cost of a day trip

[Milla]

yup this all rings true, have heard of £3K for 3 weeks, so on a par. Hockey in Argentina, rugby in NZ. Trouble is having to fund the teachers. (don't all leap, teachers, )

[Snowdrops]

OO so brave, I thought it, you said it

[zorro]

Yes, we thought £70 for a day trip was a lot, but that includes the water sports lessons , coach and all the Thorpe Park entrance fee and rides etc. It's an indie so most people go, but I have never heard anything as ridiculous as that Barbados trip!!

[dinah]

When I was at school about 8 million years ago we thought a nature walk was amazing-but then we didn't have any money for treats and things were different in terms of expectations. Now lots of parents do loads of things at weekends-castles, theme parks, sleep overs and also holidays abroad and in the UK. I think schools believe parents still want them to provide all these things and there is some value in going out and about with your peers and not your parents- especially as there is so much concern about 'helicopter parenting' and over protective behaviour from parents.I think schools can't do right for doing wrong.Do they offer outings and risk the back lash of complaints about the cost and value from parents who already feel they provide all that themsleves or do they do nothing and get complaints that they don't do anything extra curricula?

[overpeck]

My girls have been fortunate with school trips and holidays. Certainly had more than I had as a kid. They have had indie primary education and grammar secondary. Again, better than I had. It is hard to not feel that you can keep up with the Jones. My mother gives the girls pocket money and I often sit down with them before shelving out loads of money on trips and we negotiate the spending money side of things. I was over the moon five years ago when my eldest passed her 11+. I asked the school if there was still space on the ski trip and they said yes. I hadn't saved a bean towards the trip and so did 6 extra Sunday shifts to pay for it and she saved 6 weeks of pocket money for the spending money. She didnt waste the money because she had saved hard and spent it wisely. She still says it was the best school trip ever. No one said it was easy teaching your kids the value of money!

[KB]

At out GS when they do the o/seas sports trips the boys do lots of fundraising events so they learn quite a bit from that part of the experience too.
The major tours are for the 6th form who are playing at quite a high level so they do benefit from the sporting side of it as well as the cultural visit.
They do go to countries which are strong at the particular sport though! Not like the Barbados for netball lark

There are some trips that while expensive are worth the money - especially when they go somewhere we wouldn't get to go as a family & with knowledgable staff who open their eyes to what they are experiencing.
In these cases the trips are only attended by a minority so those who can't go don't feel left out.

[Fatandfifty]

To be fair DD did go at the end of Yr11 with the Lower Sixth at her Grammar School they also took a hockey and football team over and she truly did appreciate the experience. They also had to spend the whole year fundraising to do all the 'extras' and so car washing, bag packing, car boot sales, bbqs and quiz evenings were organised by themselves - I say this as I am still trying to justify the £800 we spent a year down the line!!

DS does cricket - there was murmurings of Dubia for the cricket tour??? Save me.

[nicemum]

my dc has been asked to pay £5 for a trip by local bus to some art gallery, 5 mins from his primary school - what a joke. at that time of the day, the buses are usually empty and they will be back at school well before school cloes - all in al would take approx 2 hours. parents will be providing packed lunch - the gallery is free admisssion. there are loads of outing os this sort that one pays well over. not been stingy - each week there is something to pay for - summer fair etc

[Milla]

that sounds outrageous, nicemum! partic if by public bus, not coach. And timesed up by however many children means that someone's coining it in.

Feeling better about my DS2's trip to Bristol docks next week. Blimey, though, it's all go. Currently he's on the last day of his residential (cost? maybe £325, I think. An expensive one but heaving with H&S which is the main component of the Head's DNA) then on Tues they're at a local secondary school for a Building Learning and Power day. I think they make pizzas. And then off to Bristol to look round the docks, go on a boat. I forget if this "ties in" with water project (should do, but something in me - ie the logic - makes me think it isn't, which leaves the Tudors). But it's "only" £8 (spending money not yet discussed ) which seems relatively good value.

[mike1880]

We've got the opposite problem re: day trips - new head making her presence felt, no trips at all this term for Y5, only one nature walk all year - not well received by daughter! Head appears to have academic rigour as sole component of DNA while predecessor was largely focussed on having a good time. There are advantages to both approaches but I'm not keen on either one taken to excess and to the total exclusion of the other...

Mike