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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Child unwell on school trip

334 replies

G172125 · 03/04/2024 19:43

My son is currently on a school trip to Disneyland. He started to feel unwell with stomach pains and vomiting. He got split up from he’s group and was left alone in Disney village. I managed to get hold of the teacher to let her know and she said she would go to him. My son then text me and said she said she Can’t go to him because she is queuing for a ride. Nobody bothered to go look for my son for two hours. Aibu to make a complaint about this and take it further?

OP posts:
SkyBloo · 03/04/2024 20:28

At 16 the teachers are only really there so there's a responsible adult in an emergency/to coordinate things with travel/accomodation.

Lots of 16 year olds go on holiday with friends. When i was in year 11 i went to Greece with friends, no parents!

Your DS would probably be mortified by your references to "children".

NewName24 · 03/04/2024 20:28

CorvusPurpureus · 03/04/2024 20:07

It doesn't sound brilliantly organised.

Whenever I've done theme park trips, two teachers have been stationed somewhere central (usually cracking on with work on laptops at a cafe) & students know to go there if they get separated from their friends, are unwell etc.

If a student needs a teacher to go & find them in a dire emergency, one does that whilst the other stays put.

I would still expect a 16yo with a dicky tum to be able to find somewhere quiet to sit on his phone for a bit, though.

& yes to 'year 11s, Easter, on a jolly, wtaf?!'

This.

I bet, if we heard from others (incl staff and other pupils) on the trip, there would be quite a different side to this whole story.

ComeAlongPeggy · 03/04/2024 20:28

The teachers are not getting a jolly to Disneyland. It’s hard work being responsible for children. I’d question the school for prioritising Disneyland before GCSE’s (or any year tbh - where’s the educational value?!) because it’s not “just two days” - children are always exhausted for a day or two when they get back.

I would be SO unimpressed if that was the school trip offered to my children.

Azandme · 03/04/2024 20:29

G172125 · 03/04/2024 19:53

Just turned 16, year 11. First time in a foreign country . The teacher new the situation and he’s location but was to busy on her holiday to bother. He spoke to her on the phone.

I would get both sides of the story before I took this as fact.

I spent a LOT of time queueing on trips to Alton Towers and I often couldn't leave the queue either - because I was supporting a disabled learner.

If it did happen exactly as your ds said, then yes, that's poor and I'd be speaking to the school, but if it was something like "I can't come right now, I'm in a queue with X, he's already waited an hour and this is one of the accessible rides, shall I ring Miss Y or do you think you'll be OK?" which then got relayed as "She's in a queue and won't come!" then I wouldn't.

Definitely more info needed.

EdgarsTale · 03/04/2024 20:29

G172125 · 03/04/2024 20:16

i Don’t agree with this at all. All the the children from year 8 to 11 are walking around the park alone. The teachers have got to go on a trip to Disneyland. There is no option to get back to the hotel it’s a coach drive away. From the pictures posted on there social media it looks as though the teachers are going around the park together

Show quote history

Teachers could afford to go to Disneyland without needing a free school trip. They’ve given up part of their holiday to take these pupils.

I think I’d want the teachers side of this story before getting stroppy.

crumblepuppy · 03/04/2024 20:30

I have teenagers and I am pretty sure all of them would get in touch with me in this situation if they’d already tried the teacher with luck. To have a stomach bug while away from home isn’t fun at any age. My kids wouldn’t really expect me to be able to help as such but they might call for some moral support. They’re all perfectly capable kids but they also know I do care about how they’re getting on.

AnxiousRabbit · 03/04/2024 20:30

G172125 · 03/04/2024 19:57

Yes she was queuing for a ride. None of the other teachers came to look for him either. The was no meeting point just a number to keep in contact. The kids are allowed go around the parks without a teacher

Yes that's normal. They are 16 and capable of going round the park..no-one would look for him unless he didn't make a rendezvous which may be a few hours later.

And I appreciate he is unwell but depending on how bad and what he said it may be reasonable to say I will be there in 30 minutes or similar.
Ultimately the teacher is not going to be able to do much and he's already at the toilets.

Which park is it?

MartinsSpareCalculator · 03/04/2024 20:30

What? Why can't he just text his mates, find out where they are and go there?

A 16yr old shouldn't need a teacher to come and hold their hand.

SmokedPaprikaPuffs · 03/04/2024 20:30

I think the teacher should have taken him back to his hotel room to make sure he was safe and near a bed/toilet, and maybe got him a glass of water.

I was recently unwell with a stomach bug and only left my bed to go to the bathroom and dh was bringing me lucozade to drink so the replies saying he's 16 and should have been fine are a bit harsh. Of all the places to start vomiting, in the middle of disneyland would be awful.

travelallthetime · 03/04/2024 20:31

I find it incredibly hard to believe that any school thinks it is reasonable to take yr 11's on a school trip 5 weeks before gcse's

ManchesterBeatrice · 03/04/2024 20:31

@EarringsandLipstick Oh as if.

He's fine.

SkyBloo · 03/04/2024 20:31

From the pictures posted on there social media it looks as though the teachers are going around the park together

I call bullshit. In no school I have ever come across would teachers be posting pics of themselves with other teachers, on social media or anywhere parents would see.

ManchesterBeatrice · 03/04/2024 20:32

SkyBloo · 03/04/2024 20:31

From the pictures posted on there social media it looks as though the teachers are going around the park together

I call bullshit. In no school I have ever come across would teachers be posting pics of themselves with other teachers, on social media or anywhere parents would see.

😂👏

Original poster
G172125 · 03/04/2024 20:32

FeelingSoOverwhelmed · 03/04/2024 20:19

I'm a teacher who has done lots of trips abroad (including DLP and Parc Asterix) and our procedures (like many others have said) is to have staff at checkpoints plus a mobile to contact. We don't "crack on with work" though, just find a shady spot to have a coffee.

I'd definitely come and find a kid who was alone and ill, and it is absolutely worth following up on this. Not saying your DS is lying at all but just check the teachers side of things as well in case something's got lost in communication.

Yes I will be checking to make sure he’s telling the truth. But from the screenshots and timings of phone calls he’s sent me it seems to me that he his. Just for clarification this happened yesterday and I’ve took a day to think about it and calm down but I’m still not happy and I don’t know if I’m being unreasonable. I know my son and he isn’t one to play on an illness he would have been mortified. After he was found he fell asleep in a cafe till the park closed and they went back to the hotel.

OP posts:
PrincessTeaSet · 03/04/2024 20:33

notnowmarmaduke · 03/04/2024 20:01

not when you factor in child care, pet care, family commitments, clothing, food, and everything else it takes to agree to spend your holiday with your work instead of at home..

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Clothes? For a 2 day trip to Disney? How do you know they have pets or kids ?

Jeannie88 · 03/04/2024 20:34

edwinbear · 03/04/2024 19:52

Ahhhh sorry, it was the teacher in the ride queue not OP’s son! Yes, I think she should have left her ride queue to check on him in that case.

Teachers take over duties so she will have passed it on to ones on duty. It's hard work, also very enjoyable, taking students on trips abroad. It's 24/7 do we do shifts and share every part of the day and night to be available and responsible for them. Most likely it was her turn to have a couple of hours free. Xx

JustWhatWeDontNeed · 03/04/2024 20:35

travelallthetime · 03/04/2024 20:31

I find it incredibly hard to believe that any school thinks it is reasonable to take yr 11's on a school trip 5 weeks before gcse's

It's not uncommon. As already stated, our teens' school is in Andorra for the week. All year groups welcome.

Nudgethatjudge · 03/04/2024 20:37

I am amazed there is no agreed meeting spot with a member of staff (or 2) on duty, especially with the young people able to go off not in supervised groups.

And to say can't help as queuing for a ride.... bloody hell. They needed to check on your son.

Azandme · 03/04/2024 20:37

PrincessTeaSet · 03/04/2024 20:33

Clothes? For a 2 day trip to Disney? How do you know they have pets or kids ?

Show quote history

I have pets and kids, I've also staffed numerous trips, in my own time.

Most of my colleagues also have kids/pets/both.

Jeannie88 · 03/04/2024 20:39

CorvusPurpureus · 03/04/2024 20:07

It doesn't sound brilliantly organised.

Whenever I've done theme park trips, two teachers have been stationed somewhere central (usually cracking on with work on laptops at a cafe) & students know to go there if they get separated from their friends, are unwell etc.

If a student needs a teacher to go & find them in a dire emergency, one does that whilst the other stays put.

I would still expect a 16yo with a dicky tum to be able to find somewhere quiet to sit on his phone for a bit, though.

& yes to 'year 11s, Easter, on a jolly, wtaf?!'

Exactly, we make it over clear to students and parents alike what the protocol is and there is always someone on duty. Have been on so many trips abroad and there has never been a problem, they come back to meeting place or now call who is on duty. It does seem a case he rang one teacher who wasnt on duty then his Mum who has feared the worst.

Original poster
G172125 · 03/04/2024 20:40

SkyBloo · 03/04/2024 20:31

From the pictures posted on there social media it looks as though the teachers are going around the park together

I call bullshit. In no school I have ever come across would teachers be posting pics of themselves with other teachers, on social media or anywhere parents would see.

I could post the pictures but obviously that would be outing the school. There are very little pictures of the students on the trip but quite a few of the teachers with different characters and seeing different shows. Which I have no problem with but I think it should of been a priority for one of them to go and check on one of there students if they became ill

OP posts:
ManchesterBeatrice · 03/04/2024 20:40

Nudgethatjudge · 03/04/2024 20:37

I am amazed there is no agreed meeting spot with a member of staff (or 2) on duty, especially with the young people able to go off not in supervised groups.

And to say can't help as queuing for a ride.... bloody hell. They needed to check on your son.

I've filed this under the list of...

tothelefttotheleft · 03/04/2024 20:40

sparepantsandtoothbrush · 03/04/2024 19:57

These responses are ridiculous. Teachers are acting as Loco Parentis, you know, in the absence of an actual parent. Are posters really saying if that was their child then they'd just leave them while they carried on queueing for a ride??

Exactly.

It could have been something serious.

rainydogday · 03/04/2024 20:41

Christ, some horrid replies. I still class my 16 old as a child! Being in a foreign country, in pain and vomiting and told there is no help. He called his mum. That is normal behaviour. Poor kid. Mine are very rarely sick and when they have been it does feel awful and uncontrollable sometimes. How does anyone know that he doesn't have something worse the just a sick bug, dehydration etc. I would be pissed off knowing he was own his own feeing ill. Hope he is ok.

Jeannie88 · 03/04/2024 20:43

Cookiemiguel · 03/04/2024 20:14

This. My DD’s go to a school that have loads of trips, including abroad. Whether it was a theme park like Alton towers, or a trip to Madrid where they were allowed (at year 8) to wander around the shops alone, there was always a teachers stationed somewhere where they could find them. I can see the benefits of a teacher just giving their number out so they can move around too, but surely it should be a priority that if they are contacted by a child who needs help, that they fucking help them! I actually can’t imagine a teacher telling a sick child, in a foreign country, who they are responsible for, ‘nah I’m too busy queuing for a Disney ride, you’ll have to sit on a bench for two hours on your own until I’m finished’. Completely unacceptable

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I'm sure this wasn't the case, that teacher will have passed it on to the others on duty at that time. We are there 24/7 and do shifts to be available, night and day, so she was most likely saying she couldn't do it immediately but another teacher would? Xx