school trips again

morganb

mehefin wrote: »

MY DS yr 10 came home on Monday with a letter regarding a Geography field trip to Barcelona which they want £500 for with a deposit of £100 by Friday. " an important part of the GCSE sylabus etc etc". I wouldn't mind him going with a, more notice,

This trip should have been outlined in the GCSE course information which all parents should have received in Year 9 when their children were choosing their options; if it wasn't, then there are serious issues here which the Headteacher / Board of Governors should address.

galvanizersbaby

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I thanked you but then realised that I don't think you meant the second part of this in the same way that I did. If you're talking about increased traffic and knives in schools, then of course, I'd agree with you. If you're talking about the sort of world that's going to affect brownies at camp or juniors on a field trip away, then the only difference seems to me the way in which so many parents want to keep their children wrapped in cotton wool and tied to their apron strings.

No I think we are talking about the same things - though I think as a parent it's only natural to want to protect your children they need to have a degree of independence (age appropriate) but I am hoping when mine get to that age they will be able to do so as safely as poss

percymoneysaver

Just wanted to say that OldernotWiser is right - residential visits are rarely a "jolly" for the staff involved. I've only taken one group - 25 16 year olds to Disneyland Paris for 3 days - and it was one of the most exhausting things I've ever done, and that was without having to watch them all the time like you would have to with younger students. (Especially as they do have to be watched more at night than the little ones!!!)

I've worked in secondary schools for over 10 years and I guarantee you most do not arrange visits as a treat for the staff - I've seen "fun" trips cancelled as they couldn't get teachers to agree to go! While I understand the reluctance of primary school parents to consider an overnight visit - only some children (and parents) seem to ready for this at 7/8 - I think that secondary school parents should be glad that their schools are still offering residential visits as they can be so beneficial to the students - experiencing something they may not have done with their families. My children's secondary school offered a ski trip every year - which is something we would never think of doing as a family - and they were told in Year 7 they could only go once. They chose the year they wanted to go, and when they were 16 and working part time, they paid themselves out of their wages to go again in the 6th form. (And by the way, ski trips are absolutely not jollies for staff - half of it tends to be spent in Casualty!)

I also agree with the other poster who said that compulsory trips at GCSE level and above should be mentioned in curriculum handouts before these subjects are chosen at the end of Year 9/11. Geography and Geology especially should mention this as there are always visits associated with these - though not necessarily expensive and out of the UK.

tsstss7

OP If this was me I would not et my child go - 7/8 (YR3?) IMO is too young for a 2 night overnighter.

I remember when my son was in yr3 (and he is one of the older ones) I was worried about the trip to be taken the following yr (YR4) (3 night residential) as he seemed too young and I could not see me being happy to let him go on such a trip even a yr later - however when the time came he had had, one of those mental growth spurts children seem to have and I could see that he was now sensible enough to survive even a badly run school trip (not saying it was but I always feel I like to not rely on the vigilance of the teachers too much as ds's class consisted of 23 unruly boys and only 7 girls).

He has a 4 night trip this term and I'm not at all worried as he is now 10 and quite grown up now....

fsdss

morganb wrote: »

I can understand the issues about cost and at which age people feel it is appropriate to let children spend the night away from home, but there are some really quite negative remarks on this post. What a shame. Us teachers just can't win, can we. If a school doesn't believe that an educational visit is 'educational', either in terms of curriculum content or team-building, for example, then it wouldn't be approved by the board of governors (which is made up of several parent governors who are there to 'represent' the parent voice) and the Headteacher.

Schools can usually find a way of helping out parents financially for a worthwhile trip (although of course it wouldn't be fair for a school to fund one child's skiiing trip, for example).

At the end of the day, staff work extremely hard to offer these visits/trips for children and they offer them and take part in them because they want the children to have a good time. Often they have to put extra childcare in place themselves (and no, this isn't reimbursed by profit from the trip itself). I didn't spend three days in Swanage in November in a Youth Hostel for my own personal gain, for example.

i've just selected this post to highlight that the point to my post is in no way reflected show that the teachers ability or dedication is not there. and of course i dont believe that its a "jolly" for them! the point of the post is down to money for trips and the amount which is acceptable and affordable really - and where do you draw the line?

this particular school is situated in a wealthy part of the county, the school is small and has rumoured to be on par with private education, it attracts a lot of children from outside of the area because of its status. i would roughly say that 40% of the children are from low to middle income families (bear in mind this is only a guess).
the playground is the indicator of this assumption whereby its divided in 2 groups. i know all the parents.
the governers - lets just say is from the right side of the playground and have no interest in financial status of some others (i know this as i mediated last year for a disabled mother) and found myself banging my head against a brick wall, i've raised a couple of similar issues too where i nearly lost my rag!

ailuro2

I'd refuse to let my child go, and she's nearly 10.

I'd not be happy and neither would she. Her school do a 3 night trip in primary 7, but that's more than 2 1/2 years away for her, by which time she'll be more capable of looking after herself ( not that she needs much now, but she's still too young to be away on her own)

The way the letter is worded would make me think up an excuse for her not to go - a hint of bedwetting or night terrors perhaps??:p Maybe I'm bloody minded, but no-one would make me let my daughter out of my sight overnight and tell me it was compulsory.:mad:

~daisy~_2

whilst i also appriciate the work and time the teachers put into trips - i do think at my childrens school there are just too many trips at the moment and they havent got the balance right
during the next 12 months this is the schedule for my childrens trips .....

• calshot activity week £400
• panto 2 @ £19.00 - not going
• swim camp cyprus £600
• pgl activity week - £400 - reward for sats - not going
• activity week - £50 - for those children not going on the pgl trip
• rugby tour - £200
• football tour - £180
• normandy trip £195

rugby is for son and dad football is for daughter and i will be going with her
as you can see this doesnt take into account day trips of which in year 5 there were 3 in the summer team alone

its just so much money - best part of 2k plus spends too !!

as an aside my children were 8 when they went on there first residential trips - to kingswood activity centre in yr 4 and they lived to tell the tale - it does them good imo

bandraoi

It used to be that your responsibility as a parent was to teach your child how to deal with risky situations themselves, allowing them to explore the world and their own boundaries themselves, while offering support and advice. If a child got hurt or upset it was a natural part of growing up, and learning to deal with the hurt and upset was as important as everything else.

These days it seems to me that people think it's their responsibility to deal with all risky situations themselves, so that their child doesn't have to. The definition of risky seems to have expanded greatly too.

milliebear00001

bandraoi wrote: »

It used to be that your responsibility as a parent was to teach your child how to deal with risky situations themselves, allowing them to explore the world and their own boundaries themselves, while offering support and advice. If a child got hurt or upset it was a natural part of growing up, and learning to deal with the hurt and upset was as important as everything else.

These days it seems to me that people think it's their responsibility to deal with all risky situations themselves, so that their child doesn't have to. The definition of risky seems to have expanded greatly too.

I think there's a lot of truth in this, and I too subscribe to the view that the best way to help children is by teaching them to keep themselves safe rather than relying on others, but...I do feel sorry for parents today who are met with headlines screaming about paedophiles on every corner etc. The world today does have different dangers to when I was a child in the seventies and eighties - the internet and increased traffic to name just two. It's harder (I think) for parents to make a judgement about what the realistic dangers are, because the information in the public domain is so misleading, and because we are an increasingly 'litigious', risk averse society.

I think many children at 7 and 8 will be able to enjoy a night or two away from home with their friends. I think many parents would struggle with that though!

Smashing

~daisy~ wrote: »

• calshot activity week £400
• panto 2 @ £19.00 - not going
• swim camp cyprus £600
• pgl activity week - £400 - reward for sats - not going
• activity week - £50 - for those children not going on the pgl trip
• rugby tour - £200
• football tour - £180
• normandy trip £195

I'm suprised they get any schoolwork done at that rate.