How much does a residential cost...?!

[AnnaK]

In year 5 our children go to an activity centre for four nights. This year it is costing £250!! Does that seem reasonable? What does your school do? How much does it cost? Many thanks, just hoping for some feedback as this, to me, is half a family summer holiday...

Ours is the same. It's 3 nights and its $au460 which is about 250 pounds. The year six one is a thousand dollars . And they have to drive for nine hours in a coach to Canberra. Such fun.

And we have four camps. Year three, four, five and six!

They are really expensive. As far as I know, schools are not allowed to make any profit on trips, not any school I have ever worked in anyway. Private schools might be different!

These activity centres have put prices up a lot in the last few years. They are paying the staff they employ slightly better wages I think, but it is still awful money. Teachers do not get paid extra get going on residentials and they get free places so you are not paying towards their stay.

If you are concerned, ask the school office for a breakdown of costs. They will have this pretty clearly set out as they have to produce figures if audited. At my school we usually lose hundreds of pounds on residentials as parents can't afford to complete payment, but my head teacher takes them anyway. Coaches have gone up by a huge amount now too.

It sounds about right for a Pgl type residential - mind you, if you threaten to go elsewhere they drop the price a bit!

Dd's 4 night residential this year is costing £220, it's the week before the six week holiday and I think costs more than when they run it in February.

There are a lot of factors to take into account

• Cost of the residential centre
• Cost of transport (more if they're going further away)
• Any insurance costs (mosts LAs have insurance policies schools have to buy for residentials)

The cost of the centre/transport vary according to the time of year & are cheaper when its cold... but who wants to do a residential in the cold? Residentials are cheaper if they're done over a weekend but a lot of schools don't expect their staff to give up a weekend.

Also, some (less scrupulous) schools build in the cost of supply staff needed to cover classes.

That sounds about right my two went on these in First School and it was about that.

Ours is about the same, and they especially go in November to get a cheaper rate. I think it's reasonable 'value' if you think about all the meals, transport, and the cost of the activities. (By way of comparison, a climbing lesson for DD1's birthday party recently cost me £12.50 per child for an hour and a half - and they're getting at least ten times that amount of instruction/activities). But obviously I do realise the 'reasonable value' argument is no comfort if it's more than you can afford.

We're going this week. £270 for two nights. Transport has really bumped up the prices.

£75 for two nights in a Youth Hostel.

Our school is doing a two night resedential to an outdoor activity centre for £40 per child. And an overnight ks4 trip for gcse for £30.
The area we live in their is no way lots our students would go if they had to pay much more. They offer extra trips abroad etc for ones who can afford to go.

My daughter goes on Monday to her residential and its cost £200 for Monday to Friday

I try not to think of the cost in connection with a family holiday. I used to but it's different.

I think it's hard. There are people who think nothing of it as it's a drop in the ocean and there are people for who it is a definite no due not having any spare cash at all.

It's the middle set of parents who have to weigh up whether or not they can do it in relation to other things.

DS went last year and his cost £175 for 4 days.

£200 for 4 night yr6 residential, long bus ride, ice skating & ice cream too.

£140 or £160, can't rememer exactly.
Mon-Fri at an activity center a couple of hours away.

Think about what they are doing:
Food and board: what would you usually pay for a hostle? £15 per night? Then lets say £5 for food so thats £80 just for that.
Activities: To take your kids rock climbing, caving, canoeing, swimming, doing bushcraft, camping would cost you about £10-50 per activity. Our school do a max of 8 activities so thats at least another £80
Then there's the bus to get there (£5 per child depending on how far you're going.) and the minibuses to take them to activities while they are then.
Then insurance.

I'm not saying its not expensive and I really feel for families who scrimp and save. But I find it amazing that parents would question the cost for even 1 second. They are jam packed activity weeks with supervision every second of the day. Companies that are able to do under £200 for a school week amaze me!

2 night here was £195. It seems that ours was quite expensive then..I did wonder

In the past, our Local Authority has subsidised residential / outdoor ed places for all children in the Authority to have the opportunity to go at an affordable price. Those subsidies no longer exist. Add to that the cost of fuel rises, then people will see a big increase from 3 or 4 years ago.

Year 4 two night residential was £100 this year.
Year 6 trip in September 4 nights is £220.

Thanks everyone, really appreciate the feedback. It's just that two years ago it was £180 but I suppose it makes sense with council cutbacks. It just means we will have to eat into our family fun budget to cover it. Thanks again.

School subsidise ours. They have wangled it with the governors so that it is part of the curriculum.

However, I do know that 4 nights is costing £9000 collectively for the class.

DS went to the IoW from London Mon -Fri with primary school in Oct 2011 and we paid £120. But the school save, fundraiser and work with the PTA to subsidise it and no child is ever left out due to cost. You can pay weekly, and they have hardship help. Everyone supports the school fairs as they know they subsidise the Yr 6 trip.

Ours is £180 for 7 nights (£130 for children who get free school meals) However the organisation that runs it is a charity so it is subsidised, unlike somewhere like PGL which is making profit from the visits.