The cost of school trips

[DenDe]

Just wondering if anyone has a limit on the amount they would be prepared to pay for a school trip, no matter how good it sounded and how much DC wanted to go.

The distance secondary schools particularly seem to be taking DC on trips is ridiculous to me and the pressure it puts on parents to fork out huge amounts of money is unfair.

[hermanmunster]

Schools seem to vary on this - the local GS take a few a long distance - usually because of some very specific interest - the kids (and parents ) have loads of notice - time to save up / get a job / sponsorship etc. Other european trips are usually more essential from educational POV eg battlefields and are reasonable cost - plenty of notice given again for these.

Another GS I know of has ludicrous expensive jollies to china / far east / USA etc - some of the kids who go have parents who spend much of their time pleading poverty one way or another yet still seem to manage the trip.

re How much? really not sure most I have been asked for £300. (so far)

[Looking for help]

I agree, Dende, we found ourselves in a dificult situation last year.

My son went on a watersports trip to France which had been arranged for about 18 months plus a trip to Germany for a few days. the cost of the two trips was over £1000, can't remember by how much.

However we refused to also allow him to go on a music trip also to France, not really because of the cost, more because I felt it was all too much. At the parent's evening, the music teacher asked us why not, and if it was a case of it being too expensive, he was sure the school could help us , he'd already asked my son if money was a problem.

This year we are allowing him to go on the music trip, this time it's to Italy (lovely) on the basis that this will be the only one. Although he has just come home with a letter about the battlefields trip (at around another £300) - I don't want to refuse that one either .

It is very difficult to decide what to do, some of his friends seem to go on no trips, and others do all available ones. I think it would be good if it was explained at the start what is on offer so that parent's can choose if any are suitable and worth the money.

Thinking of those poor children on the coach that crashed the other day, and their poor families, I am beginning to wonder whether it is a good idea to let them go anyway

[DenDe]

LFH you have echoed my feeling exactly. The coach accident has made me feel jittery I think.

If you allow one expensive trip do you then also allow the less expensive and probably more educational ones too? What if you have 2 or 3 DC who all come home with trip letters to France/Italy/ USA?

Also, if you allow a DC to go on all trips, regardless of the cost, does this not promote the idea of entitlement? I don't want my DC to grow up thinking £1000+ holidays are an entitlement but neither do I want them to be the only ones not going on certain trips

[twinkles]

I don't much of the details like how long for etc but a friends DD is going to Ethiopia next year and she has to get sponsorship etc and it's going to cost £3,000!!!!!!

[DenDe]

Herman, I think you are lucky to have only been asked for £300. Long may it continue.

[scary mum]

DCs school do a rugby/netball trip for years 11, 12, 13 to South Africa or Australia at £2600. DD isn't going! I do however agree to many of the educational ones. Some schools issue a list at the beginning of each year or key stage, which I think is a good idea, then you don't agree to, for example, the battlefields trip, only to discover there is language trip to Spain the following term that might have been more useful. DD went on a rubbish trip to France and then missed out on what would have been a great trip to Germany the following term.

[andyb]

DS1 is going to France/WW1 sites this year for a long weekend - leave school early Friday and get home teatime Monday. They are travelling by coach/ferry and lodging in pairs with local families and the cost is still well over £300 . We initially said no, bearing in mind our week long family holiday comes in at around £600, but were made to feel like terrible parents when we were told 165 of the 180 boys in the year were going, so we relented. We couldn't ask for financial assistance because we aren't hard-up, we just feel the cost for 1 boy for 4 days is disproportionately expensive compared to a family of 4 for a week.

[Looking for help]

Ours seem to be more fun that educational to be honest

This one is my last one and so probably is getting a bit more than the others might have, although the GS they were at had a very few defined number of trips so you could work out well in advance what they would be going on and budget accordingly.

The youngest's school for a large comprehensive is doing a great job in terms of the trip front - at a lot of cost, although we haven't had any individual trip costing more than £600.

However the oldest will be going on his 'grad tour' of Europe, the next one somewhere as well with her friends, the third one the end of year 13 holiday (gulp) and with the youngest's two trips in June/July, it doesn't look likely there will be time for any kind of family holiday this year, which is a shame, mind you we won't have any money for one after all these.

Fortunately we can visit home to Scotland in the summer very cheaply, and the pandas in Edinburgh Zoo are apparently great to see

[mike1880]

I believe your son's at the same school as ours, DenDe, so I can only imagine you're talking about the skiing trip? I wouldn't worry about saying no to things like that, only a small minority will go (ditto the German exchange, etc., etc.). So far we've only shelled out for Y8 residential (about the same price as the Y6 primary school resi) and we're sending him on a European trip this summer (although with similar jitters about coach trip, we have friends with children at Alcester Middle School) which won't cost much more than it would cost for childcare for the week. I imagine he'll be on the battlefields trip next year - but only because it might mean he has to speak some French , I don't think it's likely to be essential in terms of the history curriculum.

Daughter in Y7 at indie has been on 2-night resi (shorter than Y6/son's Y8 - but also a fraction of the price - excellent value! And the food was extremely good apparently ) and has a £30 day trip next week which the school has apologised about. No complaints so far...

Mike