consent for school trips

[3duracellbunnies]

AIBU to not want to sign a form giving blanket consent to take my child on unspecified school trips for the whole school year (with the exception of residential ones). I can see from the school's perspective that it is a PITA if they have to get consent from every parent every time they want to go to a shop to demonstrate how to spend money, or to library etc, but I would still rather have that control than be told that I had already consented to something that I didn't want my 5yr old to do. It's not a specific trip etc that I object to (as there aren't any iminent, as far as I know) but the principal of blanket conset.

Why don't you check with school what they mean,exactly. As other posters have pointed out, there is usually a blanket form to sign for walking distance trips,all others (in our school) have individual consent forms.
Personally I can't see what you would be worried about. Don't you know ALL school "trips" which involve being off school premises have to be risk assessed? It is more than our lives are worth to do something which is remotely risky, without it being checked, double-checked and all the staff going on the trip signing a form to say that they have read and understood the risk assessment.

And why would you want your child to be the one that has to stay behind while the rest of the class goes out? As it is,whenever there is an off premises, coach-needed style trip it takes several days of chasing parents to get a signature.
If you want your child to have these nice experiences at school,instead of continually sitting in class and watching video on an interactive whiteboard of other people experiencing 'stuff' instead then,fine! Just don't complain if he then finds school "boring".

Sorry really? A 20 minute walk uphill at 5 and you would need to pick up in the car. Yes they certainly would make spontaneous trips to these places and a 5 year old should be more than capable of that.
I thought you were being a little over cautious at first now I am actually thinking your reasoning is ridiculous.

This sort of blanket consent form is standard practice to enable the class do little trips to the local park, library, visit a war memorial etc to enrich the curriculum. Honestly, anything involving a coach, water or a long trip will have a separate slip and will also ask for a voluntary contribution of cash.

In fatc, water trips are a whole different category of visit and require a huge amount of paper work - they really will not do one without letting parents know specifically.

Oh I missed the bit about having to bring the car if the child has a 20 min walk at school! To be fair though, perhaps the child has some sort of medical problem. If not then really? Really? You drive them home if they have had to walk for 20 mins???

I don't always agree with their choice of a daytrip, it doesn't mean that I don't trust them to teach my child in school.

I would be pretty insulted as a teacher with this view!

Are you generally a control freak? You will have problems, schools are not going to ask if you agree with their choice. What happens when most agree and you don't-do you stop them all?

I agree that this sort of helicopter parenting makes schools stop bothering to do the extra that makes a topic really interesting.

I'm sure that your DC can manage a 20 minute walk at the end of the day!! (A shame all DCs don't get a long walk every day)

Why don't you ask the school to give some examples of these visits to set you mind at rest. Some parents don't fully understand how we use the local environment for educational purposes. You appear to feel there is nothing worth seeing within walking distance from the school. I bet the teachers feel different, regardless of the rural or urban environment. Examples that I have used;
They have many curriculum links - Knowledge and Understanding / History / Geography, Science, PSHE, Art, Maths, Language
Buildings - comparing windows, roof shapes, brick patterns, how old, uses, materials used
Traffic Survey (maths) - counting cars, vans, bikes, scooters, etc.

How to improve their local area - are there enough green areas, are there plants, flowers, are the paths good enough, what are the local facilities like.
Looking for signs of spring, measuring and data handling plant life and minibeasts
Art - sketching
The list could go on.

These are the things (along with the walk to the church for harvest festival and christmas rehearsals and events) we use blanket cover for and I would expect it is the same for your school. Denying consent just means your child will miss out on exciting activities and important learning experiences that are then fed back into the classroom learning.

As a teacher and parent there has never been an occasion when a day trip would not be introduced with a letter home a few weeks before.

The blanket consent is to save you the time of having to repeatedly fill in the medical information needed for a trip. This way, you only have to update what you have already told the school.

how is this a problem??

That is my experience MigratingCoconuts.

I just find it really difficult to understand why anyone would not want their child to go on a school trip. We so often have to say that the longer trips are not really optional, (because some children say they don't want to go) even though we are asking for consent ,and they usually involve taking a whole year group anyway,so at least 80 children....what sort of out of school trip do you not envisage giving consent for???
And don't you think he will feel a bit left out if everyone else is going? And how will he be able to take part in the follow-up activities in school?

we have a few consent forms

• one for going to the park for pe or collecting leaves etc
• going on short trips with the school bus
• going to swimming lessons
• doing anything out of school grounds during afternoon club

big trips require separate consent form, i.e. day trip to nature reserve

YABU. End of.

Op go and speak with the school to find out what it covers. We have one that deals with short trips such as a trip to the libary (would need use of school bus) short walks trips to the local town. If they go further afield it is separate forms to fill in.

However the blanket form covers stuff like last week they got permission from the Castle (next door bar 4) to go to their grounds for the afternoon. we didnt have to sign for this and we had 2 days notice of it . During the snow class 2 teacher (year 1 and 2) took them all to the field and they build a igloo. the field is 10 yards outside of the school grounds however because it is not school property we need to give permission for them to go there again covered. Trip to the highstreet to count cars and discuss stuff (year 5/6) of how the highstreet is used. Walk round the church yard (next door bar 3) to look at some headstones and to lay a memorial poppy or to go to a church service (Cof E school) again no need to fill in forms. Walks round the fields with TA to check out for different wildlife.

It makes a lot of sense for these trips to be deal with in a single form. When they recently went to a town 2 hours away we had a separate form and I would want that as well.

I think you should talk with them further find out exactly how they manage this form. however I will say with your example of the library I do think your being a little too precious and you need to trust the school there. I however wouldnt b comfortable with them suddenly taking the kids 1 hour + away without my prior knowledge if that is your issue (and your form sounds more inclusive than the one I sign) then I do get it.

A 30 minute walk to the library sounds quite reasonable

I am the opposite from the OP. I felt like jumping for joy when DD's school recently said that they weren't doing permission requests for individual trips.

I'm fairly happy not to micromanage their risk assessments.

Yes YABU.

What could they mean? If it is a trip of any distance they will be asking for cash for the coach, entrance fee etc so you'll know about that! Swimming would be the same, kit needed and pool needs to be booked so you would be told.

All they could possibly mean is little walks to the local library, park, shops for some local research etc. It's fine, honestly. What is the problem?

OK have now read your later posts; you seem to be worried about yr child having a 20 minute walk there and back If they are fit and healthy and without any physical special needs, a 20 minute walk up a hill is not going to be a problem for a 5yo. I hope.

depending on the school a coach MIGHT be involved on short local trips. DSs school were intending to walk all the school 10 mins along the road to something in December but as it was snowing they walked the Key stage 2s and bussed the Key stage 1s. This is probably more likely in schools that have a school bus service bringing a number of pupils - mainly rural schools.

Dss blanket permission covered this trip , as it does going to a farm, going to see preschool christmas concert, going to the shop with a TA to buy ingredients for a cooking session. Or going to a whole school assembly in the community hall, as school hall is too small.

My DCs school is on two sites 10 minutes apart, the infants also have an outdoor area, again 10 minutes away. When my little one was on crutches, having broken her ankle, she managed both trips. I did give permission for her to have a lift in a car if necessary, and it was on the way back because by then she was tired and slow.
Leaving school grounds can be for all kinds of things, in year 1 they look at local houses to discuss house types (and flats). Year 3 went to look at sites where bombs had fallen in World War II. It could even just mean collecting leaves for a collage.

Even if you give consent you can later withdraw it at any time, if they do plan a coach trip to a beer festival or something.

Would you really feel that you had to pick up your child from school by car because of an hour spend walking during the day?

I've only just noticed the pick up by car comment
I wonder if the child is one of the several in my KS 1 class who are so shattered after a very gentle warm up in PE lessons that need to sit down for a rest, because they never walk anywhere; they are always in the car (or for one poor year 1 child get taken to and from school in a pushchair). None of these children have a medical need or SEN, it's just parental lifestyle choices. If parents could see this they would no longer wonder about the governments interventions of diet and exercise!

You are being over cautious, which is understandable when you don't know what sort of trips they are talking about, but this is why you need to go in and ask them.

To you, there is nowhere they could possibly go because the local shops etc are 20 minutes away, but you aren't trying to deliver the curriculum in the most stimulating way possible, so you won't have the same ideas as the teachers.

AbigailS has provided some good suggestions of what the consent could be used for, none of which require the shops or library. My children have done all of those things at primary school. There are endless things that the school could do with your child, like going to a local field, or pond to see frogspawn, or visiting another school site. They will ask for permission for things like swimming or whatever, and they will have risk assessments for every single time they go out of the school gates. They will probably also ask for parent helpers, so will have an opportunity to go along and see how they manage things. At my dc's school, they ask for enough adult helpers so that there are four children to each adult, then that adult becomes responsible for keeping an eye on ther designated children to make sure they don't wander off or come to any harm.

It's not easy taking large numbers of children out, I know because I do it. We don't do it just for the sake of worrying parents, we do it because we really think the children will learn from it and enjoy it. It's fine for you to be a bit concerned, but it is insulting that you don't trust the school staff. They genuinely want the best for your children.

At my DD's school they have taken them on 'little' trips this year (year 1) on the strength of the consent form i filled in last year. not sure what my point is, just telling you. and wondering how long that consent form lasts...

they also make no bones about 'paying' for school trips. there is no talk of 'voluntary contribution'. indeed i was chased for money for a school trip when the office had lost my cheque (so no one realised i'd paid). i do appreciate this honesty. in fact i love DD's school.

oh, re everything being 30 mins walk away, there a couple of factories round here that have an 'education centre' where they come and pick you up in their minibus, DD has also been to do some kind of maths at the local football stadium, also picked up in a minibus.

i understand your concerns re this, but i just do a lot of talking about how you put a seatbelt on, and how important it is that she do this.

janek do you really think that the school won't insist that every child has their seatbelt on? And that the teachers won't check, and double check, and then check again?

FGS, what sort of morons do you take teachers to be?

You could amend the bit of paper, to say something like "local trips within 25 min walk or 5 min. drive" or somesuch.

I'd sign the paper so as to avoid future paperwork, but I expect OP is not the only one balking.

But why? What's the point? You'd trust them to walk 25 minutes, but not 30? They can "risk" a bus/coach journey for 5 minutes but not 10?