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.

@Tyrozet

It seems we are in the minority Easter.

I don't think they should do over the top expensive trips at school. They should just be day trips. The rich kids can go on family ski trips no need to rub it in poorer children's faces via the school.

Having said that there will be alot of children that don't go.

I was at private school which ran a ski trip every February half term, similarly expensive but more people there could afford it. Even so, only about 20-30 kids out of a school of 300+ would go - I never did because I wasn't interested in skiing and my parents could never afford it (I was on a scholarship). Only ever a tiny minority. That price is actually not bad at all for a half term ski holiday - you'd really struggle to get anything decent for a family trip that week for a similar price pp.

I think school ski trips usually happen because there are a few teachers who like skiing and want to share that with some of the kids, rather than because the school thinks it's an essential enriching part of the curriculum. Ignore the letter and don't give it any more headspace.

DS’s school did this a few weeks ago. They sent two letters home. One was for an £850 trip to Italy, they claimed it could be paid in instalments but what this actually meant was send us the £200 deposit by next week to secure their place then the other £650 needed paying in 2 separate instalments. Not like an affordable monthly plan at all. The trip is also less than a year away so easily could have told parents about it back in September and allowed them more time to pay it off. Ridiculous, DS knew he wouldn’t be able to go because it’s just way out of our reach.

He brought home a letter for a residential trip about an hour away at the same time. Again, £150 and they wanted the first ‘instalment’ by the following week and the rest of it next month. I paid for that one because it was more affordable for us but even that would be out of many people’s reach.

We've done a skiing holidays and DH and I just can't ski, kids can and love it though so I totally appreciate being able to send them off with their mates for a holiday via school that us adults aren't interested in but the kids will love.
We're lucky that we can afford it though, and as a pp said only about 20 kids go from a school of 300 so it's a minority.
I do think however there should be trips at different affordability, so that all kids could get the chance at something. It's sad that only those with money can do it.

Also want to add with ski trips they happened annually at my shitty bogstandard comp and very few students went. It was usually the wealthy ones, most often only children who had an interest in skiing already. My friend was one of them, he would go to the indoor skiing place a few miles away every week.

Hi OP. I went to a school in a wealthy area but my family were ordinary working class folk. Heating/food etc. never a problem but it was Tesco shoes, not kickers, and a 10 year old 'new car', holidays in Cornwall etc.

My parents said to me when i went there that in my 7 years I could do one trip as they wanted me and my brother to experience it. I was never fussed enough to take them up on it.

I don't begrudge those that can afford it a trip, but maybe some advanced warning, i.e. What school years have trips available and how much these cost (ball park) etc. would be helpful from the school and allow long term budgeting.

£1500 out of the blue in the current climate does come across as a bit tone deaf.

I'm from a lower income background but my parents did manage to send me on the school ski trip - 40 years later it is still my all time favourite way to spend a week and I get giddy like a kid before each trip. I doubt I would ever have skied without that trip so they do have their place in widening opportunities for kids

As long as they give plenty of time for people to pay and also offer trips and holidays which are cheaper then I don’t have an issue with it.

For many going on a trip like that with school will be the only way they will be able to experience what they do. The numbers are generally pretty low so it’s not like only a few get left behind

@JudgeRindersMinder a race to the bottom?

The bottom being what? People who can't afford 1800???

Inclusive is a word used to describe making things accessible for Duda
Disadvantaged children or minority children, not rich kids 😂

@GhoulWithADragonTattoo

It's probably the only way any of the kids will get to experience skiing though so is worthwhile for the kids who can go who are probably not privileged anyway. If you can't afford you just have to explain to DCs.

But if they're not privileged how will their parents afford approx £1500 for them to go on this trip? Children who are going on the trip will be from families who can afford to go on skiing holidays themselves. At our school there is a 3-day trip for £300 which is more affordable, though it's still not possible for everyone.

YABU, no one is forcing you to go. Most won't go. The first skiing trip my school ran must have had only a sixth of their pupils going.

[quote miltonj]@JudgeRindersMinder a race to the bottom?

The bottom being what? People who can't afford 1800???

Inclusive is a word used to describe making things accessible for Duda
Disadvantaged children or minority children, not rich kids 😂[/quote]
Inclusion works 2 ways. It’s a fact of life that not everyone can afford everything, as others have said

It is much cheaper than a whole family going - a cheaper way for an interested child to learn to ski in the alps. You could look at it as giving a brilliant opportunity to kids that otherwise would never get to go skiing.

I'm on the fence. I agree that skiing has nothing to do with school, isn't particularly educational, and expensive trips can draw attention to who has money and who doesn't.

On the other hand I hate snow, I will never be taking DS skiing, and if his school offered it and he wanted to go the £1,500 would actually be a massive bargain for me in every way.

There are many families who would be unable to afford any kind of school trip. Does this mean that the school should never offer any?

I agree with you OP. I think there are lots of trips that they could organise that would be cheaper, why is this one so educational? It's not, is it, it's just ski ing. They should offer other trips that are more affordable and have some educational value.

Yanbu. (My teacher brother chooses school trip destinations based on where he wants to go on a free holiday, not what works best for the children ☹️)

Our nearest comprehensive school does a ski trip to Canada that costs £1700. They only get five days of actual skiing by the time they have got there. When I was at school the ski trip cost the equivalent of £850 in today's money (that was with a coach to Austria).

Whilst skiing is never going to be a cheap holiday, IMO it would be better if schools tried to keep the costs down to make it more accessible. It appears to be a popular trip however - a friend's son was thinking of going, and by the time he'd made up his mind that he did want to go, all the 40-odd places had gone.

We have inclination to go on a family skiing trip, and this would be financially very difficult. We either camp in our tent or self cater on our holidays but I would happily give up a family holiday to allow my kids to have a one off school skiing trip. It’s the only way my kids will experience this unless adult and able to go with friends. We can manage it as the payments are over about 18 months but I understand not everyone can.

If schools withdraw these opportunities because they have a less affluent catchment this will put off people from sending their kids to those schools. My younger DC is in an inner city up and coming school that some of our peers are really snobby about. I love that they are offering a fantastic range of extra curricular opportunities, many of which are free of charge in order to be inclusive.

Have no inclination to go skiing I meant to say.

The rich kids can go on family ski trips

@Cookiecrumble22 and what about those in the middle? The ones whose parents can't afford to take the whole family, but could afford to send the kids in separate years?

But this isn’t new. Many years ago, my school had a trip to the South of France. I was desperate to go, but my parents couldn’t afford it. I would have got a Saturday job to pay for it, but the school didn’t allow that. School trips being out of reach for many, has always been the case.

The idea of planning something a couple of years ahead seems a good one.

you can absolutely 'ignore it' if you can't afford it. Have a chat with your DD and explain that it's simply not financially viable for your family - I'm assuming she's around 14/15, so should easily understand.

My eldest DD is in Yr 10 and like so many other children, has missed out on lots of the usual school trips and fun activities over the last few years. Our school wrote to us in September saying that they were planning on running their annual year 10 London Trip in July (a whole week including 2 West End shows, Harry Potter and various museums and other fun activities) for nearly £700 per child. I am very unwell, so receive benefits as I'm unable to work and my DH works for the NHS, so we are certainly not "well off", but we knew this trip would mean the world to our DD.

When we first got the letter, DD told us she would dearly love to go, but totally understood if we couldn't afford it. She offered her Christmas and Birthday presents to be sacrificed towards the cost and offered to ask family for cash towards it in lieu of gifts this year.

Because the school had given us so much warning, we decided that we could make some sacrifices and pay in instalments over the year and our DD was over the moon! We can't afford a holiday (and I'm too ill to be too far from my Consultant Team anyway), so we felt it was something we wanted to do for our DD.

YABU, it's optional. As pp posted out some families cannot take their dc on holiday for a range of reasons. What a misery it would be if these school trips weren't available. I know a mum like you complaining every year about the cost for enrichment at school or the local child minder charging a reasonable fee, all the while selling crap on market place for extortionate prices. Honestly, some people, moan, moan moan!

@purpleboy

We've done a skiing holidays and DH and I just can't ski, kids can and love it though so I totally appreciate being able to send them off with their mates for a holiday via school that us adults aren't interested in but the kids will love. We're lucky that we can afford it though, and as a pp said only about 20 kids go from a school of 300 so it's a minority. I do think however there should be trips at different affordability, so that all kids could get the chance at something. It's sad that only those with money can do it.

Where trips are in termtime, absolutely, there should be affordable alternatives. DD's school has an activity week with some overseas trips, some fairly local camping trips and some day trips and school-based activities. My biggest gripe with that one is that they don't tell you about the day trips when you make the decision about the residentials, so that you can weigh up the costs.

But ski trips are different, because they're out of termtime. Quite simply, teachers are only going to give up their holiday time if there's something in it for them. You might be happy to supervise children 24/7 for a week if you get a free trip skiing or to Iceland, but an affordable trip (where you don't even get to hand the kids over to instructors for a while) is not a runner.