Can't afford Dd's very expensive school trip

[Wario54]

My DD is 15 and in year 10 at the moment. We live a deprived part of the North of England. She goes to a local, state comprehensive

My DH has had his hours reduced at work in recent months. I work part time in retail (can't get anymore hours unfortunately - I have asked). Like a lot of families, we're financially struggling to keep our heads above water. But we get by (somehow) and I never take the little things for granted (that we have each other, food on the table and a roof over our heads). We've not told our kids about our financial worries - they know there isn't much spare money but not about the extent of our problems.

Dd has come home tonight with a letter and great excitement about another school trip. They had a guest speaker today (external travel company) in assembly today enthusing them about a trip to Borneo of all places. It's 4 weeks long and the cost is £6,500. Currently planned for June/July 2027 (just after her GCSE'S). They are expected to fundraise some of the cost themselves (bake sales, sponsored walks etc) but we will have to pay the majority if she's to go.

She said today that she'll get a Saturday job to cover some of the cost herself. But even with that, taken into account we just can't afford it. It breaks my heart, because I'd love to give her that opportunity but I know we simply can't.

She's full of excitement about trekking through the jungle and cuddling Orangutans. But how do I tell her when she's already set her heart on it? 😢

I just think the school are being completely ridiculous by offering such an expensive trip in a cost of living crisis.

Get a grip! I am sure if it was a week in Bognor, the teachers wouldn't be so enthusiastic to supervise.

I'm sure you could volunteer to supervise if a month with a load of other peoples kids is what you fancy.

We are in the ‘higher earners’ bracket, not rich but more fortunate than most. There is no way i would agree to this. Zero chances. Do not feel bad. It’s not reasonable. I cant imagine many parents agreeing to it. Her enthusiasm will fizzle out when she realises none of her mates are going.

Also want to add. Have they considered the kids needing vaccinated up to the hilt to go? Typhoid, Japanese Encephalitis, Hepatitis etc. For that alone, a hard no from me!

Don't see the issue? I am pretty sure they aren't going kicking and screaming to a trip of a lifetime. They are 15, not 5 or what, 17 by 2027. Hard life eh....

Explain to dd that it is not feasible financially
However if she is interested in studying nature /conservation /biology at uni she can look for unis which have exchanges and field trips to borneo or other places .
It is a "not now" but can inspire her to think about future plans

A lot of the parents that support these trips (and other white saviour activities) really do not care.

I posted on social media once about Samaritan's Purse and the harm done by the Christmas Shoe Box campaign.

Comments I got included (paraphrased):

"If you don't want to do it, don't, but this post could discourage other people." (Yes, that was why I posted it.)

"My granddaughter learned all about the joy of giving doing this- she had fun picking out colouring pencils in the shop."

"It doesn't really matter what happens to them after we give them in at school, the important thing is that the children learn to think about all the disadvantaged children in the world."

"At least those kids will be grateful, not like the chavs in this country who expect charity for doing nothing."

Literally no empathy for communities being ripped apart by missionaries for the sake of a shoebox full of tat. Just all about how it benefits THEIR little darling to get some feel good Christmas spirit.

@Morrisdancer24

i wouldn’t wanna do it. Do this trip and have to be responsible for a load of teens or do an adults only holiday to Tenerife with my partner where I can do what I want when I want….no brainer.
you’ve obviously never been a teacher have you?

I've seen plenty of people on MN complaining that they might be covering the cost of staff of Y6 PGL trips before...

I have never once let any of my kids go to these ski trips and whatnot. There are some with a few grand to spare, there are some who do not. Don't feel bad. Explain to her, she's old enough. If you live in a deprived area, she will know you aren't rich. 6.5k is an obscene amount of money to spend on a school trip. If it's educational then the school can pay it. Which they won't. I doubt there will be many who go, probably cancelling the whole thing. I'd email the school and ask why they are doing this absolutely astoundingly expensive trip. Who has that to pay for a school trip? There are no amount of buns going to be sold to cover it and you will all be buying each others. I bet she would rather have driving lessons, which are probably equivalent to that school trip 🤣🤣.

They are though. As many other posters have said, they have to really pressure teachers to go on trips. Even though the cost of the trip is paid, any incidentals are usually not. If you asked me to spend 4 weeks away from my family, on call 24 hours a day, not allowed a moment to myself, looking after a group of teens, I'd tell you where to get off. Luckily, some teachers are willing to give up their time (which is unpaid) to supervise these trips, or they wouldn't happen.

So let me get this straight, do some people actually think teachers should pay for the privilege of being chosen to supervisethe trip?

The answer to this, sadly, is:

"I don't have £6,500, but if I did, I still would not be paying for a trip to Borneo. There are a lot better ways to spend that money."

What are the school thinking, is it April 1st? 🤣

Yes, the responsibility. Particularly for 16/17 year olds, trying to behave like adults whilst still children. I'm aware of one of these trips where one boy had to be shipped back home early because he'd made himself ill through reckless behaviour. Not a choice I'd care to make (of course the boy and his parents kicked off!) and not a responsibility I'd care to have.

It's the school that's absolutely bonkers and véry unreasonable. I would post an official protest to the school. Can you maybe talk to other parents? Make it some sort of a group action? You say you live in a deprived part of the North of England, I think you're not the only family counting every penny - and probably some are much worse of.

We are not well off but by sounds of it in a slightly better financial position then you, we both work full time have a little spare income. When my son came home from school telling us about a similar trip, we sat down showed him our income and outgoings and explained we couldn’t do. We said once he was working he could always take a gap year when he is older, but I was quite straight about how unaffordable it was. As it turned out, not that many kids in his year took part, so he wasn’t the odd one out x

We had the same for both of mine (15 & 16). They didn’t / aren’t going to go because it’s not financially feasible. It’s not just your school, it’s an outside company & they offer these enrichment trips that are extremely expensive & outside the reach of most families. Your child will be able to do similar either with the family or on a gap year.

Glad you're writing to the governors, this is appalling. I would also talk to other parents as you won't be the only one and it would be good for them to know the strength of feeling. Is this one of those trips where school-aged kids with no technical skills 'help' in deprived countries for a few weeks, usually paying the equivalent of money that could have fed a family for a year in said countries? It's a no. As PP said talk to your daughter about how long she'd have to work and also what kind of travel opportunities she could get for that money or much less.

My DD’s school offered a trip to the US, cost around £3000 per child. They offered it to three year groups, and just 20 children went on it. She won’t be alone in not going.
My friend sat down with her daughter and went through all the things the money would pay for on Christmases and birthdays, family holidays etc, and showed how they would have to do without those things in order to afford it.

The 'fundraising' part makes me laugh. As if people want to donate to a teenager's overpriced holiday.

The school should be embarrased to suggest a trip at that cost.

Exactly this! The idea of kids without connections being able to fundraise this amount is laughable. If they can produce that amount through entrepreneurial spirit, they shouldn’t be going to Borneo, they need to stay home and start their own business. Yes, there will be kids whose parents have networks to assist with things like a fund raising dinner, ‘charity’ auction etc etc but suggesting this is doable via a Saturday job and sheer pluck is unrealistic. It’s fine if the parents can bail the kid out if fund raising falls short but if they can’t, it’s a massive risk. It’s not a healthy message to say that anyone can go if they just try hard enough. It’s bad enough being on a low/middle income without being made to feel lack of funds is a personal failing.

£6500 for a school trip is absolutely ridiculous. I know a lot of teachers and they wouldn't be able to afford that for their children. Who decided that was a good idea? That is a trip of a lifetime and something you would dream of doing as an adult, not as a 16 year old school child.

My children are / were ( one is now at Uni ) at boarding school , I have never spent so much on a school trip . My youngest is going on a school trip in the new year , the cost , all in , is £1200 . To plan such a long , far away and expensive trip is , frankly , ridiculous. At the very least they could have canvassed the parents ahead of time to check if anyone would be interested.

Oh, and my child’s school does this trip and many other expensive visits. Are parents complaining? Well maybe, but the biggest complaint is their child isn’t getting to go through lack of spaces! Blows my mind. All the trips are way more expensive than the equivalent pp price of a family holiday. Often it’s a coach rather than a flight, shared rooms in basic accommodation and it’s still way more than you would pay on a family holiday.

DD is also Year 10 & has a school trip to Peru in Summer 2027. It’s two weeks & costs just under £4k.

DD is our youngest & would be the only one wanting to go on a family holiday by then, so we’re funding it by sacrificing the family holiday that year. To be fair it sounds like an amazing experience but I must admit I’ve wondered how many will be able to afford it.