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.

I completely agree with you OP.

I find this attitude that everyone should have the opportunity to experience skiing, or that skiing is something a school should be encouraging, very odd. It's a ridiculously expensive winter sport that can't easily be continued in this country, should the children enjoy it.

If this sort of expensive pastime is so important, why do schools never take pupils scuba diving in the Maldives?!

I'm guessing there's a teacher who enjoys skiing enough to put up with dealing with the children for the sake of a free holiday, who's willing to organise it.

@LittleGwyneth

I think it's pretty tone deaf honestly. But then I don't really think it's on the school to provide ski trips. Odd form of enrichment.

But it’s not “Tone deaf” because they’re not forcing you to go.

YABU. We couldn't afford to take DC on a trip like that as a family, just not doable. But I could just about afford to send the DC on that trip with school, which would be a great experience.

My parents could never afford such a trip for me and I never went on them. No hard feelings, I worked hard at school, got a decent job and paid for myself to go on holidays in my 20s.

Have you had a chat with the school. They do subsidise for some. My daughter had to miss out on all school trips as we couldn't afford it, but was a straight A student and I was upset, that yet again we could not afford it. I wrote to the school and they asked what I could afford and paid that, they chipped in the rest. They do have funds put aside, for things like this.

@superram

I run a ski trip, of course I’ve thought about the expense and I’d like to think I’m not tone deaf. We have a fund to support some low income families. About 45% of ONE year group apply and I take about 33%. If I opened it to the whole school I could fill it many, many times over. It is in the school holidays, I don’t get paid for going or for organising it (I think I’m probably on 500 hours?!) but I do it as I think it’s a great opportunity. I teach in a mixed area, parents know about it from when they join the school. Some kids can afford to go on all the trips, some none. My kids will be somewhere between the two but would have to put birthday/Christmas money into the pot. If you think running a trip for almost 100 kids is a jolly then you are sadly mistaken. I do open it to all staff but can only take 8.

So do your staff and you pay for your own trips, equipment, skiing passes etc @superram? Because I really don't see why you would do it if its as awful as you describe. Who do you think it's a good opportunity for?

Do you not see that low income families have enough to deal with, without having to compete for a place in your poverty fund?

Our daughter state school covers a massive area (including deprived areas) year in take - 240, is planning a ski trip they gave us well over a year notice (nearly 18 months! It’s not in term time) it’s £1k - We as a family could never afford to go sking but we put her name down for this - birthday/Christmas will be presents from family for the ski trip - things she will need. Yes I will have to manage my money and we paying by instalments.

I wasn’t sure whether it would be popular …out of 240 kids 145 applied to go.

To be fully inclusive the trip would have to be free-trips in term time have to be accessible. My school ran a ski trip, my parents couldn’t afford to send me, I lived.

So, have I got this right, you think working class parents should not provide their children with any of the opportunities, skills, or advantages the parents never experienced ?

What a dismally limiting outlook.

My daughter’s school is doing this and there are 40 spaces so most dc won’t be going. My daughter is going and so are her close friends. We can’t afford to go skiing as a family of 5 but the experience will be amazing for her in year 10. In 3 years my twins will want to go so that’ll be double and we’ll plan for it. Many families can afford these trips but they’re not mandatory and most dc won’t be going.

I've always felt a bit sad that I can't ski, one of the life skills I didn't get the chance to acquire and I'm too nervous to star it in my 60's. We are not very well off but I did offer my sons the chance to go on this sort of school trip when they were younger. There was usually a lot of notice and between us we saved up to pay for it over a period of time.
Sadly my sons had no interest in leaning to ski, though the both went on water sports trips.

Also, my school 25 years ago offered ski trips that were £1200 so I think the price is good.

YABU. If it's a problem for you and you can't afford it, then decline the offer, explain that facts of the matter to your son. I don't see why you'd want to make your problem everyone else's?

Why is it only ski trips that schools seem to opt for, for school outings, not all children will fancy this,

I remember many years ago, when my daughter was about 10 in the 80's era, the outing of the year for her class at school, was to go to somewhere in North Wales, staying in a large hostel, and they experience, a bit of rock climbing, a couple of fishing trips, and some swimming in a lake, and even to a place, that showed the kids how to build dry stone walls. plus some outdoor BBQ cooking. It didn't cost a bomb either, They all went in a coach to get there.

Our school - in a deprived area - does the ski trip but also offers a cheaper alternative so everyone gets to do something. The ski trip has payment plans and lots of advance notice.

I didn’t go because at 14 I felt it was too much to ask of my parents and would have stretched them and made them feel bad when they were amazing parents. I’m not scarred but am happy I can offer my dc the experience.

These have always been around. Some kids are very keen, others not. Those who went/chose not to were not defined by financial means.

My kids did go to the ski trip nor the NY one. They agreed it was too expensive compared to what we could get going as a family and friends in a few more years.

Some of their friends went, most didn't. Those who did included lower earning families. Some saved years just for it, others got money from family for Xmas and bdays.

It would be unfair to not give an opportunities for the kids who would never get the chance to experience these trip with their family.

There are plenty of dry slopes in this country where kids can learn to ski, some with YHAs nearby. The families could then arrange trips to follow up on their "skiing education" if they wanted to. Yet the schools always go for a foreign snowy ski resort with apres-ski opportunities for the adults. Funny that.

My kids didn't go!

@Cookiecrumble22 on the contrary, if the school doesn't run a trip then the wealthiest will just go with their families and come back after February half term full of it, while everyone else went without. By running a trip the school at least enables some to go who wouldn't have otherwise been able to (see some posters up thread who were from low-income backgrounds).

You won't abolish class differences by stopping ski trips. Schools can help keep things affordable by not going overboard (coach to France instead of flights to Canada) and by obtaining sponsorship to help with clothing.

YABU. Some families will be able to afford it and shouldn't miss out just because others can't.

YANBU

I have always felt that high cost trips should not be offered by schools. If parents want their DCs to go on such trips they should arrange them themselves.

IMO not a single second of school time, not a single penny of school funds should be spent on these trips. It is not the job of a school to act as a travel agent.

My school did this 30 years ago. I was lucky enough to go once but there were only about 15 of us went. It was a great experience. If my parents had said no they couldn’t afford it then I would’ve just accepted that and moved on. Great opportunity for those to go who wouldn’t normally go skiing.

It’s so odd. You see threads on here often where parents complain about the opportunities afforded to kids at private schools and complaints that state don’t offer the same, even if parents had to pay just like they do at private.

And when a school does offer it, some people complain it shouldn’t be offered as they can’t afford it for their kid, so no child should have the opportunity,

There is no winning, it’s dammed if you do dammed if you don’t.

These trips have always been on offer I don't agree with them, though.

I never went on them when I was at school. My kids didn't go on them either. They were generally more than our entire family holiday cost.