To think that this isn't fair (school situation)

[whyisswangnotaword]

To cut a long story short, my child's school is holding a whole school trip to a beach to mark the end of the year.
It's been highly encouraged for all students to attend, albeit a little too encouraged and has come across to many as very pushy, which has been off putting.
We are not attending, due to my child's horrific travel sickness. I was called and asked if we were attending after already saying we are not - and then was further questioned as to why we are not going. That's not the point though -

We have today been told that any children not attending will be set online work to complete for the day that the school is closed for the trip.
I will be taking my child out for the day, most probably to the cinema due to bad weather .. because although she is aware of the reasons we are not attending and did not want to go due to travel sickness (it would absolutely NOT be enjoyable for anybody) it's still not nice for her to think of all of her friends out having fun whilst she is stuck at home.

Is it silly of me to think that it's unfair that the school are setting an online work day for the children that aren't attending?
I would agree with it totally if she were missing an educational trip, but it's not that. It's a whole school trips for the children and their parents to have a fun day at the beach.

Kids don't always know what's best for them - why give them a choice? On the other hand if you really can't afford for them to go then fair enough - but I'm sure your school would waive the fees for children to go if they are missing out because of finances.

I think it's something they just have to do OP, it's technically a school day so they have to provide something, I don't think they're doing it to be slave-drivers.

I agree with others, don't do it and have a nice day out together instead.

Gosh this seems very sad! Primary aged DCs are usually super fired up about a trip anywhere aren’t they?

A cathedral has huge potential for some gruesome history / some brass rubbing + art activities / a climb to look out the tower / a moment to be peaceful and light a candle / a visit to the crypt if there is one / some games Outside / maybe a picnic - not to mention the excitement + novelty of being out of school + on an adventure with their teacher + school friends…

I would go 😆🤦🏼‍♀️

I've only read the opening post but if you've been called in after telling them you will not be sending your child on this trip, and they have subsequently allocated online work for your child to do instead of being on this trip, can you enquire if all student will be allocated this work (as they too will be 'missing a day of education') while they are on the trip?

Yes- this. Like the snow day work they made us put online. Please, if there's a snow day just let your kids play in the snow. The work is unrelated to whatever they're currently studying.

My primary age kid loves a visit to a cathedral 🙈

Definitely a box ticking exercise! Just enjoy your day.

Stugeron are amazing, both my kids get horribly travel sick and are absolutely fine so long as they take these 2 hours before (or night before), honestly they are magic. Fine for kids aged 5.

Oh come on @Soubriquet at least own your posts! In the first one a cathedral was a “stupid” place to take kids and you were “keeping them home”, now half the thread has pointed out that this is a bit closed minded it’s all on the kids not wanting to go despite you extolling the benefits of the trip 🤔

My yr 6 wasn’t given the option not to attend unless they were ill, and if that were the case they’d be going to school rather than being kept home (unless it was contagious).

Just a note of sympathy for the travel sickness. I used to be sick even on the 5-minute car journey to the supermarket at that age. Nothing really helped me, though there were some smells I found soothing (mostly lemon - no idea how this was discovered but I would often end up holding a lemon in the car in an effort to make things better).

FWIW I had bad travel sickness throughout primary school, though it did improve from terrible to just bad, and I still have wonderful memories of school trips and of family holidays in the car. The sickness always lifted pretty quickly once we arrived and the coach and car journeys enabled some really formative experiences. Hopefully your DD will get to a point in the future where the sickness isn't so bad that it outweighs the enjoyment of these kinds of visit.

Quite a lot actually - in my last job we worked closely with the cathedral education team and the sessions there were great fun. There were a range of different workshops, ranging from some religious based, to one about monastic herbs/medieval medicine, one where the children dressed up as monks, one looking at stained glass and making pictures/creating their own window. Those are the ones that stuck in my mind, and I never knew a class look bored.

Oh dear. What a horrible thing to say to somebody.
You have no idea about my situation, nor how I parent, nor the reasons for doing / not doing such things.
It's very lucky I don't get offended easily, because this is incredibly rude.

I was called asking why we were not attending the trip.
The message about work was a group notification. So it does apply to everybody not going on the trip (they've made it out like there is not many at all)

I would not have even considered giving my kids a choice at this age unless there was an extremely good health-related reason. It was a school trip and they were going and that was that!

Schools have to legally set work for children not on a trip

Noone i going to chase them for it

It is bizarre because my daughter (also reception) has just been on a whole school beach trip and they only took a few parents from each class, I would have thought that the cost of the coach would be astronomical if you need twice as many seats.

My daughter’s school does this every year and the letter announcing the trip really stressed the importance of attending due to follow up work.

I sympathise with the travel sickness - not something my family have ever suffered with but I remember the absolute misery friends went through,

But the whole school is closed and the children aren't even of obligatory school age, so setting work isn't necessary! Not exactly an 'educational trip' either!
Think school are just trying to make a point!

I agree with this. I doubt if anyone will care whether the work is done or not. They have been seen to be setting work and ticked that box.

Now, my firstborn was so obsessed with churches and churchyards when he was small that we used to travel around the countryside looking for new ones to explore. Even at 16 and 14 both of mine are desperate to see inside any cathedral going and spent more time in Cologne (our most recent city jolly) cathedral last year than I did.... Exactly for the reasons mentioned, a crypt, tombs, history and architecture to explore. It seems stupid that that would be considered stupid actually!

I went on a school trip (year 2 or 3, I think) to a cathedral, and everyone enjoyed it. I remember emailing their education officer to let them know how impressed the parent helpers were.

*jgjgjgjgjg · Today 16:30
You don't drive, you don't work, and you've haven't really done everything you possibly can to track down an effective remedy for travel sickness?

Sadly I think your child is destined to grow.up with a rather narrow life experience*

By the same token, your children if you have any, are destined to grow up as rude, unkind and unpleasant as you are. What a shame for them.

Whaaaaaat?! Don't be ridiculous. The requirement is surely to make reasonable adjustments. It's not reasonable to expect no child to ever travel on a bus because one can't. I really am all for inclusivity but it's this kind of mentality that sucks any kind of joy out of society.

But the whole school is closed and the children aren't even of obligatory school age, so setting work isn't necessary! Not exactly an 'educational trip' either!
Think school are just trying to make a point!

What point? I think the school are just trying to cover their backs, by nominally providing activities for a child who can't access the trip and can't come to school because there is no provision for them to be there because it will be closed! Parents complain about a lot of things. I can absolutely imagine a parent saying 'You have organised a trip my child can't go on. What are you doing to cater for my child's education on that day?!'

And of course they can't win, because some parents might complain if the don't set work, others (like the OP) might complain if they do.

Kwells junior are suitable for ages 4-10 - I have some in the cupboard as my DD suffers with travel sickness. School have been very helpful on trips, they sit her near the front and staff are ready to help. The Kwells work well though. I’d be trying those before letting her miss out on the trip.

My DD is now much older than yours and still suffers so it’s a long time to be possibly missing out on trips - there will be a lot more. She isn’t the only one either; staff are used to dealing with it.