why would you not let your Year SIx kid go on a residential then?

[ParisHiltonSequins]

any ideas?

DS's community state school with faith relationship or charitable endowment (not posh or wealthy catchment) raises money all year, every year, through the PTA and other activities so that the Yr 6 trip is very cheap for everyone, with some left over to sub those who cannot afford anything at all.

I would be WILD if some parent threw all my bun-making back in my face by refusing to let their child go! of COURSE they have to go.....I have endured QUIZ NIGHTS so that they might go!

"no faith"..

When we went in for our parents talk (before we knew that DS couldn't go), the teachers said that no parent/child should be embarrassed about bed wetting and whilst the children were at breakfast, a sweep would be done of all the beds and the bed linen changed without anyone knowing.

I sold stuff to raise the dosh for ds's trip - I am panicking about 2ndary school this autumn; how much do kidneys go for these days...?

Well... DS1 did ask me if he could go on a skiing trip (it was in the February hols) - at a cost of £1300 (this is without the cost of ski gear), that was a flat no. If it had been a field trip for something, then yes, but just a holiday, not likely my son!

Our Y6 trip costs £200 for 4 nights away. It is a lot of money for some parents. The school does have a hardship fund, but there would be about 10 children in a year 6 class on free school meals, and the fund could not pay for all of them. Most of these children do actually attend, but usually 2 or 3 stay at home.

our school has a voluntary fund to sub day trips etc, but it won't cover the cost of the Yr 5 and 6 residential trip.
That's fair enough as they are not obligatory but it is a shame.
I think schools should look very carefully at their choice of trips to make sure they are not prohibitive.
Skiing holidays are ridiculous imo.

Riven I have organised school residential visits (we went during the school holidays as it was much cheaper because not many teachers want to spend a week of their holiday with 50 children) and have taken children with CP and our wonderful LSA came too giving up her holidays unpaid.

the only way children get subsidised around here is by increasing the cost to the other parents. Anyone who knows that might be too proud to ask. There are charities that would help, but not everyone either knows about them or would wish to have charity.

Possibly the family feel that for the price of the school trip they could all have a holiday. Or they can't afford for all their children to go on school trips so say no to the lot.

Maybe the child has done something very bad and the parents have grounded them.

It's also possible the child doesn't want to go - some certainly clung to their parents before going. Mine went without a backwards glance .

Bellavita -- I might just suggest that (the sweep of the beds) to my kids' school. DS doesn't usually wet the bed, but did on the first night of his residential, poor kid, and was too embarassed to tell anyone. Inevitably, by the end of the week, all the kids knew, but none of the adults, and he barely slept for several days.

He doesn't ever want to go again or even think about the trip, and it could so easily have been a very different experience.

Lancelottie - yep, it wouldn't take two mins for the teachers to do it and save a whole load of embarrassment.

Oh Starlight

I haven't judged, my son didn't go either as for reasons explained

Cost - it is going to be over £500 for the trip next year and quite frankly I don't see how we will manage it. There is no subsidy for people who can't afford it and the installments are not easily affordable. I would have to do something like take him out of swimming club to manage it which I am not going to do,not for a 5 day trip. We managed to pay for this years school trip which was over £300. £500 + is just too much.

Pollyanna, that is so sad and is also illegal as they are discriminating against your son due to his disability.

cornsilk, my child is on vital medication and I will work with the school to make sure he is correctly cared for on visits or he won't go.

Teachers are not allowed to drink on residentials or during school hours. Please don't tar the whole profession with that comment, it's a hard enough job to do, particularly when giving a week of time for which no extra pay is given to care 24 hours for pupils. An enjoyable, challenging and exhausting time but one which many of us freely give up our family time to support year on year.

POllyanna -- our older child (ASD) went in his yr 6, but we had to go too. He travelled separately, did the daytime activities (with help split between us and a school TA) and came back to us for the nights. I suppose that was illegal discrimination, really, as they wouldn't have taken him without us (but he wouldn't have agreed to go, so the point is moot).

We did insist that the other kids had authorised absence from school so we could make a family holiday out of it, though. We all had a lovely time -- legit term-time holiday, and (TBH) a break for the younger two from their brother's problems, which were pretty heavy at the time.