FREE school trips and holidays/parents on benefits!

[graceM]

Tonight I've had a letter home from my son's secondary school letting us know that there is a trip to France coming up in July before they break up for summer. It's for four days and it costs £672, well I've just read at bottom of the page that the trip will be either free of charge or reduced accordingly for parents who claim benefits, ie income support, job seekers, housing benefit etc etc, well I'm absolutely furious to say the least!

I know that not everyone can afford to send their children on expensive school trips/holidays etc, neither can I really but I'm willing to scrimp and save to ensure my son gets to go. So why the hell should other parents get it free? If you can't afford for your child to go then they don't go simple, I know it's sad but that's just the way it is. Not happy!

There are people who fiddle their benefits - of course there are, and we all know it happens. But most people don't, and plenty of people don't claim all what they could. And the obvious thing is: people who do fiddle their dole don't usually do it so they can provide educational opportunities for their kids. This scheme by the school goes directly to provide an opportunity to a kid who otherwise wouldn't get it - how can that not be a good thing?

I've got a whole two weeks in a tent this year. Bad me.

By the way, those going on about benefit fraud, do you actually know what the official rate as published by the DWP was for the last year that figures were available? (2012)

tell us loony, do

I haven't said it's not a good thing.

bit pricing out all the kids in the middle isnt a good thing.

trips shouldn't only be obtainable by the wealthy and those on benefits who are subsidised. There are people in the middle with not a snow flakes in hells chance of ever going.

THATS What's not a good thing

Yes, schools should give good notice of upcoming trips.

For the year 6 summer trip, we were told at the beginning of year 5 - so more than 4 term's notice.

For the year 8 summer Germany trip, we were told in the autumn term of year 7. So again, more than 4!terms notice.

I could.
Or you could research something rather than just read the daily mail and make your own assumptions.

The perceived rate of benefit fraud due to propaganda in the media is around 40%

The actual rate is 0.7% for 2012 - the system has changed considerably since then so I'd expect that number to be smaller now.

your username is very apposite, loony.
Can you show me where I have 'made assumptions' - it was me who was arguing against the 'Daily Mail' view. If you could be bothered to read the posts that is.

It wouldn't make me angry, no, and I don't begrudge it either.

I'm a foster carer and my young person is off on a school trip at the end of the year. Her school receive pupil premium for her, and paying for trips, etc is what it is supposed to be used for. The PP has just been swallowed up into the school's budget for years so when they came to us I kicked off massively about it so now the PP is being used to pay for this sort of stuff.

However, I can't afford for my own daughter to go on the trip, so she's not going. DD is mostly fine about it, she really wasn't interested in it in the first place, but is a bit now she knows our young person is going.

DD wouldn't want to swap places with our YP in a million years, but she is only human (and only 13) so I can understand when she's having a "it's not faaaaiiiirrrrr!" moment

Just be grateful that you dont live in a country where the children and their parents have to spend a year fundraising to ensure everybody could go, because policy dictates:
A) The school cant/wont pay so there is no funding;
B) The school is not allowed to ask parents for money.

So, imagine a year of bake sales, second hand carboot sales, children renting out their services to supermarkets to pack groceries (probably not a bad thing), selling raffle tickets to neighbours, even toiletpaper in bulk, , walking from door to door selling flowers for mothersday/fathersday/valentines, daffodils for Easter, etc, involving most weekends for a full year.

There are other alternatives to the school, or the parents funding trips, and I think we have it pretty easy here. If you can pay, you pay and wont have to work your arse of in your spare time, and if you cant pay, the school funds it.

my dd refuses to even show me the school trip letters, she says they would be dreadful. I suppose they still get PP for her, but I wouldnt even bother asking.