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.

YABU. How do you know what other families can afford?

Are there zero other events or trips which are more affordable, and which all the kids can join?

@Tyrozet

It seems we are in the minority Easter.

I'm with you on the skiing thing. If it were similar amounts of money but had some wider cultural/historical/educational element that would be something. So for instance a trip to a European country with a language a proportion of children were learning with trips to historical sites, museums, opportunites to eat out in a variety of places, maybe one or two days doing really fun things like a theme park or adventure activity. I didn't get to go in secondary because we had no money but I do know that there were visits to military sites, a concentration camp, beautiful cathedrals and an art gallery. Frankly I think children would benefit a lot more from being exposed to these things - which many are not in normal life - than skiing which unless you live in a region where it's readily available is certainly not of any great relevance to most peoples lives.

@SmilingHappyBeaver

No, it's you who needs to get a grip.

Why should tens of children miss out just because you can't afford it?

I've just sent my 3 DC's on a skiing trip, not a chance we could afford for the whole family to go. It's an amazing opportunity for them.

You're still very privileged to be able to afford to send 3 children on such a trip, your reality isn't the reality of many families up and down the country struggling to put food on the table.

For families like us, the idea of sending even one child on such a trip feels so tone deaf and out of reach its almost laughable, so yes plenty of us do think the schools need to get a grip.

Our school have also just issued a ski trip for next year's Y11s (including my DD) and we jumped at the chance. Paying a simliar amount to you for one child to go skiing is a lot cheaper than paying for my whole family to go. I hate the cold but would hate for them to miss out, but begrudge paying for myself to go. So for some families this is a win win.

Just ignore. I have taken my DC on a budget ski trip when some friends went on the school one. It isn't the same for sure, but we all had fun anyway!
The main objective for me was, to show DC what it is all about ...

My sons school ski trip for next year has been announced today - it is also £1000.

He has been on it twice before and each time the places on the trip sell out in seconds. Last time the school had enough interest to double the size of the party. This is a state school in Essex. There is definitely the demand for it and it's a great experience for the kids. It really helped my son bond with his year group after struggling initially to settle at school.

My son loves skiing but we could never afford to go as a whole family unless it was at the expense of our main family week away. Going with the school means he gets to experience something we could not afford to do as a family.

My daughter would also like to go on her school trip but that also sold out in seconds and sadly for her there is no scope to open up more places.

We managed to borrow most of the ski gear he needed and some friends even gifted us stuff that their kids had grown out of. Skis and boots were included in the price of the holiday.

For families like us, the idea of sending even one child on such a trip feels so tone deaf and out of reach its almost laughable, so yes plenty of us do think the schools need to get a grip.

So again, because you can't afford it no one else should get the opportunity?

It's cheaper than taking the whole family, so will give those who can afford to the opportunity for their child to go skiing if they couldn't otherwise go as a family.

I think it's quite steep and not affordable to most though, but if they are offering a cheaper alternative it's ok. My school offered skiing (didn't fancy it even though my mum offered to pay for it) but they also did a camping trip and a France trip which a lot of us went on instead as it was cheaper. I think if there are cheaper alternatives for a school trip it's ok.

My daughter has a similar school trip. Skiing in Italy Feb 2023. We were told last October, the deposit had to be in by end of Jan and balance to be paid November 2022.

She was on the fence but I talk her into it. It's just shy of £1000 but she needs a passport as well, plus it's half board so will need money for dinners and snacks. I've borrowed salopettes, multiple ski socks and a coat from my sister who skis and is a similar size but I've also been picking up things as I see them, mainly from charity shops. Got a pair of salopettes at the weekend for £3.50, a good fleece top for £1.50 and have bought three sets of thermals from Primark for £8 a set so far.

It's a stretch, I'm a student and a single mum so I'm paying it monthly.

The way I look at it is I don't ski, and have crap joints so won't ever go on a ski specific holiday so this way she has the ability to learn a skill (which in turn gives her the chance to go away with her aunt and be competent). I'm highly unlikely to be booking any holidays at the minute, between uni and work I just don't have the ability to so this helps towards that. Plus, and this is the main one, it's really beneficial for her to go away with the school and her friends and have that independence. She's never done anything like this before and I think she'll learn some really good life skills as well as experiencing things that she might not have the opportunity to later on.

There was no pressure from the school for children to go, and not all of her friend group is going, with no repercussions so far. There must be plenty of interest though, we recently had a letter saying they'd had so many people want to go that they were now taking two coaches.

Missing the point (sorry my children aren’t school age yet) but is the trip run in school holidays? So is it for the ski season next year - the Christmas holidays or the Feb half term?

My kids primary school wanted to take year 6 to France, something to do with OFSTED and the kids needing to experience other cultures.
It was really expensive, and there was no way mine was going.
We begged them to do the usual outdoor adventure holiday they normally did, and the kids were looking forward too, but no it was France or nothing.
They refused to take the child who was type 1 diabetic.
Eventually they got so few takers, and the head was not the type to back down, that they offered it to year 5 and 4 too,
When it was eventually discovered that the bus left school for the ferry at midnight, the parents that had paid a deposit kicked off saying their kids weren’t going.
Eventually the France trip was abandoned but the head wasn’t happy , he refused to have anything to do with the outdoor adventure holiday they all eventually all went on.

@RibWonderer

YANBU.

Families who can afford such expensive trips can afford to go on these expensive trips with family.

If kids are going to be allowed to have days off in term term, it ought to be for a holiday that most kids could afford to go on.

Rubbish.

As a child (from the age of about 8 until I was 18) we went on 1 family holiday but my parents used the money they saved to make sure we all got to one at least 1 big school trip (skiing, Africa, Russian, etc). We couldn't afford to do family holidays really, especially not skiing holidays, but my siblings and I were able to have those experiences because the school organised them).

@SartresSoul

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.

So by the logic of many on here should your son have been offered the £150 trip if many children at his school couldn't have afforded that either?

Agree with you @Tyrozet
It’s pretty unfair to do this in a state school and quite unimaginative on thier part.
They obviously don’t have a real grip of thier demographic.
Annoying!

Yes, there will be a group of teachers who want a skiing holiday and who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford it (always be the same group of teachers every year). And the company putting the holiday on will be working on a minimum 100% profit, so you'll be paying for both these things.

@Onlyforcake

I want my child to get an education at school, an academic one. Not a lesson in elitism.

Elitism. Fuck off. My parents went without so us kids could go on these trips with our friends and lovely teachers. Still some of the most incredible, eye opening, bonding experiences I had. We weren't loaded, they just chose to prioritise those trips over other things and my mum squirrelled money away in our building society accounts since birth so she'd be able to dip in when the time came.

@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.

Who says that it is only ski trips on offer? Last week of term before the summer holidays always had a variety of things available, including those sort of outdoor activity centres (free stuff was laid on at school for those who didn't do anything else).

I know two people who went on a school skiing trip, from low income families, who now ski as adults. They don't earn average salaries. They scrimp and save to be able to go, buy second hand ski gear, etc.

I really don't get this whole 'opportunity to go skiing' argument as if it is some fundamental thing that everyone should ideally get to do. You might as well bemoan the lack of opportunities to go on a sailing holiday or a weeks horseriding. All are expensive and actually quite dangerous hobbies and are just that - hobbies. No one is missing out hugely in life by not doing ANY of these things, they are just other additions to the never ending list of things some very priveliged people see as they and their childrens due. And yes, the fact that you can pay for your child to go on one of these trips does make you pretty privileged.

I wouldn't take a group of kids on a ski trip if you paid me triple so its laughable to think its the teachers wanting a jolly.

I think it's fine, as long as the school offers a range of trips and experiences for different budgets. I do wonder about the environmental side of this though. Schools are trying to be increasingly eco-conscious, and as I understand it skiing is pretty carbon-unfriendly. I wonder whether they will begin to factor this in?

@EatSleepRantRepeat

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

That's pretty gross, divisive language. You may be too proud to make use of funding and subsidies offered by schools but thankfully many parents aren't and their kids benefit.

Yanbu op. But remember this is mn where people on six figure salaries consider themelves "poor". Its mostly bullshit.

@Chasingaftermidnight

Missing the point (sorry my children aren’t school age yet) but is the trip run in school holidays? So is it for the ski season next year - the Christmas holidays or the Feb half term?

Our school normally goes either in February half term or first week of Easter holiday (if they break very early).

@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.

What a bleak outlook. Education isn't all about multiplication and spelling. It's about opportunity, experiences, mixing with people you might not normally mix with.

I remember some really unlikely friendships being formed on some of these bigger school trips. With people who, looking back, almost certainly wouldn't have been able to afford it and we're probably helped by thr school