CCHS Y7 Trip to France - Expensive or reasonable?

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moved
Posts: 3826
Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2007 1:42 pm
Location: Chelmsford and pleased

Re: CCHS Y7 Trip to France - Expensive or reasonable?

Post by moved »

These trips are enrichment for your daughter and by no means compulsory. Should you wish you can always say no and then your daughter can remain behind when the others go. The school does have a hardship fund for those parents who find the cost of the trip prohibitive.

Can I also point out that many school struggle to find enough staff to attend these trips. This is not a staff jolly, but a huge amount of hard work. Perhaps the staff should pay the same as the girls? How many do you think would go then? They are not free to wander off to a restaurant, bar, beach; they are there to supervise the children and enable them to have a great holiday.

The cost of booking a suitable coach is not to be sneezed at as it includes all the relevant insurance.

DD loved this trip when it was her turn if this helps.
elephantintheroom
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Oct 08, 2011 9:50 pm

Re: CCHS Y7 Trip to France - Expensive or reasonable?

Post by elephantintheroom »

The simplest way to answer the question would have been to approach the school personally and just ask for a breakdown of the costs. It is not the sort of problem to be 'mulled over' because the school will have the answer at their fingertips!
cinders
Posts: 16
Joined: Thu Dec 23, 2010 2:56 pm

Re: CCHS Y7 Trip to France - Expensive or reasonable?

Post by cinders »

hermanmunster wrote:agreed - great thing about fora is that you can mull over a problem and end up deciding it isn't really a problem at all!
pheasantchick wrote:I don't think the original poster is moaning, jut enquiring whether the cost is reasonable or not? If the general consensus is not, then they have the option of speaking to the school.
Thanks Pheasantchick & Hermanmunster - and everyone who has taken time to reply.

Happy House (not Bleak) wrote: Even though the trip might be cheaper to arrange yourself, would our children have as much fun with us as they would with their friends?

May I suggest that if anyone else has any issues with the price of this trip, that they take up the matter with the school and not moan on an anonymous forum.
Yes, I know it's definitely much more fun with their peers - which is something one cannot put a price on! That's why I fully support these trips - as I've said before.

The purpose of thread was indeed to see the general feelings and views of other parents. In fact, the couple of parents I spoke (face to face) thought it was expensive too. The beauty of this forum is not necessarily to be anonymous but for your questions/queries to reach a wider audience.

Having had these replies there are things I've learnt that I haven't considered before, eg,
a recce has to be carried out and possibly the cost of a personal tour guide not to mention that most certainly, staff is subsidised!

This forum is great. It's like having my own think tank and consultants!!! :wink:
kegsteacher
Posts: 46
Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2008 7:12 am
Location: Chelmsford

Re: CCHS Y7 Trip to France - Expensive or reasonable?

Post by kegsteacher »

I thought that readers of this forum might like to know the process teachers normally go through in planning and pricing trips.

First of all it is agreed in principal by the school (sometimes just the Head, other times governors). You then head to a number of travel companies who routinely bombard schools with brochures. NST and Halsbury travel are some examples. You then contact one of these companies and get a quote - you normally state the number of students and they will tell you how many (free) staff places that comes with.

Going though a company has a number of advantages - it is insured against cancellation or bankruptcy and they will book coaches, drivers, ferries, hotels and any trips you want to do. Once they know exactly what you want to do they send you a per-pupil quote. You then work out reasonable staff expenses - for example you might get £5 towards lunch - and add that on as well. Finally you calculate the cost of covering the teachers if it is during the school day, and add that.

It is often easy to look at hotel websites and think that you could book that yourself more cheaply but it is very different booking for groups of 40 or 80 or even 120.
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