Expensive school trip - why do schools do it?!

[Beach1983]

Cut a long story short, letter has come home with school trip for 8 days that is approx £2500 that doesn’t include food/spending money so guessing £500 extra for that, so all in roughly 3k.

Am I wildly out of touch for thinking that £3000 for a school trip for one child is ridiculous? (This is regular state school not private btw).

I feel annoyed with the school for putting parents in this position as obviously the kids want to go and (they say) all their friends are going so parents feel hugely guilt tripped into these things even if financially it’s a struggle!

Just needed to vent really and see if people share my views!

I agree with you. It sounds extremely expensive and I agree I would feel under pressure too. Have you spoken to any of his friends' parents?

The only parent I know to talk to has said they aren’t going as too expensive but I don’t know the other kids parents to ask if they are genuinely going or not!

I would think that cost is wildly out of reach for most parents for a school trip and I doubt many will be going.

Where is the trip to? It does sound expensive but depends where they are going. I doubt all their friends are really going. If it’s long haul the school usually only take a certain amount of pupils in my experience eg- names get pulled from a hat. So they don’t all end up going anyway.

Jesus Christ 😳3 grand for an 8 day school jolly.
Ridiculous. I doubt anyone will be going. Where are they travelling to?
Are they going by private jet to a 5 star resort 🤔

Are their friends really all going though? Is it a curriculum trip (unacceptable in my view) or just an extra like skiing or to go to a theme park or New York or something? Probably during a holiday? In which case, I think it’s ok to offer it as only a small group will go.

my school offered trips like this 20+ years ago and my parents just said no, sorry. I went on almost all curriculum trips but expensive fun ones, I didn’t go and neither did most others. Sure it would have been lovely to, but it also would have been nice if my parents took me to disney land in the summer holidays and they didn’t do that either.

It’s madness to expect that to be paid for 1 child. I have bought a family holidays for 3 for less this summer. Say a clear no now, and if you feel the need give feedback to school and think no more about it

It’s so hard for low income families, at my stepdaughter’s primary school they used to put the year 6s not on the residential with the year 5s for the week which I’d imagine isn’t ideal when year groups don’t mingle much (I know the year 6 teachers are on the trip so can’t do much about it but still). She had a residential end of year 6 and then another start of year 7, it’s just a lot and the fear of them feeling outcasted if money is tight I’m sure has some parents spending way more than they can reasonably afford.
I remember my parents doing the exact same when my school was planning a trip to Morocco, out of their budget entirely but had the trip gone ahead I’m sure they’d have found the money for fear of letting me down. It sucks.

That sounds a lot. What kind of trip is it? I’m guessing it includes lots of excursions or activities in the cost?
The cost of fuel/travel/insurances everything related to trips really has gone up astronomically for schools. A trip that was just over £400 at the school I work at is nearly £600 this year. Same tour operators. Coaches and fuel seem to be a big factor.

Very harsh on families that financially just cannot do it and then are left feeling guilty. I hope everyone refuses the trip so that the school gets the message.

God this is ludicrous. Where is this trip to?!
I thought £500 was bad for a trip to America when I was at school. I did not go

Skiing trip?

My dds' school go skiing and it costs over £1k. But not 3 times that!

They can offer it and those that want can pay.

Most families won’t - we could afford such a trip but Dd didn’t want to go on it as none of her friends were going. So just decline. Teens are happier in a field with their mates than on a fancy pants holiday with a load of teachers. Only the nerdy ones at dds school even wanted to go on the pricey trip. The cool kids all went on the camping in Cornwall trip.

Three thousand pounds?! That's a crazy amount to pay for a school trip! We've never spent as much as that on any of our holidays. To be honest, I think it would detract from my enjoyment if I knew it had cost that much.

Most kids don't go on these trips, only the very few who can afford it. Yes they're expensive but the activities etc. that are often included on these trips are very expensive. Are you sure food is not included? Hard to judge whether it's an unreasonable amount without knowing the details of the trip lol!
The cheapest overnight trips were always the foreign exchange trips because accomodation and food etc. was provided by the other child's parents

I completely agree. I am not against trips but they should be much more accessible than this.

That is completely rediculous. We spend that on a family holiday. What on earth is costing so much?

That's nothing, DD's school offered a £4K trip 9 years ago!

Ludicrous price - quite a part from the expense for parents, it is setting children up to think this is quite normal and they are entitled to such trips. Many will be in for a shock when they have to pay for rent, gas and electricity etc etc

We have paid £1k for an amazing weeks ski trip but mine know that's a very special privilege and there is no way I'd go above that. We are in a relatively middle class area but school still has 30% pupil premium. I can not imagine anyone would entertain £3k
Where on earth is it to ?!?!?

Where are they going?
I have a friend who’s child is in a public school and the ski trip wasn’t this expensive!

Needless to say dd didn't go, we compensated by taking the dc on a 2.5 week tour of European castles (not joking) which cost less than that, far less for the whole family!

My DS state grammar in Lincolnshire has a ski trip next month £1200, 2 night activities residential in June £385. Next February is a sports trip to Middle East which is about £1600. We feel they are too expensive but plenty of parents happy to pay & names were 'drawn out of a hat' for the Ski trip.

While there are parents willing/able to pay, these trips will be offered.

It’s a trip to New York, the activities are covered (empire state building all the usuals) but looking online you can get a pass to do all of them for £200 each, so the rest is flights and accommodation is which I’ve found for much cheaper - I can only assume the rest covers the teachers costs to go?

It’s a bit tone deaf right now. And unnecessary. No group trip for kids anywhere needs to cost that much, unless it’s 2 weeks in Australia and then … why??

It’s not that I believe in a race to the bottom and that all trips should be pitched to the absolute lowest earners/ incomes, I just don’t get how you can be so socially inept as to promote such a trip when probably 90%+ of people’s incomes rules this out and in a cost of living crisis. Pick something much cheaper where more people have a chance of affording it and for those that don’t, support them using pupil premium funding, or fundraising. The important thing is going away without parents and being independent. It doesn’t matter where, so much.