips, as was my sibling. My parents wouldn’t go skiing and quite frankly relished the idea of getting us out of the house for a few days. We went via coach and had a great time.

The year after my sister went, a bunch of parents campaigned to have the trips cancelled as they couldn’t be afforded by “those with large families”. They put so much pressure on the SLT that the trips were banned for a few years, which struck me as a real shame. Some people had chosen to limit their family size so as to be able to afford trips like this, which then they couldn’t do because others had made different choices and couldn’t bear the consequences of that.

I’m with a PP - some people do seem to believe that having kids should be free.

@OfstedOffred

I suspect school staff love to organise these trips as the staff get to go subsidised. It is a huge saving for them to go to skiing in school holidays via school vs paying to go themselves.

Actually this is far from the case. Teachers give up their holidays to do this. I have been on residential school trips as a teacher and it is no holiday. In fact, it's exhausting. You are on call 24/7, dealing with all sorts of unexpected happenings, children falling out with each other, homesickness, throwing up in coaches etc.

It's not just people who can afford to send their DC on these trips saying they are OK if you take the time to read the thread.

Some posters have said they wouldn't send their DC as it is 'the cost of a family holiday' .... if my DS chose a ski trip I would happily forego a family holiday and he would understand.

Some posters say it's too expensive for families with more than one DC - exactly the reason I chose not to have more than one DC - to be abe to give him opportunities.

Yes, I appreciate that many people have no money at all for family holidays let alone ski trips but in many instances people are making a choice as to how to spend 'spare' money.

@GnomeDePlume

Trips do take up school resources. Letters out, responses back, handling payments will all be using school resources. The teachers who go on the ski trip may feel that their goodwill has been used up for the year and not want to assist other trips.

We are constantly being told that school resources are scarce so why should those scarce resources get frittered on a trip which is out of the financial grasp of the majority of students?

And why skiing? The school ski trip seems so outdated. It seems to hark back to the 70s when skiing was seen as exotic.

All excellent points!

@GrandTheftWalrus

If its a choice of a family holiday for 1500 or 1 dc to go for same price then I'm sorry family holiday trumps it.

What if you've kids in different school years? Potentially 3k on 2 trips?

No chance.

What if it's a choice between a family ski holiday for £6k, or sending the kids at £1.5k each, two years apart? For many families this is the only chance the kids will get.

It's your decision how you spend your own money, but other people should have the opportunity to choose differently.

State schools should not offer expensive trips that pupils cant afford.

Heavens we are a country that insists on uniform so children aren't made to fell different or poor, but hey let's have an expensive trip that excludes most pupils.

I dont get the argument that this is the only chance that DCs will get to go on exotic trips. It really isnt. The Alps/New York/Wherever will all still exist when the DCs leave school, are earning and can afford to go wherever interests them. It's not Brigadoon.

@GnomeDePlume

I dont get the argument that this is the only chance that DCs will get to go on exotic trips. It really isnt. The Alps/New York/Wherever will all still exist when the DCs leave school, are earning and can afford to go wherever interests them. It's not Brigadoon.

Did you miss the posts upthread where posters either sent their kids, or went themselves when they were kids, and it opened up their eyes to something they wouldn't have considered doing otherwise?

I'd love DS2 to get a chance for a school skiing trip. I can't see it happening as a family holiday because DS1 has dyspraxia, ASD and sensory issues and is highly likely to find skiing hellish. With their age gap, DS2 would be 17 before it's viable to consider going without DS1.

School trips were my holidays through my teenage years. DM never organised a holiday herself after dad died and without those school trips and occasionally doing things with other people, I'd never have had any kind of holiday anywhere. Her holidays were always ones organised by friends.

It can be more affordable for school to provide experiences with only paying for one child at a time at group rates.

The more extravagent trips will be taken up by a smaller pool of people. The bigger issue of affordability/ inclusion is where it's an activity that the vast majority are expected to take part in. We've got an educational day trip costing about £15 coming up. That can easily be an issue for people.

@DdraigGoch Child goes on school ski trip (having used up the family's holiday budget for the year), discovers a passion for skiing but then still can't go again until they are grown up and can pay for it themselves. Wouldn't a trip to the nearest indoor ski dome have the same potential and at the same time be within scope for far more families with the chance of being able to do it again?

@BogRollBOGOF

I'd love DS2 to get a chance for a school skiing trip. I can't see it happening as a family holiday because DS1 has dyspraxia, ASD and sensory issues and is highly likely to find skiing hellish. With their age gap, DS2 would be 17 before it's viable to consider going without DS1.

School trips were my holidays through my teenage years. DM never organised a holiday herself after dad died and without those school trips and occasionally doing things with other people, I'd never have had any kind of holiday anywhere. Her holidays were always ones organised by friends.

It can be more affordable for school to provide experiences with only paying for one child at a time at group rates.

The more extravagent trips will be taken up by a smaller pool of people. The bigger issue of affordability/ inclusion is where it's an activity that the vast majority are expected to take part in. We've got an educational day trip costing about £15 coming up. That can easily be an issue for people.

You speak of 'only' having school trips as holidays as a teenager, that was absolutely the norm in my upbringing, only minus the school trips! I wouldn't consider not having holidays as some sort of indicator of deprivation.

Get a grip. If you can’t afford it don’t let him go, but don’t try and deprive others who can.