Schoo trip first come first served

[Meetingonthehill]

AIBU to think school could and should have managed this better?

Son is Year 9.

Today school informed the children that there is an enrichment trip to a theme park. The letter would be sent to parents at 3.30pm and the payment portal opened at the same time. Kids advised it was first come first served.

This particular enrichment activity was open to Year 9 (this is their only offering for this year group) and also open to Year 8 (who have the choice of two theme parks).

(Year 9 have had no enrichment trips prior to this - Covid meant the Year 7 residential wasn’t offered and nothing was offered last year when they were in Year 8.)

My son tried to call me at 3.20 as he came out of school but I was at work (no phones allowed). I did finish work at 3.55 so called him back when he told me about the letter and trip.

I logged on to the portal straight away but all the places had gone.

AIBU to think that if offering something on a first for first served basis they should give people a bit more notice than 10 minutes? (The time between when the kids can use their phone after school and the time the portal opened.)

Surely only the parents who don’t work/have desk based jobs can realistically book something with that tight a turn around?

Not to mention those who may just be able to afford it but might need a little bit of time to balance the books to make sure.

Of course, it’s half term next week so nothing can be done and probably won’t be.

I realise they are lucky to have staff that can put on trips but it seems really unfair to split this opportunity across two year groups and not give everyone a fair chance at taking them up on the offer (especially as they haven’t had any other trips before). I realise they may not have the staff to cover everyone going. But why not make the booking process fairer?

You do realise that challenging doesn't necessarily mean naughty/intentional? And if so, wow. Pleasant.

@Paq I take your point. But if it’s a deprived school/area, giving children the chance to explore something more challenging than a theme park has many benefits. If my children were not able to experience many days out with me, would I rather the school took them to a theme park or to the Wonderlab at the science museum or for an immersive day at the Tate or for a day doing a hockey/tennis/cricket/athletics workshop…? I’d go for the non theme park option every time. I’m all for schools introducing children to cultural/sports/arts experiences outside their normal lives.

First come first served is not fair.

I would like to see all kids be able to go on all trips (although I realise that's not easy.

At ours they ask for expressions of interest, then select children & contact parents for payment. Not sure how they choose, although they've said that they take into consideration the number of negative behaviour points when deciding (ie not wanting to reward poor behaviour).

I really don't think the school would like that

That wouldn't bother me, and I am a teacher.

The theme park will be open to countless members of the public.

My dc have been on the Alton Tower's attendance trip every year since year seven. The staff aren't going round with them. They take all their phone numbers and put them into the school mobile on the coach and tell them to stay in groups or however many it is.

@Sailawaytocromer my teacher friend is just back from a school trip to London where some of the kids went on their first escalator. Climb down off your high horse and understand the (sad, unfair, unnecessary) realities of some children's lives.

so those with parents working full time should not be disadvantaged compared to those who get picked up at 3

just to be pedantic, it’s more than possible to be in full time work and be able to pick your child up at 3

Thank you all for your comments.

I’m reassured to hear I’m not being unreasonable in thinking it was a really poor way to allocate places.

Just to address a couple of points; it’s a 4 form entry so relatively small in terms of some senior schools - about 120 in the year group.

There are a couple of other days (on school site) planned - a sports day and an art day I think. Nothing more planned for off site.

There was no previous mention of this trip. I’ve asked a couple of other parents just to be sure and their children didn’t know anything until yesterday. No emails to parents until the one yesterday either.

And to the poster who thinks I can’t possibly envisage how tricky it is plan these things; whilst I’ve never planned a school trip I do plan events and trips for vulnerable adults. I agree these things are challenging especially within the public sector.

However part of the planning is how to allow users/carers to book. If I said to my service users “just in case they don’t see the email, you’ve got to let your carer know I’m opening the booking at 2pm and it’s first come first served”, I wouldn’t be doing my job very well at all.

Thanks all.

This is how our school do it.

Much fairer.

All trips at our secondary are first come first served unless its necessary for the lesson (local geography field trip for example) even the expensive ones. The ski trip this year was £2500 and first come first served.

Geography big trip was open to all as it was for gcse to stud the glaciers for 5 days but sons not going on that one as its around £3,800.

It's not fair but at the same, I wouldn't want to try and arrange a trip for a whole year group, 1 year group at our school is 300 hundred children.

Set a limit and first come first served is the fairest way and it won't do anyone any harm

@Paq I’m not on a high horse. I understand that many children have few opportunities to do very much with their families or to travel out of their village/town. But it’s not a race to the bottom.

For children who have limited opportunities, I’d just love for the schools to be ambitious enough for them that a theme park might not trump something that could show them a bit more life… There is SO much out there that is free/low cost for children. Lots of parents can’t or won’t engage their children but schools can.

Yup, ours too. gives them time also to look at other factors e.g. some trips you get priority if you're doing a related subject for GCSE

I think anyone who works with young people should be able to recognise that selective trips to theme parks are really unfair and shouldn’t be happening. It’s a perfectly valid complaint. It would actually be better not to organise it at all. Organising a trip for a specific group eg those studying x is fine but I really don’t understand why school staff can be onboard for these highly selective trips that exclude many people. Picking out of a hat isn’t a whole lot better either

Just to clarify - it’s not so much the first come first served part.

But the way in which there was very little (as in minutes) notice to the booking being open.

If it is to be first come first served, that’s fine, but give a bit of notice so parents can prepare as necessary - get someone else to log in for them or chance to work out their finances or both!

If only ... the rules and regs behind school trips are huge. Every trip just generates complaints like these from parents who don't appreciate what has to go in to organising and running a trip. Very rarely do any parents thank staff afterwards.

You simply don't get it. It's fine, unless you have worked in and with communities that have deep and persistent deprivation you never will. You'll be one of those that thinks that every deprived kid is a nascent Billy Elliott or some other fairy tale.

Why not? What's the problem with this?

Similar situation the other day for me so I sympathise. I knew my DS wanted to go on a certain trip, the teachers had told them about it a few weeks ago so knew it would be coming up but didn’t know when. They announced it at 2pm but I was in a meeting which I was out of by 3pm so I went to pay for it but places had all gone.

I’d promised DS he could go and had been keeping an eye on the app for the announcement but obviously couldn’t help being in a meeting at the time. Can’t believe they announced in when most parents would be at work tbh, found it very unfair. Also surprised all 40 places had gone within an hour. It’s not a theme park trip, it’s a science museum. He’s in year 8 and been having a tough time with bullying so I feel mega guilty because I’d promised him.

@paq The university town I live in puts on a week of free amazing science activities for children every year. It’s drop in, right in the centre of town, within walking distance of more than a dozen schools. The families who go are overwhelmingly middle class/privileged. It upsets me every year. I asked a few local families if they’d be interested in going and they said “my kids won’t like it”, “science is boring” etc. It’s drop in and it’s free. It’s lead by engaged and brilliant students. I persuaded one to go and they were amazed that their children enjoyed it so much. THIS IS WHY I am so passionate about schools being ambitious for children - especially when they don’t have parents whose lived experiences are pretty limited.

Those children don’t need to become scientists, but they had an interesting few hours, had the chance to chat to and be taught by students, saw inside amazing university labs, had a different experience.

Yes I’m a middle class fairly privileged parent. But I don’t spend a huge amount on extra curricular things and any free/low cost local events that sound interesting we will probably try.

I have also taught under privileged children rurally (some of them may well not have been on an escalator either but most know all there was to know about lambing!). It is so important that schools educate and nurture - treats are great but if our school ran a trip to a theme park I think most parents would be really surprised and question that decision.

I would honestly but a ticket and take him to the same theme park on the same day. I don't see what the problem is if the parent pays for it and is there to supervise

@Paq “You'll be one of those that thinks that every deprived kid is a nascent Billy Elliott or some other fairy tale.”

how patronising. No. But I think deprived children need opportunities and not to be fobbed off and patronised with trips that don’t offer any educational value. A youth group going to a theme park? Great! A school? Use the money for something a bit more adventurous…

@Sailawaytocromer I won't reply again because OP's thread is about the method of including children in the trip, not the merits of it. But genuinely you sound like every middle class do-gooder who waded into the charity I worked for, telling us how we could do things better, when having really examined or thought about the issues.

@paq. Thanks. And you sound like someone who could benefit from seeing how much good can be done by opening opportunities to children (and some of the adults who work with them). Michael and Clare Morpurgo were called “do-gooders”
too. Almost 50 years later, look how many children have been impacted by their “do gooding”

This reminds me of the brilliant sports camp that was available for a few weeks in the school holidays. It was great value and tremendous fun, apparently as my DS never got in.

The phone lines for booking opened at 8am on a Monday so the only DCs that ever got in had SAHMs able to dial in at that point.

I thought this too

I felt really sad for your DS (and you!) reading this.

It's so unfair. Nearly impossible for you to have paid in time.