Primary residential price

[Nellsbells173]

Just had the information through for next years school residential. Mixed classes so year 5 and 6 involved.
£336 for two nights!! Some parents have two children in the class so nearly £700.
Is this the going rate now? Am I unreasonable to feel completely sick at this price?

That is more than the cost of our 4 night residential, which includes coach and all the outward bound type activities.

however, coach costs have gone through the roof, perhaps this is the main contributor?

Oh, it is high but I am not surprised. DD had one 6 months ago (Oct 22) and that was 2 nights. It was about £290. And usually the school is very good at keeping costs down so I think it was good value - it's just what it costs now.

This doesn’t include the coach prices, the PTA are covering that. (So essentially the parents again!)

Our school gave us lots of notice (6 months?) and we could pay in 4 instalments, which really helped.

We have to pay a deposit 10 months before and then it's 10 monthly payments which I thought was quite good.

Ours is £270 Monday to Friday but they go at the end of January. I could never understand why they take them at that time of year until my friends son went in September with a different school and it was £150 more for 3 less nights.

I think it would depend on a few factors e.g activities provided, type of accommodation, location/distance from school.

Speaking as a teacher, there’s a lot of cost involved in addition to the venue such as coaches (which cost a LOT more than you might think). If the cost includes a range of activities, meals, accommodation and travel I think it’s fairly reasonable.

schools don't make a profit from these trips. They cost what they cost which will vary depending on venue, travel distance, activities booked, amount of cover needed back at school etc. Complaints about the price really seem to suggest that you think the school is somehow profiteering. I do think the notice given should be as great as possible though.

It was £50 cheaper two years ago as older sister went.
We have certain payments to make at specific dates then a ‘suggested payment breakdown’ for the rest, which last time when the ‘suggested’ dead line came around you got a message saying it was now due and needed to be paid. Nothing ‘suggested’ about that

@B1993 not at all. I think they just need to consider what’s happening a bit better, possible put a vote to parents and maybe have a rethink of different options then stick to the same old routine as that’s what’s always been done.
Again, no coach cost included in this

Sorry should have tagged @BibbleandSqwauk in previous reply.
I also work in a school, who are a lot more considerate of the costs of these trips for our children

But the cost of everything has gone up so the fact it’s “only” £50 more shows that they are doing what they can to keep it down.

if the two children in one class families have one in year 5 and one in year 6 then the answer many families take is tell the younger they can go next year. There are always children who don’t go for whatever reason

I've just paid £275 for my son to have 2 nights glamping. It feels pretty expensive as the activities they are being offered are all low cost outdoors types. But I understand there will be people there showing them how to do it and they are all trained. It isnt an affluent school, and there are 3 sets of twins in our year group, and it feels alot of money to us on top of everything else at the moment

A few years ago, covid forced our school to be creative and they camped over night in the school field on Thursday evening, and Fri morn as all the kids came into school they had breakfast and played games. It was such an excellent idea as lots of people lent them tents so it was a really low cost to the parents and the kids loved it. I'm sure they will have as fond memories of camping at school, as ours will glamping.

@Nellsbells173, you asked if this was the going rate for residentials now, not if it should be reorganised for a cheaper alternative. So in answer to your original question, in my experience, yes it’s about average.

I do, however, completely understand your point that for many parents it’s a huge sum of money to expect. I’m sure the school will have recognised this and considered alternative venues and activities etc. to find a competitive price. Unfortunately, it’s just what these places seem to be charging at moment and if they want to provide a residential, that’s simply the cost.

I’d hardly say it’s ‘only’ £50, being over £300 is a ridiculous amount to pay.

Ours is £265 for 2 nights and we pay in 12 monthly installments.

The venue is around 2 miles from school so parents are to drop off and collect. The range of activities is excellent, from kayaking to shooting to climbing. I think it's pretty good value.

My daughter went for 4 nights. Parent council subsidised most of it so we only had to pay £50 each.

That was going at the cheapest time of year which should have been £190 per child and obviously why they chose to go then. The price varies each month and to go around now would be £485 per child so we were extremely lucky.