payments enabling outside companies to come in during school day etc.

[border1]

At least twice a year dc's school have a company coming in to run workshops. We are asked to pay an amount to cover this. Normally £7 - £8. On top of this we obviosly pay for school trips out. I don't mind this. Plus Snack which I understood should be free in KS1. Plus usual sponsor forms etc. I am feeling like a cash machine. How much does it cost you to send your dc to school?

[mrz]

I've led a number of groups MoreBeta

[gordongrumblebum]

"The teamwork, the freedom, the inspiration all add to self worth and without self worth who is motivated to knuckle down to desk work?"

Forest School covers all that, and we run that as part of the curriculum.

[MmeBlueberry]

PGL is amazing. I go every year and it is so valuable on many levels.

[bruffin]

"See PGL is my idea of an "unnecessary" trip ... fun but not adding to the curriculum"

DS did a maths pgl. Morning was spent doing funs stuff ie quadbikes, abseiling and the afternoon was spent using the results for maths ie stats, velocity etc

[mrz]

but the maths could have been done without the PGL visit so what it added was fun ... which is what I'm trying to say.

[MoreBeta]

Equally well my children could have learned about Tudors, Victorians, castles and WWII without getting on a coach and going to a place 50 miles away. We have a great local museum and lots of great examples of Tudor and Victorian and Medieval buildings in our city. They could have learned about rivers by just walking a few hundred yards.

I would argue PGL allows experiences thay could not get in or near the school. Most trips though with a little imagination coudl easily be replicated within a short walk within our city.

[pudding25]

Teachers, don't bother answering back. Yet another thread I have been on recently where it is another opportunity to teacher bash.

For what it's worth, if we didn't include half the things we do in the curriculum (which includes outside agencies coming in) and just taught in the manner mentioned by some people on this thread, then Ofsted would fail us.

[purits]

I thought teachers liked it when they come up against curious minds who question the 'how' and the 'why'.

[YummyHoney]

pudding25 - what an odd inference to make about this thread.

[TalkinPeace2]

Well if schools do stop hiring external people in to Wow the kids and inspire them to listen to their teachers about the tricky topics, DH's income is gone.
Luckily he is so good that kids bunk off football to watch him again and again and the schools tend to pay for him out of their education budgets rather than asking parents to pay.

[YummyHoney]

[TalkinPeace2]

[mrz]

MoreBeta well our school would do the walking around our Saxon buildings but we might get someone in to do Saxon tablet weaving or making wattle and daub walls with the children.

Your children can't get experiences that PGL offer near the school whereas my school offers the same experiences without the cost of a PGL visit. Your school can offer Tudors & WWII experiences without getting on a coach mine can't. The visitors and visits are there to provide each of us with what isn't available locally.