expensive school trips - worth it?

[gramercy]

Ds has just bought home a school trip form. It's a history trip and the cost is ... £980 for 5 days!!!!!

On this occasion the answer is no. But some of his friends are going and ds looked a bit crestfallen. (Although it says if you are on a low income you may qualify to go.. grrrrr... but that's another thread.)

Anyway, I have said that if any more expensive (but less expensive than £980!) GCSE trips come up, I will not dismiss them out of hand.

So, what trips have you considered worthwhile and are they that beneficial?

Check out the school website and see if you can get a heads up on what the Year 7 trip may be Voidka. They tend to be quite similar each year.

Might just add that the children and the school between them have raised over £300 each towards the cost of their trip. Which helped.

I think it's perfectly acceptable for DC not to go on all the optional trips during the school holidays. For a start, the family may have other plans.

But the three line whip term time stuff...what if the family simply can't afford it? Is there a slush fund?

We couldn't afford the fun activity day at the end of yr 6 (£35) as dh was facing redundancy. The school paid with no problem

I went to Russia in the late 80's (£750) I have no idea how my parents paid for it, but it was amazing and I shall never forget it.

£175 for three days in Germany [faints]

Ah but none of them are compulsory. The £2k style ones are at 6th form usually and not all do them because (1) not interested (2) no money (3) their friends aren't going (4) they are doing other stuff like DoE, work experience, family hols etc. They're just there as an opportunity.

GCSE ones - I guess about 60% go. They are fab, but not essential or necessary for the courses.

No slush fund

I factor in the "how much of an experience they can't/won't get anywhere else" into my decisions. So ds has missed out on school trips to Outdoor centres costing hundreds, because he does that sort of thing month in, month out, with the Scouts for a fraction of the cost.
OTOH, 18 months ago we paid just under £800 for him to go and said a big yacht around the Greek Islands for just over a week. He's loved sailing at (ordinary state) school and we just thought it was an opportunity he'd never really get again. Same as the trip to Auschwitz this year as part of his GCSE history. It was a lot per day (can't remember the total but it was about £400 I think - nowhere near the amount the other poster quoted!), but I've heard what an impact this has on youngsters and thought it was 'worth it'.
Fortunately our dcs are all 3 school years apart, so we have chance to save between trips - I do really feel for my friend whose triplets of course all want to go at the same time !

said sail

Call me Scrooge - but I've always made my children pay half the money for their trips (ever since junior school when they did PGL etc). That is a good filter for whether they are really keen to go.

I so disagree with that RivesideMum.Yes I'm old, the school trip I'm going to refer to was a school cruise on the SS Uganda, cost was GBP75. I had to pay half. So I baby sat in addtion to my chores at home, did my Friday night Saturday day job in a shop, washed cars, mowed grass (even though I suffer from the worst hay fever ever), did ironing for neighbours and anything else I could find to do and studied for 10 GCE's. I was GBP5 short of the half way mark and my mum still said no. At this point I must say we were not poor (mother head teacher, father bank manager) did not live beyond their/our means. to be honest I'm not sure to this day what else I could have done to earn more money and keep studying.
In the end my grandma gave me the money but my mother was not happy and I had to repay it as soon as I got back. Also I must add that it wasnt that she didnt want me to go, after all these years I just think she didnt want to back down about her rules.

I have always tried to let mine do it if they were keen and I wouldn't say no because we could do it as a family. My school trips are good memories even now, I am old too and did the school cruise, my parents paid.
Collectively mine have been to Canada, Russia, Iceland, French war graves, French exchange and several outdoor adventure centres. We also turned some down as too expensive. My reasoning was that we were not paying school fees or tutors so we could take advantage of the extras.

DD1 did history trip to america in yr12. Was v good. Can't recall cost but it was relevent to studies as well as a jolly. She also did berlin/concentration camps etc

Ds has done the battle fields. THat was so worthwhile. Everyone should go and remember (concentration camps too- I will one day). He looked for 2 of my mums relatives and found their stories/graves- very moving.

thewashfairy DD goes to Switzerland next year with Scouts too.

Am shocked at £650 for the Lake District. I live very close to Lakes - can see hills on drive to school. I'm paying £650 for DD to have ten days in Spain on school band trip.

Blimey!!!! Are these for state schools or private? I can't believe these prices!

When I was a kid our school trip was camping in the rain and one dirt cheap and fairly unpleasant ski trip. obviously things have changed!

Most State schools I think, fromheretomaternity.

State schools, if private we couldn't afford them! DS also went to Switzerland with the Scouts.

Will wave to mummy and Sparklings DCs when they are in Shropshire. Hope the river level has dropped by then if they are going canoeing!!!!

Wow. Mine are not yet in primary but think I will have to start saving now!

Six days in Ullswater £480. It is an Outward Bound place and my idea of hell!
The school say it is compulsory but I do wonder what value they get out of it. This will have to be the DDs main holiday for this year. DH and I will stay home and work instead this year.

The most fantastic value. I can't praise them highly enough! It would do every DC in the country good to go on one- does wonders for their self esteem.

You must paying for private education anyway if £480 is compulsory.

Or do you mean compulsory as in they try to get everyone to go and those (few) left have to do special activities at school? My DS did similar and it was very very good, I really like Outwoods Bound. Dd is doing a slightly cheaper one.

The form asks about criminal convictions (of the kids, not the parents!) so it must be somewhere that Young Offenders go. It asks loads of stuff about what challenging activities the DCs have done - can't put anything down tbh [embarrassed]

I mean

This thread is making me weep. I will never be able to afford these sorts of prices for school trips :( but definitely won't qualify for assistance.

Sigh.

When I was at school the GCSE trip was a day to Portsmouth to see the Mary Rose. I don't think we even had one at A level, apart from a day to London to hear JJ Scarisbrick lecture.

HOw times have changed.