To think £110 for this Activity Week is too much?

[Eastie77Returns]

DD’s school has a Y6 Activity Week in the Summer term. It costs £110 and comprises:-

A movie and popcorn afternoon
Visit to the local the park (park is 2 mins from the school)
A day at a local beach
Visit to a theme park (entry is £23 per child)
An afternoon of tech design in the school

I cannot for the life of me work out how this can possibly cost £110. The school will receive almost £10k across the 3 form entry year. I’m a bit baffled??

Insurance costs as well as coach

The museum trip was one class of 30. I’m not suggesting they take the tube anywhere for the Activity Week (completely separate trips) and said I’m happy to send DD, I just didn’t understand the coach costs which have now been explained to me.

Coaches are astronomical. It makes trip costs prohibitive, unfortunately.

Parks, cinema and beach trips get done with their parents a couple of times a year, surely?

Not necessarily. I once read an interview with the Head of a primary school in a well known but deprived seaside resort. He said some of his pupils had never been to the beach - the school was at the back of the town, away from the seafront. The parents didn't take the children to the beach, so he made sure the school did.

I think some people do find it hard to realise that for some children, for a multitude of reasons, the only way they experience some things is when schools are able to offer them. That’s why schools try to offer as wide a variety of things as they can but sadly budget constraints are making that harder and harder now.

Really? You think all kids get trips to the cinema and the beach and theme parks a couple of times a year with their parents? Many kids can only dream of these things, Pupil Premium will be used for the children that really can't afford it.

Plus if they have, say, one teacher for every 10 kids, you've got to add 10% onto all the admission fees etc.

Do you think the staff should be paid in peanuts and the insurance policy shredded ?

Too many kids there for too long a journey to go on the tube.

its coach costs, entry fees, sundries (ice creams?) and possibly tickets for the volunteers they will need to take as well.

There must have been a reason to do 30 by museum to coach not tube if it’s so close and cheap. Things like child needing immediate access to loo, child with extreme anxiety on public transport, children who bolt. Or staffing levels - a group of 30 would likely be split on tube so need teachers with each group. You can’t leave the back half who can’t get on with ‘Katie’s mum’ who is helping on her first trip whereas on a coach it’s not an issue teacher can count everyone on and off.

DC go to an inner London primary. Each DC has been on at least 2 school trips a year from Y1 upwards which involved tube, trains or London bus - usually a teacher and a TA per class, plus parent volunteers.

I'm astounded at the number of people on this thread who think that is seemingly impossible.

Insurances. Staff wages. Travel.
Our holiday club ia £30a day £150pw. Often that's staying in the setting with activities. Other times it's cinema or something

DC’s old school managed to do this. They took trains, tube and buses around London. There was a child with mobility issues in DD’s class and from memory a child with SEN who had a 1-1. They also went to Forest School every single week which involved taking an Overground train with teacher, PA, 1-1 and parent volunteers to a forest several miles away. This was from nursery (kids aged 4).

Seems odd that DC’s current school would pay £££ for a coach to central London for an entire class because one child has anxiety or a toilet issue. But who knows.

Just ask for a breakdown of the costs..

Must be the bus to the theme park.

You can't a tube to the beach or a theme park?

You're astounded? Many people have explained reasons why it's not possible for some children and therefore not possible for that class. Not all children can cope with all things and we need to ensure that every child is included and every child has the best time possible.

Sounds like a crazy amount but coach hire costs are through the roof. I plan school trips and coach costs are the toughest part to get covered. We're paying £750 for a coach to the theatre, for instance. It adds up!

You're in Zone 5/6 didn't you say? And most museums are in Zone 1/2?

So it might have required several changes of tube.

Or the more infrequent tubes

Maybe the old school RA was that, being in Central London, the kids are more likely to use the tube daily anyway but being further out then these kids are less likely to be familiar with it

Maybe the times they were going to the museum would have covered rush-hour, when the tubes are heaving and trying to get around as one or two people is bad enough.

Maybe their RA concludes the safest way to get the complex needs of each child met is to have a coach (because, yes, if ONE child has severe anxiety over the tube and the only solution is not to use the tube then the school won't use the tube)

Maybe their RA is that a coach is safer because of the terrorist level

Maybe they just didn't have the staffing to take that many kids on the tube

There are several reasons why they might chose a coach over the tube

The tube has nothing to do with Activity week trips to the beach etc. I was just making a point about the school always using coaches to go into central London when it’s quicker and easier to take the tube.

But apparently taking 30 kids on a tube is mission impossible.

Have you read the reasons why? @Eastie77Returns

Schools would always try and do trips as cheaply as possible for families but ultimately the safety of all children is the priority.

We are in Zone 5 on the Central line. You can take the tube straight Holborn and a short walk to the British Museum. There are also dozens of other museums on that line. No need for lots of changes.

I don’t think it’s reasonable for the school to spend ££££ on coaches into London because one child in the class suffers from anxiety. I know I’ll be flamed but I would have exactly the same opinion if it was my child who was anxious. The child doesn’t have to miss out. If it was mine, I’d take him to museum myself by another method and meet the school there.

It’s perfectly possible to avoid rush hour on the tube and as we are at the end of the line the children will be boarding an empty tube. And what is the big deal about travelling in rush anyway. It’s the tube in London, not a dangerous freight train in a war zone.

Parents volunteer and help out.

What terrorist level??!

The reasons why they can’t take the tube to London? I’ve read them and will just have to agree to differ.

Separate to that, I now understand the costs for the Activity Week as I didn’t realise coaches were so expensive and in that case £110 actually seems reasonable.