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.

Just out right banning them is also unfair, when we had DS we budgeted for things like this. His child benefit (the £20 a week one) plus a set amount each month used to go into a separate account which will go towards trips, uni, house deposit. Since we exceeded the tax limit for the £20 we make sure to put money away each month to cover things like this.

We work long hours and often only get one holiday a year as a family due to AL, I loved skiing as a kid but we just don't have the family time in a long block to do it at the minute. If DS wanted to go, it would be a great opportunity for him and cheaper than trying to fit another holiday outside of term time.

Things like this also act as motivation for kids to aim for the well paying jobs to be able to afford it. It's a classic rags to riches story of missing out at school being a driver to earn mega $$$$.

@GnomeDePlume

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.

Having organised school trips I can assure you they are taken out of school time, school funds do not go into them and the planning and organising is done in staff's own time as well.

@GnomeDePlume

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.

But you don’t object to th ones you can afford? Even if others can’t? It’s only the ones you can’t afford you object to?

@Adeleskirts

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.

This entirely! Some people seem to think having kids should be free

£200 with a weeks notice is ridiculous.

That does limit the trip to only pupils whose families have ready cash handy.

We managed to scrimp so our elder kids could have one “big” school trip, but that was only possible because they sent out details after Christmas detailing the next years trips. So you knew in January that spots for X trip would be open in September etc.

One week for such a big deposit is ridiculous.

@1forAll74

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.

It really isn't "only ski trips" that schools offer. And as multiple posters have said, it's generally only a small minority of children who will actually go on the ski trip - they aren't meant to be whole class/school outings. Many, many schools do a variety of other trips at different times, including the outward-bound type one you are describing.

As I said before, I never went on the ski trip as I wasn't that interested and knew my parents couldn't afford it. I did go on the History GCSE trip to the WWI battlefields, which was incredible; and on the music department tour to Boston and New York - that was pricey, and my parents had to pay for that in installments, but as a once-in-a-school-lifetime experience it was brilliant. The one time my school did try to do an outdoor activities holiday in North Wales it was an absolute windswept-flooded-campsite disaster.

Firstly does your daughter even WANT to go? If she doesn't it's a moot point anyway. If she does then I guess there is a dilemma. Either you literally can't afford it, in which case this is one of those situations where your child will simply have to hear the word know. If it's a principle thing (which I don't blame you if it is) and she's desperate to go then this is an opportunity to teach her she has to earn it. Agree that you'll pay if she does jobs around the house/tries hard and attends well at school. This is what I had to do when I wanted to go on an expensive trip. YANBU to think it's lot and I wouldn't blame you for not wanting/being able to afford it. However YABU to expect school to be responsible for your personal bugetting and for teaching your child that she can't have everything in life. Sorry x

*hear the word 'no' not know 😄

Its nothing new. Trips like this have been taking place for at least 40 years. The places are limited usually a maximum of 40 sometimes less. Plenty of parents can't afford it, but with such limited spaces nobody knows if you can't go because of finances or because there was not enough room. Most parents start saving up from primary school as they know the trips will be offered.

Our holidays in the 1980s consisted of travelling in our old car and staying with family. DH and I both worked, but weren’t high earners, we couldn’t afford ‘proper’ family holidays. We paid for DD to go on a ski trip, the first time she’d been abroad. She loved it. DS played sport, we spent money on that for him, but no ski holiday.

I make no apology. We knew parents who were better off but who didn’t pay for extras for their DC. Now my DGC are fortunate to have parents who can take them on great holidays, as well as go on trips organised by their schools.

Clearly lots of people do have 'spare' funds to spend on their DC - just look at the recent Lapland thread... people were falling over themselves to get places .... I'd never heard of it and out of interest had a look ... the prices (for a 3 hour 'experience') are extortionate ... yet it is already sold out. Cost per hour is probably considerably more than a school ski trip.

We would save and prioritise this type of trip for our kids as it gives them an opportunity that we can't.

As long as the school gives enough notice and offers a payment plan- then I think its as open as it can be.

I can't give my kids everything that I would like to give them- but I try hard not to judge myself against other parents and families and begrudge them if they can afford what I cant.

Big trips like this I agree are alot, but as others have said some parents can afford it and why shouldnt their children go.
I went on a skiing trip when I was in high school (about 14-15 years ago) and it cost around £800 then. We couldnt afford it on paper but some how my dad pulled it out the bag. We went to go outdoors and got ski gear in the sale and sold it on after the trip.

My kids are still only little but at our school there is a discretionary fund via the PTA for when it's a full class trip for example to a museum or panto something, which is like £7. For the parents who can't afford that, the PTA will and it's all done as discreetly as possible to include everyone and not make anyone feel embarrassed if they cant afford it. Sadly I think more will have to use this in coming years due to the cost of living increasing.

Jesus Christ, some comments on this thread! All wailing and sympathy on mumsnet threads about equality of opportunity and supporting all parents, until it looks like your own kids might lose out on something to foster that equality. Then it's "fuck you, I got mine". Some of you need to understand that the low income families we're talking about are the same key workers everyone was clapping for throughout 2020 - should they have used skiing holidays as a motivator for putting their kids off these professions, @vickyc90?

I grew up in a poor keyworker household, had none of these opportunities but still had the drive to get me to where I am now. Some of the "they'd be able to afford it if they did X" makes me feel sick.

I don’t get this at all.

Dd goes to one of the top UK comprehensives. In a wealthy area. ) I’m not wealthy!) there’s never any trips like this ever. Longest is a day, or 2 days. And then only relevant to the subject.

Any school trip in term time takes teachers away from the classroom, and cover has to be found. Given how much time children have lost of face to face teaching, I think ski trips should be one thing missed for a while. Language exchanges have a direct educational purpose in contrast.

@EatSleepRantRepeat

How does depriving kids of an opportunity foster equality? That's like saying if some kids have to walk or get the bus to school because their parents can't afford to run a car, then no parents should be able to give their kids lifts there.

I grew up in a low income, single parent household. Couldn't afford all the trips but definitely did some. No idea how my mum managed it, miracle worker.

Any school trip in term time takes teachers away from the classroom, and cover has to be found. Given how much time children have lost of face to face teaching, I think ski trips should be one thing missed for a while. Language exchanges have a direct educational purpose in contrast.

Ski trips are not part of the curriculum, not compulsory, not paid for or subsidised by the school and not in term time.

Had a small windfall one year at the same time as the letter came home so we decided just to blow it and sent my stepson on the school ski trip. He was amazed, the teacher organising it was delighted. DSS told us he was crap at the skiing but he didn't care, he had a great time anyway, had a go, broadened his horizons, made friends with the 'posh' skiing kids from his school who he discovered were actually really nice, he fitted in fine and had a brilliant time! Normal service resumed but I'm so very glad we could send him that time :)

I’m a secondary teacher and our school has stopped doing expensive trips so as to be inclusive. It’s a shame that just because some can’t afford it, no one can go on a foreign trip. It was the one opportunity many of our pupils had to go to Paris or Madrid as their parents would never have been able to afford to take the whole family (or would not want to do a cultural city break as their annual holiday).

I sided to throw them in the bin as I knew my parents could never afford it.

I once had a work colleague who showed us a letter from his son's school. It was about a cricket tour to the West Indies, and cost around £5k.

@Phos letters get sent, funds get collected via the school. I don't object to people sending their DCs on ski trips. Companies like PGL used to offer trips which parents sorted out for themselves.

@Adeleskirts I object to scarce school resources of admin time, money and staff goodwill be used on trips which parents should sort for themselves.

If so few students go why is the school involved at all? When my DCs were at school I didn't expect their school to sort out their holidays. Why is a ski trip any different?

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

Eh? Its not "only" ski trips by any stretch. My school did a history/classics trip to Rome, languages trips to Paris and Berlin, German, French and Spanish exchange programmes, water sports trip to Spain, tours of America/China/Japan (different ones each year), trips to French battlefields, and a ski trip. And that's just the abroad trips - there were plenty of day trips and weekend trips within the UK e.g. camping, duke of edinburgh, theatre trips with an overnight day, museum visits, we could choose to go for PE lessons at the golf course/squash court/bowling alley/swimming pool etc.

Standard secondary school, and these are just the ones I can remember off the top of my head. Obviously not everyone could go on every trip, and they didn't expect to, but most people could do at least one - even if it was 2 nights camping in the Brecon Beacons which only cost a £50. If the ski trip was the only option, you might have a point.

We jad a trip to Holland when I was at school it was cheaper Educational and most of us got the chance to go I got the opportunity because myself and several classmates helped a disabled teacher so instead of going in a draw we got given a chance to go fortunately my parents could afford it but this was weekly payments for about a year both my parents were working full time and still struggled

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