to give teachers a 'snack pack' for trips?

[WhatGoesHere]

so - my son is due to go on a school residential for 3 nights.
Do you think it would be weird to send him with a box/bag of treats for the teachers - to help them "get through" the ordeal long days? I'm just thinking some biscuits, hot chocolate sachets, box of celebrations - that kind of thing.

I think it might be better than a thank you of the same thing after the event? I will ask DS to write a thank you card too - as teachers are giving up time and i gather it's actually really hard work taking kids away on these things?

do you think the admin staff should get a few treats too for their office? As they presumably did lots of prep work too??

Do you genuinely believe that teachers are paid some sort of overtime or something for the school residentials?

On their return a box of chocolates to each staff member. No need for gift for the office staff, their input will have been negligible, it's the trip leader that does all the admin.

Hahaha

Teachers (and support staff) are not paid ANY overtime for these trips or the added responsibilities. And the support staff were paid very much less than the teachers for the same responsibility (other than the group leader, obvs)

I have been on a number of primary school residentials
You have to be up before the children, go to bed after the children. You don't get an 'evening' as such as you're sitting outside their rooms making sure they stay there. Hopefully they're close together so there's a bit of socialising for the staff.
My trips were never the PGL type, they were the ones where we took the children out and about every day, and somewhere either for play or to an event in the evening, so we never just sat and let other people deal with them.

You could never fully relax as you always had to keep an eye on your group.

I thoroughly enjoyed them and went to some great places but that was a lot of extra hours I never got paid for.

And as a WI member, it's absolutely not comparable to what I do now to what I did then

Good for you, my colleagues and I would have been thrilled!

(Do be aware, if there's support staff on the trip they'll be doing the same job as the teachers bar the trip leader)

okay - they don’t get paid overtime - but they do have a salary/ employment/ career progression etc and the organising of trips will count towards their appraisals and they can include on job applications . There are lots of jobs where you aren’t paid by the hour for every specific duty you do, but you receive a benefits package (salary, pension, sick leave, Mat leave, holiday entitlement etc) which reflects that. Many roles in the public sector includes weekend and night working on top of normal hours with no overtime, but it is reflected in the overall package, so they are being paid to be there overall.

OP you asked for other peoples opinion on your snack pack idea - I just gave my opinion and I do think it’s OTT. There are lots of folk who give up their free time/ work free unpaid hours for the good of their community and are very rarely acknowledged let alone thanked. Personally, if I was going to buy thank you gifts I would start with those rather than teachers, but you can buy for whoever you wish! Hope your son has a nice time!

I think running any type of community event/ group/ club takes effort and energy - I ran a brownie group for 20 years, and a WI for 15 years- both of which also included weekend events/ residentials - both took the same amount of work. I couldn’t relax at either, worked the entire time and felt like you have described when you ran your school events. The WI ones were harder to an extent as the adults treated me like a paid member of staff and were very demanding - I don’t think many of them realised it was run by volunteers.
my time was never acknowledged and was was rarely thanked. The intention of my original post is that there are many folks who contribute to society who are very rarely acknowledged who I would focus my efforts on buying gifts before teachers who do receive an overall benefits package (even if that does not include overtime for the residential).

@Goldiefinch support staff are pretty much on minimum wage, and even if they are in school for the whole school day throughout the school term their salary works out about 75% of full time equivalent due to holidays etc.

OP it’s a lovely idea! I loved getting little treats like that, it just made me feel appreciated.

I honestly don't think the 'It's their job' crowd have a clue tbh. Firstly, no it isn't really their job. Teachers don't have torun residential trips. Many never do in their whole careers. In secondary schools, only certain departments ever do it. Are they paid more than the rest of the staff? No, of course not. Do they get better career career progression because they happen to teach in a department where you're expected to run trips? No, of course not.

Many parents seem to have plenty of trouble managing their own couple of children on trips. Managing a large group of other people's children away from school for days is a huge responsibility. A lot can go wrong. In some ways it's a lose-lose situation. Little thanks or recognition if everything goes fine. A huge shitstorm if anything goes wrong. And it's always your fault (even if it isn't). Many schools have ditched or drastically cut residential trips, because they are not worth the hassle and teachers are reluctant to run them.

I've not read all the thread.
But my two-penneth.
I've done many primary residentials- I'm not paid extra and they are a lot of work both to organise and whilst you are there. I do it because it is fabulous to see the kids have that experience.
I have always sent a thank you to teachers that have taken my own children away on residentials. Usually a gift bag with a selection of snacks to be shared however they like! No big ceremony- just sent child with bag to give to teacher with a thank you rather than handing it over myself. I feel I've taught my DC the importance of saying thanking you and appreciating when someone has done something for you. Even sullen teenagers have done this willingly!

Teachers are not paid any extra to go on residential trips. So they work many hours of unpaid overtime.

That sounds like a lovely idea and very kind

from a member of staff that has just come back from a trip in the last month , full 16 hour day, and honestly we have had more ridiculous parental complaints/ moanings than thank yous .

I’ll never do one again, definitely not on that scale

OP: 'I was thinking of getting the teachers a box of chocolates for a trip'

Replies: OTT. Why don't you give them to an allotment committee?

LOL.

We’d get so exited when a mum used to bring in treats for us! It will be well received. But give it to them yourself not from your son to save ribbing from other kids.

I think it’s really cringy. I would read it as “I’m a really insecure mother and worried you are not going to look her my grown baby, please, please look after him, here’s some treats to bribe you with”.

I think it is a lovely idea Op. You are just being Kind & Thoughtful and showing Appreciation to the Teachers involved. Take no notice to some of these posts ... you have no alterior motives behind what you are doing other than being your authentic self... Kind & Thoughtful. xxx

Again, it's not just teachers on these trips

You wouldn't do it. Fine

If someone wants to do it. also fine

Nonsense

@Mayflower282 that says more about you than the what the OP is doing

I think it’s a lovely thing to do and as someone who has taken groups away, I would have definitely appreciated it!

Haven’t RTFT but as admin who arranges these trips…. I’d appreciate it!

They end up being so stressful, especially towards the day! 😂

Blimey, I read less into War and Peace.

Are you sure you aren't projecting?

@Mayflower282, that's so funny, because I read it as, "I'm a decent human being who really appreciates the fact that you're going to be looking after my child, along with many, many others, for 24 hours a day for the next few days, for no extra pay."

This doesn’t apply to OP but more generally even if someone is in fact a bit worried and wants to try and increase the likelihood of their child being treated well I don’t see how that’s “insecure”? it’s more anxious or hyper vigilant if anything. We all come with different backgrounds and life experiences.

Sadly for some like my friend who was abused on her residential school trip she does get a bit worried being away from her child. It’s not something to mock someone about.