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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

Meeting for trip abroad, how important is it that we go?

40 replies

BossyBanana · 02/04/2019 10:53

DS (year7) is going on a trip abroad next month with school.
There is a meeting this week about the trip but it clashes with other plans.

When I receive the email about the meeting this morning I replied to say I won’t be able to make it but could they please forward any information,
the reply was that I should try to attend the meeting as all parents and students are expected to attend.

How essential is it that we attend this meeting?
I know I should try to attend but I’d rather not change my plans if they are just going to be telling me information we already know and going over the itinerary.
We already have a pretty detailed itinerary for the trip and they have given us a lot of information about it.

The meeting is supposed to be 45 minutes long.

Has anyone been to one of these?
How essential is it?

OP posts:

Jackshouse · 02/04/2019 10:56

Teachers are giving up their personal time for free to take your child on a trip and you don’t want to give them 45 mins so they are confident that you and your child understand what is happening and expectations?

Alienspaceship · 02/04/2019 10:58

You should go. It’s important you know expectations in terms of behaviour, procedures if anything goes wrong etc etc. They’re not holding the meeting for fun if they thought sending home info would do instead.

Mrsjayy · 02/04/2019 10:59

Are you not that interested what the arrangements are because that is how it reads your dc school teachers are givi g up their time to take your kid on holiday go to the meeting

Seeline · 02/04/2019 11:00

I would hate to miss one of these meetings.
Your DD is only 11/12 - surely you need to have as much info as possible to ensure she gets the most out of the trip and you know what to do in case of any emergencies?
They usually cover all the 'what ifs' and 'Do we really need' type questions, as well as in depth info on what kit is required, travel arrangements etc.

Mrsjayy · 02/04/2019 11:04

Ime you sometimes have forms to sign finalise contact details if you can't cancel plans can her other parent go

Seeline · 02/04/2019 11:06

What sort of trip is it? Adventure, study, UK, abroad?

AuntieCJ · 02/04/2019 11:06

Of course you should go.

Comefromaway · 02/04/2019 11:07

I’d say it is pretty essential & unless you really cannot after your other commitments on that evening you should go. Eg Ds missed his dance class for us to go to his but we wouldn’t have cancelled his dance exam/mock exam.

Dh cannot drive and is unable to leave work early (he’s a teacher) to get there but I arranged for him to get a taxi home rather than me have to pick him up.

youngestisapsycho · 02/04/2019 11:11

I dont think it's that important to go. I went to one last week for my DDs trip next month to Germany. The teacher just talked through the information sheets she had already sent home to us. Nothing new was really said. It was more a meeting for parents who had any questions to ask. If there is anything you really need to know you can contact the school. There are 45 kids on DDs trip, there was probably only about 15/20 parents there. I wasn't going to go as it clashed with older DDs parents evening, but that got postponed.

ChipSandwich · 02/04/2019 11:15

Of course you should go. I can't imagine any plans I'd made taking precedence over this. Other people are giving up their time to ensure your child's holiday runs smoothly. I'd have thought you'd want to co-operate.

Original poster

BossyBanana · 02/04/2019 11:17

It’s not that I’m not interested, the other plans we have are important and have arranged for months, we would probably have to wait several months to rearrange if I had to cancel it, which is why I’d rather not.

The trip is an immersive language trip.
they are going to the country they are learning the native language of.
They have activities planned to encourage them to use and learn more of the language, such as a trip to a local market then a cookery class. trips around a few important places to learn about the culture and history of the country.

We’ve already been given a full detailed itinerary and a lot of information about the trip and the expectations of the students.

I posted mainly to see if it would be really important to go or if it would just be a sort of final ‘going over’ of all the information we already have.

OP posts:

Comefromaway · 02/04/2019 11:18

Ds's only lasted about 40 minutes but it was really important for the kids. It set out clear expectations in front of the parents on behaviour and hygiene (football trip) with the PE teacher emphasising things like how to treat the hotel roo, making sure showers were taken and deoderant taken, there were forms to fill in regarding swimming ability, meal arrangments for the journey and everyone was handed a form with contact/medical details to check.

Saying that, dd went on two trips abroad with her school and there was no parents meeting at all.

mummmy2017 · 02/04/2019 11:23

Anything important will have been written down and sent out.
Don't worry about it...
I do think everytime I went to a meeting that nothing new was ever added.

reluctantbrit · 02/04/2019 11:25

We missed a meeting for a UK trip in Y5 (DH away on business and I stranded in London thanks to train disasters) and the school asked to come in for a 1-2-1 meeting. It was vital, there were lots of information which weren't covered in the paperwork, especially behaviour. More details then just the usual expectations.

When DD went in Y6 on another trip DH went on his own, most children only had one parent, and I would say the only ones not attending where the ones where older sibling went 1-2 year prior.

Def re-arrange or just send your DH

PCohle · 02/04/2019 12:09

Surely the only ones who can actually tell you whether there will be important new information are the school, and they have told you to attend...

RedSkyLastNight · 02/04/2019 12:22

I found the parents' meeting before DS went abroad with school useful. Yes, the paperwork will tell you the essential stuff but it won't go into detail about what actually happens day to day, what the journey will be like, expectations for behaviour, what kit you really need to bring, share experiences from previous years etc.
I think DS actually found the meeting especially useful as it helped him to visualise what the trip was actually like. So I'd say unless DC is essential to your plans, you at least let them go with another parent.

stucknoue · 02/04/2019 12:38

Part of the meeting will be reading the riot act to the students about behaviour etc hence both parent and child is at the meeting. At all of my kids schools and clubs the pre trip meeting was compulsory

OneBILLIONDollars · 02/04/2019 12:42

I don't know about how important the meeting is but it's a bit unfair to email you today about a meeting this week! What about parents who work evenings/nights?!

Hoppinggreen · 02/04/2019 13:46

I’ve been to 3 such meetings over the last few years and I found out nothing that wasn’t in the info we had been sent.
Might be different in your case though

Original poster

BossyBanana · 02/04/2019 14:31

The school seem to treat everything as though it is of critical importance, so I’m not sure asking them how important the meeting is would help. (Which is why i decided to post here)

I don’t know many other parents at the school and the couple I do know don’t have children going on the trip, so don’t have anyone to ask about it either.

It’s difficult because I do feel like we should go but at the same time I strongly suspect i will be irritated afterwards as it’ll be nothing we didn’t already know and just an encouragement to tell the children they have to behave on the trip.

OP posts:

GlennRheeismyfavourite · 02/04/2019 14:33

At my school (I'm a teacher) I always things they're a pointless waste of time. Sometimes we use it as an opportunity to get lots of the form signing done but you can do that at another time. I wouldn't cancel your other plans.

caughtinanet · 02/04/2019 14:34

How can Internet random possibly know if the meeting is important?

If you can't go, you can't go but don't expect anyone to be able to tell you if you'll miss anything vital.

Original poster

BossyBanana · 02/04/2019 14:44

Well what I expected was a few of the thousands of MNers would probably have had DC’s who have been on similar school trips and been to similar meetings so would be able to tell me how essential these kind of meetings usually are so I could get a better understanding and weigh up my choice.

I’m sorry if it offered you.

OP posts:

YemenRoadYemen · 02/04/2019 14:46

Surely, given there are 1000s of us, some will say, 'for heaven's sake - go', while others will say they're a waste of time.

Are you any the wiser?

underneaththeash · 02/04/2019 14:51

I always go to them - half are useful and half are a complete waste of time. Could your DS just go by himself (uber if necessary).

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