Paying for school trips

nzmegs

My son has just returned from a school trip which he enjoyed - fine. We were all asked to pay a "voluntary" contribution of £14. Which we did. it was a full day trip. We had to provide a lunch from home and spending money. so in all it cost me £17.

I have since discovered the usual cost of this place they visited is £3 per school age child and the bus that drove them there would have cost no more than £5 per child.

So I paid twice as much as i should have to the school. it was voluntary and those children whose parents couldn't (or wouldn't ) pay were able to go anyway. We were given at least 3 months notice of the trip and so I don't really see an excuse for not paying.

So what has happened to the rest of the money? I also hear that the council has a school trip grant - is this true?

I really see the benefit in school trips but I really feel we have paid well over the odds on this one and I want to know where my money has gone. I don't have enough money just to give it to the school for whatever else they decide to spend it on.

sooz

You haven't accounted for anyone's time.
The driver would need to be paid. As would the staff from school. Then there is insurance. The staff may get one entrance ticket free, but the rest would have to be paid for.

tattycath

nzmegs wrote: »

My son has just returned from a school trip which he enjoyed - fine. We were all asked to pay a "voluntary" contribution of £14. Which we did. it was a full day trip. We had to provide a lunch from home and spending money. so in all it cost me £17.

it was voluntary and those children whose parents couldn't (or wouldn't ) pay were able to go anyway. We were given at least 3 months notice of the trip and so I don't really see an excuse for not paying.

You are fortunate to be able to afford £17-I don't know how many children you have but for some to fund £17 can seem impossible when you have 2 or 3 children who no doubt all have trips coming up and then it might not just be a case of paying for 1 trip-they'd have to pay for 3 so £17 can soon escalate to £51 etc etc It all depends on financial circumstances and for many people it's dire at the moment

morganb

Yes I can appreciate that £17 is expensive, but I organised a trip recently which cost £1.60, yes, £1.60 and people still refused to pay ... more than 35 of them, in fact, so who foots that bill?

lesley1960

sooz wrote: »

You haven't accounted for anyone's time.
The driver would need to be paid. As would the staff from school. Then there is insurance. The staff may get one entrance ticket free, but the rest would have to be paid for.

The drivers pay would be included in the cost of the bus hire snd the £5 per child quoted by the OP would seem reasonable , and the Staff from school would be paid , trip or no trip .

oldmotherreilly

I once asked about this at the school office-the administrator told me that they know how many families are unlikely to pay for the trip and factor this into the cost-so you pay a proportion of the money to cover those who won't/can't pay. At my childrens' school they keep coming home with slips asking for money for things like a poet to come in and read extracts from their own work. Although I do not dispute that this may be a good thing, I object to the way that parents are manipulated into paying for this-these things are during the school day, on school premises and yet you have to sign a form that states you 'are happy for your child to be photographed during this event and enclose a donation of £....' insinuating that they cannot go without the form and yet quite often I have forgotten the form and just paid the money but no one chases me up to ask if my child can be photographed once they have the money......

nibs

At my DD school last year they went on a trip to the local museum.

Museum was free to enter
Museum was within walking distance so no coach required
Trip was for a couple of hours during school times
Cost = a volantary donation of £3.00
And because I didnt think to give her any spending money she missed out on an ice cream.

shellsuit

sooz wrote: »

You haven't accounted for anyone's time.
The driver would need to be paid. As would the staff from school. Then there is insurance. The staff may get one entrance ticket free, but the rest would have to be paid for.

They get paid anyway whether in school or out on a trip - are you saying parents pay their wages when they take the kids on a trip?? :rotfl:

iwanttosave_2

nibs wrote: »

At my DD school last year they went on a trip to the local museum.

Museum was free to enter
Museum was within walking distance so no coach required
Trip was for a couple of hours during school times
Cost = a volantary donation of £3.00
And because I didnt think to give her any spending money she missed out on an ice cream.

That will more than likely be for insurance, just in case little Johnny trips and Mum and Dad decide to sue the school for negligence.

Floss

Insurance for school trips is not cheap. Coaches with seatbelts (mandatory for transporting children) are not cheap. Enough staff to supervise a group of children at the correct ratio will be more than just their normal teacher, so bank or supply staff will need to be paid. The tickets for these staff will need to be paid for. Plus the resources for any activity whilst on this trip are not free.

Idiophreak

nzmegs wrote: »

I really see the benefit in school trips but I really feel we have paid well over the odds on this one and I want to know where my money has gone

Why don't you just ask the school then?

At a guess, I'd say you're paying for people who don't want to pay - probably, because the cost is so high.

Hi, I'm chicken. Have you seen my egg?