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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder who funds a teacher's school trip

482 replies

iwasjustwonderingreally · 06/04/2022 10:41

My daughter went skiing with her school in February half term.

Four teachers accompanied them.

Do teachers pay for themselves, or a contribution, (I appreciate they are working though), or is the cost to the pupil inflated to cover the cost of the teachers?

OP posts:
Holly60 · 06/04/2022 11:59

OP have you ever been on a work trip away? Did you refrain from drinking a glass of wine in the evening? I’m guessing that the teachers decided amongst themselves who would remain totally sober in the evening and who was having a glass of wine that evening. One teacher possibly misjudged and had a bit too much one night.

Definitely don’t complain about this.

Churros1986 · 06/04/2022 12:00

Not sure why you are querying who pays for the teacher’s trip when the complaint is about teachers drinking alcohol on the trip. How do they both link?
I agree with a PP that if parents complain about this then teachers will refuse to go on trips (which they are not required contractually to do).
I seriously doubt they were are as ‘drunk’ as pupils have described. All for a bit of drama which parents have taken the bait of and of course there is always that one parent who takes it that bit further. Do not fuel this any further for goodness sake. The pupil who recorded their teachers and who is sharing ‘video evidence’ is out of order and they should be told to delete it.

OfstedOffred · 06/04/2022 12:01

Also it's not "hearsay evidence" if i feed back that my sibling (teacher!) whom I lived with at the time was happy to get a slot on a two week school trip abroad and really enjoyed it.

Abraxan · 06/04/2022 12:01

@tinytemper66

When I have organised a school ski trip staff have made a sizeable contribution. No one went free.
I'm surprised they ever ran any trips or got enough teachers volunteering to do so. I have never know any teacher be expected to pay to go to work, especially in a school holiday! That's spectacularly unfair of the school.
echt · 06/04/2022 12:01

@OfstedOffred

Echt

Someone has said "bear in mind how hard it is for schools to find teachers who are willing to give up their weekends and half terms unpaid for this level of stress".

Not all schools find it hard to find teachers willing to go.

Which is not what you said:Love all the teachers making out no one ever wants to go on these trips
JudgeJ · 06/04/2022 12:02

@Shinyandnew1

This has nothing at all to do with who pays for teacher trips really has it, OP?

There are a lot of posts about teachers on here this morning…

I missed all the moaning about teachers during lockdown!
Pumperthepumper · 06/04/2022 12:02

He’ll be in a lot of trouble if totally shitfaced on a school trip. And rightly so.

Ilovedthe70s · 06/04/2022 12:02

Did I miss the announcement that it’s pile on teacher day?
How many teacher threads is it so far today?

echt · 06/04/2022 12:03

@OfstedOffred

Also it's not "hearsay evidence" if i feed back that my sibling (teacher!) whom I lived with at the time was happy to get a slot on a two week school trip abroad and really enjoyed it.
Er, yes it is. Look it up.
godmum56 · 06/04/2022 12:03

@comealongponds

Some places offer free adult places with youth group bookings. Otherwise the cost is split between pupils. Absolutely no way teachers should pay, and if they had to, trips just wouldn’t run.
while I agree that teachers shouldn't pay as it work of an extreme kind, of course the parents will ALWAYS pay somehow. Either the company will charge more for the places to cover the costs of the teachers or the school will pay for the teachers places and split the cost around. No such thing as a free lunch or a free holiday.
Sally872 · 06/04/2022 12:05

Doesn't matter who paid. If the teacher was too drunk, this left your child at risk and you feel this needs highlighted then complain. If you trust the other teachers will report/deal with it leave it at that.

Bringing up who pays for teachers is not helpful. Their cost should be covered by the children it is generous they give up their time. They should not be too drunk to supervise. I expect other teachers will have spoken to them and taken action to make sure this does not happen again (if the children's account is accurate and not exaggerated)

NoddyMcdoddy · 06/04/2022 12:07

DD went skiing with school a couple of years ago. Apparently a teacher got drunk and got off with another teacher from another school which was a source of great amusement to the teenagers. Same teacher also accompanied one of the students to hospital with a broken leg, had to go on a late night search party for 4 students who left the hotel, bought all the students pizzas and ice creams on the last day as a treat.

On balance, so what if he had a few drinks / got drunk on what was his night off, bearing in mind it’s a teenagers perception of what being drunk is.

In fact had I appreciated how much teachers do on this trip I’d have contacted the hotel and bought the teachers a round of drinks.

All teachers getting drunk and thus leaving the students without at least 1 person with duty of care is not great and would be the only grounds that would merit a complaint to the school in my book. It’s not likely that’s what happened.

Those that took videos of teachers and shared them need a stern word from school and parents about privacy, of course the head requested the videos be deleted. Disgraceful to be sharing such footage.

Also, by what means the teachers were funded has absolutely nothing to do with the teacher being supposedly drunk.

tinytemper66 · 06/04/2022 12:08

We agreed to pay extra so we had more staff ration. No one was forced to pay. I was happy to pay and so were the others. I always asked different teachers to go on the trips.

Abraxan · 06/04/2022 12:08

@Ilovedthe70s

Did I miss the announcement that it’s pile on teacher day? How many teacher threads is it so far today?
Easter holidays for many. It's always the same.
Soul11Soul · 06/04/2022 12:10

@PAFMO

And the parent will look very foolish complaining on the hearsay of the kid that the teachers were drunk. How ill was the child?
Yes because we all know that all young people are rampant liars and no teacher has ever behaved inappropriately. This is a narrative that has fuelled child abuse and neglect for years.
sgiasm · 06/04/2022 12:10

Does the school start with a b? If so i know the trip you are talking about. Everyone on this thread would be the same if it was there child.

BananaPlants · 06/04/2022 12:11

I knew a teacher who used to take her partner on ski trips, paid as a helper. He definitely attended very hungover on journeys there and not sure quite how much use he would have been as a “responsible adult” on the trip overall

Or teachers who decided on more exotic locations, one meeting her family over there and saying on afterwards for a family holiday (no idea how that worked for funding, or for being a teacher short on the way back though!)

BananaPlants · 06/04/2022 12:11

(Trip paid as a helper)

Abraxan · 06/04/2022 12:11

@iwasjustwonderingreally

For those surprised that I ask ...

The teachers aren't with the children during the day as they are off skiing on their own (as the children are in ski school).

They are all also drinking at night and one got particularly drunk.

It has been raised as a complaint and, before I decide whether or not I want to put my name to any complaint, I want to find out if it's been paid for by parents or not!

Why do you need to add your name to the parent's letter of complaint?

Was your child directly involved?
Does your child have direct evidence of the event?

If not, then leave it to those who are.
If so, write your own letter indicating the facts as you/your child know them.

A pile on letter signed by lots of hanger in parents will not strengthen that parent's complaint, infact it's likely to do the opposite.

Much better approach is for that parent to be very factual and professional about their dealings with the school over this as it is potentially very serious, with potentially incredibly serious consequences for the teacher(s) involved.

AxolotlEars · 06/04/2022 12:11

The costs are covered by the children who go. They aren't really free

HollaHolla · 06/04/2022 12:12

My Mum was a primary school teacher, and she and a couple of colleagues used to take groups of 11 & 12 year olds on language school trips each year.
She gave up her 1/2 term holiday (with us three kids at home - teenagers/older by then.) Took them on the coach all the way to the Black Forest, and spent all day in school/activities with them. As she was the senior teacher, and fluent in German, she did all of the planning, communications, etc., and then spent pretty much 24 hours a day with the kids.
She loved it, but needed a holiday when she came back! It's hard work. I know that she paid something out of her own pocket - even if it was just, as others say, drinks or sticking plasters, or something for kids who didn't have anything.

There is also a picture of her holding a comedy giant stein of beer, in a café one day. She is pretty much tee-total (loves a kaffee & kuchen instead!), so it was ironic that this snap exists. I'm fairly sure she drank none of it! So, would that picture mean she was hammered, in the eyes of anyone who saw it?!

BananaPlants · 06/04/2022 12:14

Have also been on a school trip myself where some teachers were staggering around the corridors in the evenings. Was in the ‘90’s though, and our teachers used to pop out for a pint at lunchtime, so was probably seen as more acceptable back then.

Sarahcoggles · 06/04/2022 12:14

[quote MichelleScarn]@Sarahcoggles are they 'working' they're not getting paid.

Am assuming your own parents never drank and you never drink to remain always 'fully coherent'?

Constant Vigilance of course...[/quote]
My Mum was a single parent and she never drank.
I'm also a single parent and have never been drunk when in charge of my kids.
Not that that is any of your business, because we're not talking about families. We're talking about school trips.

I collapsed and had a seizure in a foreign country where I didn't speak the language, and I woke up in a hospital. It was bloody scary and I was very grateful one of the teachers was with me and in control.

I think if none of the teachers can stay sober for a week when in a position of such responsibility, I'm not sure the school should be offering residential trips at all.

Mosschopz · 06/04/2022 12:17

OP, if the headteacher has asked students to delete images from their phones, it will have been because they were taken without consent, and may be shared without permission. They’d do this whatever the issue.

OP your post infers the school is somehow trying to avoid liability or cover up some kind of indiscretion by insisting on the deleting of images. This won’t be the case, they’ll be held to account for their safeguarding by the governing body, which will always investigate if there is a complaint. All I’d add is two points; if photos or videos have been to humiliate or ridicule the teachers this will never go down well and they won’t be feeding anything back to you as a parent. They won’t be supplying you with any rocks to throw either…

Responsiveroo · 06/04/2022 12:18

Who pays what is utterly irrelevant

The teachers has a duty of care

They have failed in that duty