Any real benefit to multiple residential trips in secondary school

[Crissxross]

We are currently looking at potential secondary schools for our DS. This won’t really be a deciding factor but curious to know if there is any actual benefit.
One of the schools we are looking at and who I know multiple parents of children who attend the school offer what I feel is maybe a slightly excessive number of international residential trips. It is a private school so I understand cost may not be as much of a factor as in a state school.

Every year, they run a skiing trip (in term time) for Y7-10 and Y12, according to the parents I’ve spoken to say it’s not the most popular, maybe 1/4 of the kids from each year actually go, very low pressure and opt in.
Then and this is the part which seems excessive —
All year 7s are invited on a French language trip to Paris, according to parents this is very popular and the majority of pupils attend.
All year 8s are offered a science trip to Berlin or Geneva (alternates), again apparently fairly popular though less so than the France trip.
All Year 9s are offered a maths trip to New York, apparently this is significantly less popular and only about half the pupils go.
In Y10 pupils will go on either a history trip to Germany or a Geography trip to Iceland, apparently this is extremely popular, highly encouraged to “support the GCSE curriculum” and very few pupils don’t go.

I’ve been told the school offer financial support to children receiving bursary’s for trips but it wouldn’t be possible for them to go on all of them.

AIBU to think this is quite excessive?
What even would a science trip to Berlin or Maths trip to New York entail?

Definitely a nightmare for parents to fund, but the best parts of myself education for sure.

I dont know your financial situation so this is more of a general comment but being able to afford private schooling is much more than the fees. I can remember my dad complaining about the cost of ski equipment on top of the trip cost, because we weren't a family that skiied so had none whereas all my friends went every year anyway. I know they found the funding of all the 'extras that were actually essentials' to be really hard. Im so grateful for the opportunities though, they were the best.

My DS went on a maths trip to New York in Y9, there were some elements which related to maths such as the National museum of maths, the hall of science which had a maths exhibition and the museum of the federal reserve, but they also did touristy activities like a broadway show, going up the Empire State Building, time in Central Park etc.

He had an amazing time!

I think as long as they aren’t mandatory it’s good for a school to offer options that will suit different kids preferences.

I think you have to look at each trip on its merits and decide at the time, none of them are compulsory. To be fair this doesn’t seem that excessive no one is expected to do all or even any of them. French language trips have been the norm for decades I did one in the 80s and a couple of exchanges. Iceland is definitely a regular with all gcse schools around here as well as a holocaust kind of trip during gcse. Linking New York to maths is a little tenuous, maybe a morning measuring the height of buildings using trigonometry, a pencil and a piece of string.

For an independent school this actually seems light. Ours do uk residentials once a year years 4-9, these are paid for by the school (well, the fees) and are pretty much obligatory - team bonding, camping etc. on top of that they’re offered up to 5-6 different trips per year - all opt-in - things like skiing, Xmas markets, language trips, sports tours, orchestra tours etc. many of them are multi-year trips which is lovely for them to get to know people in different years.
we’re not a particularly moneyed independent, and the trios aren’t cheap, most children go on max of one a year if that.
I do think it’s lovely that they can choose what to do.

One trip on offer per year, hardly excessive.

Agree with this, you don't have to decide now.

My DS went to France in Y7 (absolutely loved it) but decided against any ski trips as they were insanely expensive and took about 20 hours each way on a coach which all seemed nuts, as we could do the whole thing cheaper and easier as a family. (It turned out that the reason they were so expensive was because the teachers loved going on these trips and didn't have to pay because the kids were covering their costs )

Just because the school run various trips doesn't mean your child has to go on them all, you get to pick which ones are the most beneficial.

I think that seems quite like, my state school offered far more than that in the early 2,000s, the three state schools we had been looking at all offer more than that.

When I was at school in the 00s these type of more extravagant trips (beyond the bog standard language exchange) became popular in the age of low cost travel. I went skiing and quite frankly that was one big teenage junket at my parents expense. Sure we did some skiing lessons but there was a lot of fannying about by some pupils in the ski lounge, and then mayhem in the lodge during the evening.

Given the cost of coaches, accommodation, flights etc state schools probably need to reconsider what to offer. I think the language exchanges are suffice. I have a master's in geography and there are many places of geographical significance,, you don't need to fly to bloomin Iceland.

School trips are an amazing experience for children.

I'm speaking as both a parent and a teacher who has run and helped on trips.

Its experiencing different cultures, having a go at new things, and experiencing all this with their peers.

I would see that as a positive in a secondary school, compared to DHs old (East London) secondary school who did no international trips until sixth form.

IME from my own school days and from having friends with older DC, no one goes on all of them - most DC only go on a couple across 5 years, but it's nice to have options.

That’s just one trip a year (ignoring skiing)? I thought that was pretty standard and doesn’t sound like there’s much pressure if a lot of the kids aren’t going. Our school has one week a year that all year groups are off on residential (except 11 and 13 obviously). They do a range of options with varying costs, and they do an activity week in school for those that don’t go abroad. I’ve basically budgeted for mine to go once a year (and thankfully only have one painful year where they both overlap and go!)

(State school btw)

Nearly every school in the country does a language exchange or trip if they can manage it. It’s an obvious benefit to MFL.

of the other trips, the battlefields/Cold War to Berlin trips are again very standard and feed into gcse history. Both of mine went on these. It really does bring it to life. Obviously not compulsory.

geography certainly used to require coursework which necessitated a field trip. The state school I most recently taught at did a day trip to Norfolk but again Iceland is very popular - many state schools offer this. I have been to Iceland and the geography is stunning.

it’s not excessive. If your kid doesn’t want to do history don’t do the battlefields. If they don’t want to do geography skip Iceland.

I was just about to say this. My state school offered more than that in the 80’s 🤭

Our school offers about 30 trips across the various year groups - sport / languages / geog / history / DofE / CCF etc

The benefit is in enabling children to develop independence and the ability to function successfully away from home.

Do you have any idea just how many young adults (in the UK at least, especially since Covid) are struggling to cope with university and entry into the working world because at 18 or 19 they’ve never slept anywhere but at home? Never taken care of their own clothes? Never eaten in a restaurant? Never had to ask a stranger for directions in the street. (Which you may still have to do if your phone’s died or there’s poor reception.)

This is what those trips are for. Learning to ski, or to speak French are entirely secondary.

At any independent school, amongst the fee payers and those on bursaries, only a handful will go on any particular non-compulsory trip. No one goes on all of them. But it’s a good policy to try to send your child on a few - real education requires a broadening of horizons.

If we could afford it, we’d love to take up some of the really significant trips: Paris is amazing for firing an enthusiasm for languages. New York will have definite Maths benefits but perhaps more importantly it will help the pupils see how much the world has to offer them (apart from the current political situation there - though that could be a learning experience too!) Obviously there’s also the bonding, coping without parents etc etc which are all so worthwhile.

DS's state secondary offered residential trip in Yr 7 that related to the Saint the school was named after. Nearly everyone went and there were arrangements to help with costs for those who needed that.

Year 8 was an away day/day trip at a science fair and a day trip to France. Year 9 was a history or geography trip residential abroad. Year 10 would have been an MFL trip or Paris Disney if you did business, I think there were some other possibilities. Sixth form there was work experience for MFL which was exchange visit. Skiing was also offered in sixth form and some local secondaries offered skiing for younger years.

DS missed out on any trips from Yr8 until sixth form because of COVID. The perspective this has given me is that residential trips are good for being away from home and building independence as well as educationally. He was lucky enough to have attended a couple of clubs with weekends away before COVID and to go on the work experience in Germany in sixth form.

I think it's quite normal for private schools, it's a stretch to fund so we asked ours to prioritise - they did language trips to Europe, and geography trip to Iceland and another to South America. Neither opted for ski-ing. I don't think many if any kids did all of them.

Expense apart I think they got a lot out of it in mental stimulation and life experience, so the school is right to offer if there's enough take up.

Language trips made sense when it was rare for families to travel abroad. If the language trip was a cheap way for kids to get a small opportunity to immerse themselves in the language they were learning, that their family could not otherwise afford, there was some genuine merit in that.

But stuff like ski-trips that are more expensive than a whole family skiing holiday make no sense whatsoever. What's the educational merit in that? They might be optional, but for a child who's friend group is going, it does create emotional and financial pressure for the family. It can mean a whole family skipping their holiday so one child can take a school trip and not feel left out. And schools use these trips as selling points, A number of the schools we looked at, boasted at their opening nights about their annual surf trips to Portugal, when we live less than an hour from a number of amazing surfing beaches.

And they don't foster independence, not in the slightest. Independence isn't about having freedom away from your parents. It's about developing the skills to take responsibility for yourself. Trips like this do absolutely nothing like that. They actually just throw kids into situations that are completely unnatural and the results aren't always positive.

My sons state secondary offer around 3-4 international trips per school year so the examples in your OP seem lower than normal? He's been on some of them, dependent on our finances at the time. He had an amazing time every single time and they were all very worthwhile experiences.

DS did A-level physics trip to Geneva in year 13. He liked it.

I’m sorry your experience has been so negative, @alittleprivacy. In my family children have very much benefitted from school trips.

They don’t have to be multi-million dollar extravaganzas either: three nights in the Lake District can be just as horizon broadening.

35 years later I still think very fondly of the art trip I went on to Florence. I didn’t even take art.
The French trip to Paris was far less successful.
We didn’t go abroad as a family so these were my first trips to mainland Europe and I appreciated them.
You'll know better what your kids would benefit from.