School trips

[StarDolphins]

Just opened a letter about a school trip & yet again, it’s the exact same place she went to last year AND the year before & I’m just a bit narked at the lack of variety. AIBU? Do your children go to the same place? My DD does enjoy it but it’s every year. I would love the occasional museum trip or just anywhere different! Just seems to be little to no thought gone into it. And it’s expensive too given she’s been there before at £15. This is meant to be a small contribution too as the PTA has funded most of it!

I will obviously consent to her going & pay the money but I wonder if I should mention it on the yearly feedback form as the years are ticking away but also wondering if this is normal?

What sort of trips do your Y4 kids go on, are they varied?

DD1 went to a WWII living museum (school in Lincolnshire)
DD2... they went for a local walk but no paid trips as they were going to London in Yr5 (school in Yorkshire, day trip, very long day!)

Is this a curriculum-based trip or a ‘jolly’ for team-building etc.?

I’m not sure tbh, they only seem to do 1 trip per year and it’s here! It’s to the Muslim open centre so I guess it’s more curriculum based, I just think the next year it could be somewhere else educational like the museum! It’s not even like it’s a different Muslim centre but it’s the same one for 3 years!

Oh right thank you. So less trips there than mine is going on so maybe I should be grateful she’s doing more trips!

Simple solution
find a cheap and easy to get to place that fits in with curriculum
contact vendors for best price
get insurance
coaches for 60 pupils £100-200
get a team of volunteers with DBS and first aid certification
And present your ideas to the school

School trips are never a 'jolly'

It’s not really for me to do though! Museums are quite often free and the school will know this! It would just be nice to have a bit of a change 1 year!

My year 4 child goes on one occasionally two trips per term and never a repeat.

Per term? Wow, that’s really good!

My Y4 daughter will be going to the Eden Project this year! Proper exciting for them 🥰

Yes but London based and they use public transport.

Surprised it's the same year after year. Thought school.trips fitted to the curriculum for that year?

E.G.
Y3 going to relevant roman places like York or Bath.
Y4 - Aztecs - chocolate making ! Cadburys!

Y5 - somewhere industrial.
Y6 - war related..

Then every year also the residential...

I'm EVC at my school and we try and do one curriculum linked visit per term for each year group. I also run a 3 day residential each year for our Y4s.
That's a very poor show, imo.

My reception aged child has been on 2 trips so far since September, one to the panto and one to an interactive museum. I think each year has been on 2 trips so far so not sure if there will be anymore this year.

They aren’t cheap because of the coaches.

I think going to the same place 3 years in a row is boring/ repetitive when there are so many options.

This sounds great! No residentials for Y4 at all & then Y5 & Y6 is the same place both years. It’s such a shame, I loved school trips & my DD only gets 1 per year and to the same place.

I agree. What lovely things to do for your reception child, I’d be so pleased with this!

This also sounds great & nothing like this at all at my DD’s school. I’m definitely going to mention it on my feedback form.

My friends has just been telling me their Y4 have been to the Yorkshire sculpture park, the beach & gradbach residential so again, lots more than my child is getting.

Ours do a different trip every year.

My year 4 has a 3 day residential to an outdoor adventure place in March

and a trip to West Midlands safari park in July.

Does your school have mixed year classes? If so they should do topics on rotation so no one does the same thing twice, but I remember getting the same trip twice in primary school as that was what the upper juniors did.
Museum trips are only free if they can get there for free. At DD's school year 3 and above take public transport if practical ( we're in outer London so free travel for kids), but infants get a coach.

When mine were in Primary each year group would go on one main trip day per year, it was never repeated for that year group (but was the same trip for the following year group if that makes sense, ie the year 3s always went to the seaside, year 4s went to the war museum etc). Then year 5 had a 3 day residential during school time and year 6 had a residential over the weekend.

I would be pretty miffed at repeating the same trip twice let alone three times.

But it will still be cheaper to do a museum trip as there would only be the coach cost. The school have told us they have to pay the centre for the workshops they put on which is why they’re asking us to contribute. Which I wouldn’t mind so much if it was somewhere different!

No mixed year classes no.

Only one trip per year and its always to a Muslim centre? That sounds mad!

How very odd.

I think tbh I would have objected the second time that location was presented as the annual trip. Surely there are lots of places locally and not so locally where they could go for an educational day out (or just for fun)

Coaches can cost upwards of £800 depending on the capacity and the duration of it often puts them out of reach on budgets these days.

I want to object & so do others, I just don’t want to be a pain in the arse when they’re probably always getting moaned at. But I will have to mention it as I just think it’s a bit rubbish. My DD is happy because she doesn’t know any different but reading all the great (& more regular trip) places on here makes me sad for her!

They could take them all to Manchester on the train to a free museum for less than that!