Page 2 | Comprehensive school trips

Ifonlyoneday · 2022-07-17T18:14:22+00:00

My children are just completing year 7. Their year 6 class went to 2 local comprehensives, the ones my twins are at and another one. I bumped into a parent whose children went to the other comprehensive school and whilst chatting she said their school did not offer many school trips, which got me thinking. What does your average comprehensive school offer for school trips? Please post away. Do you have sports trips, history, geography, RE, English and what types of duration and costs?

PutinIsAWarCriminal · 19/07/2022 09:42

Mine missed pre Covid there were
Yr7 France & PGL
Yrs8&9 skiing bi annually
Yr10 Spain
End of year trips to Theme Parks.
They are starting to creep back in again, but I'm gutted mine won't get to go on the ski trip and had to watch one trip after another through school and Scouts being cancelled at the start of Covid.
Please don't dismiss trips as being just for the rich kids, they aren't. We would have gone without to make sure our dc could go on as many trips as they wanted.

BugsInTheBed · 19/07/2022 09:43

Thanks cremdella Ive not heard about any trips for next year so was wondering if they'd been planned if I would have heard yet!

Maybe they tell us in september or as you say maybe they're just limping thru this year and not booked any yet!?

Isthisreasonable · 19/07/2022 10:15

cremdella · 19/07/2022 07:48

I'm a parent and a governor at a secondary school. We have an "icebreaker" trip to an outdoor centre at the very start of year 7 and a camping trip later in year 7. In addition, every department organises trips aimed at different year groups, varying from local day trips to museums, theatres etc to residential foreign trips. They are just now ramping up again following Covid. Next year there will be trips to Berlin (history), Paris (science), Austria (skiing, PE department), Spain (language department). The school also runs the Duke of Edinburgh scheme, so there are camping trips for that.

Some schools may think that foreign trips are divisive because not everyone can afford them. My personal view is that some families are not able to take their children abroad themselves for financial or other reasons, or else only go on beach holidays, so school trips can be a way of giving children the cultural capital they would otherwise miss out on. Its obviously cheaper to send one child on a skiing trip than for a whole family to go.

The problem with that is that it is obviously cheaper to pay for one child to go on a trip rather than the whole family, but if going on that trip means no family holiday is that worth it?

This year yr9's trips/outings/DOE have come in at over £3K. We have sacrificed our one family holiday a year for them to do DOE. None of the other requests for trips were affordable.

No idea what requests will come in next year but we will have the same dilemma and it's awful being the only kid in your friendship group stuck in school on a normal timetable when your mates are on a trip. School promised for the big trips that those left behind would be given fun things to do to compensate but that didn't materialise.

TeenDivided · 19/07/2022 10:25

I know many families tell their kids they can do 1 trip in their time at secondary so to choose wisely. Trips at our secondary tend to take place in half terms or holidays so as not to miss learning time and it means friends aren't so obviously left out. As I said above, at DD's school the biggest trip is y7 Paris but even then only 1/3rd go. Most other trips are 20-40 pupils from the photos.

Definitelyrandom · 19/07/2022 11:56

Ours (way before Covid) had loads of opportunities to go on trips - offhand, I can think of start of Y7 bonding trip, multiple language based trips, geography field trips, DoE, musical tours (for those in orchestras, bands and choirs), sports, ski-ing trips, WWI battlefields, Russia/USA for A level history/politics, trips for plays, concerts and the like, quite a lot of local trips (RE, history type trips in particular). Apart from the local ones and concerts/plays, elder DC did battlefields, Spain and Russia, and DoE to gold (which was fairly cheap). Younger DC just did local ones and battlefields, as was doing a lot of sporting trips outside school.

cremdella · 19/07/2022 12:41

It's awful being the only kid in your friendship group stuck in school on a normal timetable when your mates are on a trip

Yes, that's why our school only do big residential trips in the holidays. Staff give up their leave to take them, so they obviously only run if there are enough staff volunteers willing to do that.

cremdella · 19/07/2022 12:50

Our school also does quite a few free trips to sporting events - schools are sometimes given tickets for big finals in sports that don't attract full capacity crowds - again these are at weekends or in the evening, so teachers give up their free time to take students along.

seramu · 19/07/2022 13:26

"It's awful being the only kid in your friendship group stuck in school on a normal timetable when your mates are on a trip

Yes, that's why our school only do big residential trips in the holidays. Staff give up their leave to take them, so they obviously only run if there are enough staff volunteers willing to do that."

My DCs school do the same. Her PGL trip was 10 days in the school summer holidays. Skiing is in the Feb half term and so on...

Isthisreasonable · 19/07/2022 20:25

seramu · 19/07/2022 13:26

"It's awful being the only kid in your friendship group stuck in school on a normal timetable when your mates are on a trip

Yes, that's why our school only do big residential trips in the holidays. Staff give up their leave to take them, so they obviously only run if there are enough staff volunteers willing to do that."

My DCs school do the same. Her PGL trip was 10 days in the school summer holidays. Skiing is in the Feb half term and so on...

Our trips so far have been either in school time or a long weekend

riesenrad · 19/07/2022 22:04

DS is a bit older now but he did:

Y7 trip to Barcelona
Y8 camping trip in New Forest
Y9 there was a battlefields trip to Belgium but he didn't get through the ballot
Y10 geography trip to Iceland and end of Y10 history trip to Berlin

Y12 just before covid, A level history trip to Rome (at sixth form college)

There were various day trips as well but the residential trips were quite limited.

Original poster

Ifonlyoneday · 22/07/2022 08:45

cremdella · 19/07/2022 07:48

I'm a parent and a governor at a secondary school. We have an "icebreaker" trip to an outdoor centre at the very start of year 7 and a camping trip later in year 7. In addition, every department organises trips aimed at different year groups, varying from local day trips to museums, theatres etc to residential foreign trips. They are just now ramping up again following Covid. Next year there will be trips to Berlin (history), Paris (science), Austria (skiing, PE department), Spain (language department). The school also runs the Duke of Edinburgh scheme, so there are camping trips for that.

Some schools may think that foreign trips are divisive because not everyone can afford them. My personal view is that some families are not able to take their children abroad themselves for financial or other reasons, or else only go on beach holidays, so school trips can be a way of giving children the cultural capital they would otherwise miss out on. Its obviously cheaper to send one child on a skiing trip than for a whole family to go.

I agree with you, school trips offer wonderful opportunities to those that may not have them another way

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Original poster

Ifonlyoneday · 22/07/2022 08:48

Léighméleabhair · 19/07/2022 08:26

I don't think our secondary school does any trips unless maybe connected with attending a team sport?
I haven't heard about any so that's my assumption. 🤷🏻‍♀️
Only the rich kids got to do after school clubs or attend school trips in my day, so I don't think they're that important.

Ah this is sad, that there are no trips but sports

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Original poster

Ifonlyoneday · 22/07/2022 08:49

seramu · 19/07/2022 09:32

My daughter has left school now, but her state school offered a fair bit.

Year 7 - 2 night PGL trip in Sept.
Year 8 - short Language / Culture trip to country of language studied. So France / Germany / Spain.
Year 8/9 - a week's PGL in Spain
Year 9 - History Battlefields trip
Year 10 - Language exchange for those studying languages
Year 12/13 - Holocaust trip to Poland

Plus:
All years - A week's retreat studying music
Year 9+ Skiing trip. Mostly to the Alps. Occasionally to Canada.
Year 10+ Sports tour. Usually to Australia or NZ.
And various day trips such as to the theatre to watch plays, musicals etc...

Great variety 👍🏽

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Original poster

Ifonlyoneday · 22/07/2022 08:52

PutinIsAWarCriminal · 19/07/2022 09:42

Mine missed pre Covid there were
Yr7 France & PGL
Yrs8&9 skiing bi annually
Yr10 Spain
End of year trips to Theme Parks.
They are starting to creep back in again, but I'm gutted mine won't get to go on the ski trip and had to watch one trip after another through school and Scouts being cancelled at the start of Covid.
Please don't dismiss trips as being just for the rich kids, they aren't. We would have gone without to make sure our dc could go on as many trips as they wanted.

Yes, it’s been so sad on what they have missed out on. Mine missed their primary school trips due to covid. So was eager for them to do their year 7 trip as it was their first school trip overnight stay away from home.

they’ve just returned from Arthog and had an amazing time

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IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 22/07/2022 09:09

DS - year 9 - nothing so far due to Covid

He "should" have had
Y7 - ski trip
Y8 - French trip - 5 days in France

Ski trip is being brought back next year, and offered to those who missed out. Going forward, trips are subject specific, but have not been at the school long enough to know what they are. I think there's a History trip to northern France.

Didiplanthis · 22/07/2022 09:21

I think ours used to do quite a few but mine has just finished yr 7 and only been on one to the theatre. They used to do a Yr 8 one to French battlefields but they aren't even doing that... they are going to Kent for the day ! There is a ski trip open to all years in feb half term with limited numbers. I wonder if they are being realistic and sensitive to the current economic climate and realize many families would struggle to pay for expensive trips 🤷‍♀️

Original poster

Ifonlyoneday · 22/07/2022 17:41

Didiplanthis · 22/07/2022 09:21

I think ours used to do quite a few but mine has just finished yr 7 and only been on one to the theatre. They used to do a Yr 8 one to French battlefields but they aren't even doing that... they are going to Kent for the day ! There is a ski trip open to all years in feb half term with limited numbers. I wonder if they are being realistic and sensitive to the current economic climate and realize many families would struggle to pay for expensive trips 🤷‍♀️

Yes, could be they are mindful of the economic pressures or maybe they’ve not switched back to pre lockdown trips

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Original poster

Ifonlyoneday · 22/07/2022 21:50

Isthisreasonable · 19/07/2022 10:15

The problem with that is that it is obviously cheaper to pay for one child to go on a trip rather than the whole family, but if going on that trip means no family holiday is that worth it?

This year yr9's trips/outings/DOE have come in at over £3K. We have sacrificed our one family holiday a year for them to do DOE. None of the other requests for trips were affordable.

No idea what requests will come in next year but we will have the same dilemma and it's awful being the only kid in your friendship group stuck in school on a normal timetable when your mates are on a trip. School promised for the big trips that those left behind would be given fun things to do to compensate but that didn't materialise.

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How much did DoE which i am assuming is Duke of Edinburgh cost? I thought this was fairly cheap. I think the local schools here camp in the hills and walk the local bridleways. Where are they camping?

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