How do you pay for School Trips

N9eav

With 4 of them school trips are a pain, but we do save for the summer caps at about £150 each. The anoying ones are those 1, 2 ,3 4, quid weekly excursions or donation for bus, or man coming to the school to show his snake etc. The small print says donation but you are made to feel it is a charge. I don't pay and the kids go anyway. I pay 1000's in taxes every year and it's supposed ot go on education, why should I pay again?

EssexBoy_3

It would depend on what the trip was for and where?? I am lucky that I could afford to do this, however I teach my children that to gain in one hand means to lose in the other.
If they want something (like a school trip) then they must give up something else first. This helps them to learn that a good life will not be handed to them on a plate. This teaches them value. My 8 year old Son actually haggles with me now when he wants something - And because he haggles with me for a good deal then he will automatically haggle with others for a good deal - It's great!
People go on about depriving children but they should give those children a little more credit, most children understand that £400 is a lot of money and is hard to raise for a lot of parents.
I never once went on a school trip as a youngster because I knew my parents couldn't afford them and I haven't suffered for it. I just threw the letters in the bin. I knew that if I took them home my parents would try to find the money but even at 10 years old I knew they had more important things to do with their money.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to one and all

silverbirch_3

I have 4 children, aged 3, 8, 11 and 12.  My childrens primary school have residential trips every year from reception.  Trips in 2005 are so far costing £85 for the 8 yr old, £150 and £92 for the 11 yr old, and the 12yr old at secondary school has 1 for £98 plus a sking trip for £889.

The primary school trips are generally for every child, when my older son was in year 5 he said he didn't want to go on that years trip (found out later he had overheard me and his dad talking about money worries) while the rest of his year were on the trip, my son and the 3 other children that didn't go were put in other year group classes for the 4 days the trip was for. My son had to spend 4 days in reception with 4 & 5 year olds!! He obviously didn't learn anything during this time, was really upset by it all especially as one little girl took a liking to him and kept trying to hold his hand, but if I'd kept him off school for those 4 days I would have been in trouble. Since then I make sure all my children go on all the trips to avoid putting them through an experience like that.

It puts a massive strain on the family finances, which aren't the best anyway.  I usually have to ask my parents if they can help with the deposits and then we pay the rest which is a real struggle and means me and my husband going without the things we really need.

aliasojo

My son has an upcoming school trip abroad and also a 'football' trip to Blackpool.

Needless to say neither of these are cheap, but I would feel as though I wasn't doing my best for him as a parent if I didn't let him go. As someone mentioned earlier, our school too, implements a savings scheme and we usually have a good number of months to pay the balance.

I think the teenage years are the perfect time for kids to enjoy as many life experiences as they can before they reach adulthood and life starts dumping on them.

It's not so important if there is a good very well paying job ahead of them, but for the average joe, life is one big round of adult worries and bill paying. It may well be that a holiday will be so far down the list it would be as well not being on it at all!

If kids have experiences as a child/teenager they will have at least sampled life outside their own little world. It may be that family holidays are not an option because of cost so at least the school trips are a viable alternative.

I didn't go on any school trips as a kid and I feel as though I missed out. I don't mean missed out on a holiday kind of way, more missed out on an experience......if that makes sense?

Schools can't possibly cater for every family situation. There will always be people who are better off than others. I don't think schools are being irresponsible or that trips should not be offered just because some families can't afford them.

nalibz

In the school that i used to attend they used to have a policy that no child will be left out from the trip if s/he cannot meet the costs of the trip.

Therefore anyone could go on te trips regardless of how much money they had. All contributions towards trips were voluntary.

ambersmita

I left school in 1990 - In the years upto leaving these kinds of "rich kid" trips began to arrive at my school a (Smithdon High, Hunstanton, Norfolk - Secondary School). Before they turned up we would have some great days out for everyone - not one of us kids felt that we were different.

For those of us with hard working parents earning rubbish wages (which Rural areas of the country are famous for!! - just check out the agricultural wages board!) the emergence of these expensive residential trips was very distressful, and when you are a kid you don't even realise this.

I love my parents and I never really had my parents low wage shoved in my face - even though I was on subsidised school meals. This was because we lived within our means and buying clothes from jumble sales etc was fun and not something to be ashamed of (even if school bullies used to try and bully me about it) The thought of a foreign holiday had never crossed my mind - we had all we wanted in the area where we lived by the coast.

These trips really were divisive and we all realised who had rich parents and who didnt, and the rich kids would not let you forget it! The funny thing I remember about the first expensive week away for the rich kids was that it was a ski trip and of the kids that went on it 5 of them came back with broken limbs! So that made the rest of us quite smug!

My School also ran an activities week at the end of the summer term and this was an excellent idea. Because we were blessed to live in such a lovely part of the country we had a selection of options to choose and some of these such as beach walk/nature walks cost nothing as we had some very interesting teachers who took an interest in local natural history - this meant that we all got to do something interesting and it did not have to cost or divide the unity of the school.

One other point I will never forget is as a member of the schools conservation club (we regularly did weekend work with the BTCV -Briitish Trust for Conservation Volunteers) we pupils along with the teachers who ran the club had been raising funds to create a nature garden int the school grounds, as this was a longterm project I left the school before we had completed the fund raising side of the project. A couple of years later when I asked a pupil who was still at the school what was happening with the wildlife garden, she told me that the teachers who were organising it had left the school and that the money raised had been spent on sending 10 of the pupils on a weeks trip abroad!!!
I was a more than a bit miffed at this - we had raised the cash to benefit all of the kids at the school and to create an area to benefit education and the environment. I have to say I felt that this was a real disappointment as we were so focussed on achieving the goal we had set out on only to have the money spent on a select few to go off on a jolly!

These kinds of experieces have had a real effect on me - it has made me dedicated to persuing social justice and equality for all.

ambersmita

I left school in 1990 - In the years upto leaving these kinds of "rich kid" trips began to arrive at my school a (Smithdon High, Hunstanton, Norfolk - Secondary School). Before they turned up we would have some great days out for everyone - not one of us kids felt that we were different.

For those of us with hard working parents earning rubbish wages (which Rural areas of the country are famous for!! - just check out the agricultural wages board!) the emergence of these expensive residential trips was very distressful, and when you are a kid you don't even realise this.

I love my parents and I never really had my parents low wage shoved in my face - even though I was on subsidised school meals. This was because we lived within our means and buying clothes from jumble sales etc was fun and not something to be ashamed of (even if school bullies used to try and bully me about it) The thought of a foreign holiday had never crossed my mind - we had all we wanted in the area where we lived by the coast.

These trips really were divisive and we all realised who had rich parents and who didnt, and the rich kids would not let you forget it! The funny thing I remember about the first expensive week away for the rich kids was that it was a ski trip and of the kids that went on it 5 of them came back with broken limbs! So that made the rest of us quite smug!

My School also ran an activities week at the end of the summer term and this was an excellent idea. Because we were blessed to live in such a lovely part of the country we had a selection of options to choose and some of these such as beach walk/nature walks cost nothing as we had some very interesting teachers who took an interest in local natural history - this meant that we all got to do something interesting and it did not have to cost or divide the unity of the school.

One other point I will never forget is as a member of the schools conservation club (we regularly did weekend work with the BTCV -Briitish Trust for Conservation Volunteers) we pupils along with the teachers who ran the club had been raising funds to create a nature garden int the school grounds, as this was a longterm project I left the school before we had completing the fund raising side of the project. A couple of years later when I asked a pupil who was still at the school what was happening with the wildlife garden, she told me that the teachers who were organising it had left the school and that the money raised had been spent on sending 10 of the pupils on a weeks trip abroad!!!
I was a more than a bit miffed at this - we had raised the cash to benefit all of the kids at the school and to create an area to benefit education and the environment. I have to say I felt that this was a real disappointment as we were so focussed on achieving the goal we had set out on only to have the money spent on a select few to go off on a jolly!

robert_3

School trips are just part of the additional expenses that the schools are asking us as parents to pay, and it is even more difficult as a single dad bringing up 2 kids. How to deal with it, well there are sometimes 3 or 4 trips a year so my theory is you sit with the kids and say which one would interest you most having explained that they can only go on one!!!!!! Once the kids have decided which you then say that as part of your birthday/christmas present you will pay to this, but in return they have to earn the rest of the money by doing cores aroud the house, washing cars etc, then clearing out some of their unwanted toys/cd's and selling them at a boot fair. This way they learn the value of money and learn about saving, naturally I have to do the clearing out as well and make some money in the same way. Sounds easy but it's not but atleast you aren't getting into debt to give them a broader eductaion.

Cheers Robert

Jodun

Does anyone mind me asking - have any of you had the circumstances where more than one of your children has  asked about going on a school trip in same year.

As per my earlier post not a problem that will affect me for some years - but just wondered what others did  :)

Our sons are twins and came home two weeks after joining academy asking to go on a ski trip costing £600 - each! That of course doesn't include spending money or ski clothes. We've told them that as long as they NEVER get into any bother at school, and they'll have to get jobs to save their own spending money then they can go in 2006, but not enough time to save up for 2005! And for all that money you'd think that they would be flying - but they have to travel by bus to Italy, from Aberdeen!!!

Hugh_Skint

:-/
Someone told me that if you are on income support then they will pay half of the school trip .

Has anyone else heard this and can anyone verify this?

Hugh Skint