I write the following not necessarily for this post or forum, but I feel it generally needs to be said.
I have to say that I think that Year 6 (the old final year of primary school) is more than early enough for residential trips away from home. I do not feel by young children not going away on residential trips from home prior to this in Y5, Y4 or Y3 even mean that there is going to be a detriment in their personal development.
Another thing that these primary schools need to do is to communicate better with parents of young primary school children, prior to telling the children that there is this lovely school trip that all in their year will be going to, when some are as young as 7/8 years old. This puts pressure on the parents, when the child automatically expects to go, when parents are not comfortable with their children being sent off for up to 5 days away from home.
I have heard that the schools are doing this for team building, or leadership development. I do not feel that their personal development will be stunted in any way. This would be like suggesting that any child that has not gone to beavers, scouts, equivalent is going to suffer because of not being away from home when they are like 7/8.
I have noticed, and from my own experience, most if not all primary schools, only did away trips for primary school children to stay nights away from home in the final year of primary school (Y6), when they are mostly almost 11 years old, some may still be 10, but some may be 3/4 months short of 12 years old if they have early birthdays in the year. However, as the years have gone by, schools appear to be making such trips such earlier.
What’s the rush? Year 6 being away from home for a week is early and young enough for children to reap the benefits and was always intended and placed in the last year for trips away in high school.
Whilst some parents may be comfortable with the business of their young children, I wonder if some of them if it’s purely for the development of the children or in fact an opportunity for some me time for themselves. That is one side of the issue.
I think the other side of the issue is that some parents are simply too afraid and concerned about being the odd ones out and speaking out to the schools in question. Listen, if we follow the governing bodies and say nothing all the time, they (the governing bodies) will just do what they want. What next? - Away residential trips for your Y1/Y2’s, you okay with that people? I hear the schools saying.
Parents are the ones ultimately responsible for their children, so I really think we need to get back to taking responsibility of our own children.
In this context, we should not be pressurised into thinking that sending 7-9 years old for a week away from home is not too young, when sorry in my opinion it is, because an away from home trip in the final year of primary school is early and young enough. After all, they do have many day trips throughout the years with many team building, activities etc to suffice.