Paying for school trips.

mandragora_2

http://www.grantsexpert.co.uk/funding-for-school-trips.html

This link might help.

The school will probably have some discretion and be able to help, but you will only find out if you talk to them. In the school I work in, the head has his own budget with some unallocated funds in it, and will invite parents in if they contact us to say they're struggling to afford it. If the child is on fsm, that's easier, but IS should also trigger a sympathetic response. I always think the people in the greatest financial difficulty are those just above this 'breadline' - you're not making a lot more than the baseline, but you're not entitled to anything.

It can be tricky, as there's hundreds of rules about this for schools - you can't make a 'profit' (nor should you, of course) but you shouldn't make a loss. You shouldn't exclude children because of money (nor would you want to) and in law, if the trip takes place in school time and is deemed a 'necessary' part of a child's education, parents can't be obliged to pay (schools usually get round this by making it optional, and saying they will run an alternative option within school). However, I've known some schools where it's an 'open cheque' policy, and has become an open secret that if you plead poverty, you won't have to pay anything, while other parents pay every time without fail, so it's always a bit of a balancing act - as a head, you wouldn't want to be seen as a 'soft touch', but at the same time, you wouldn't want genuine hardship to cause lack of opportunities for kids.

What most schools will do is try to work with you to resolve the problem - can you manage a payment plan? What contribution can you afford? Can you pay for trip X if the school funds event Y? Whatever the case, parents need to speak to the school as soon as possible - it doesn't help anyone if parents leave the problem as a secret the school is supposed to work out for themselves, and waiting for them to ring you.

arlybarly

bestpud wrote: »

Entitlement to EMA has nothing to do with working or not! My dd was entitled to full EMA when me and my ex were both working! Funny enough, we were paying tax too! :rolleyes:

And I wouldn't say a prom has anything to do with school trips personally...

DD paid for her own prom and had a great time.

Well we arnt entitled to anything as we both work and are over the threshold which is my POINT exactly, the more you work and do overtime the more my son has been penalised !!!!!!!!!!!!
And would i really as a parent let my son be the only one not to attend the prom???????

Oldernotwiser

SUESMITH wrote: »

absolutly correct - its a voluntary donation, they usually say if enough parents dont pay the trip wont run but i have never known that in so they can't force payment or exclude your child. btw its usually the parents well able to afford it who quote the rules at you and refuse to pay, not us ordianary hard up folk

So the parents of those who do make the voluntary payment have to subsidise parents like Pupsicola who are busy paying off their mortgage rather than funding their children's education?

Oldernotwiser

arlybarly wrote: »

Well we arnt entitled to anything as we both work and are over the threshold which is my POINT exactly, the more you work and do overtime the more my son has been penalised !!!!!!!!!!!!
And would i really as a parent let my son be the only one not to attend the prom???????

When money's tight, educational expenses should come before social ones just as school unifrom should take priority over expensive trainers!

[Deleted User]

OrkneyStar wrote: »

Child Tax Credit is intended to pay towards child's living costs, including food, clothing, and trips. Even on income support (with your other benefits) you should be putting even £1 aside every week to cover things like this.

I`m sorry but that sounds abit like the benefit police, it can be incredibly hard to find £x at very short notice when "surviving" on benefits.
Just to add from my experience of being a school governor that payment for these trips is on a voluntary footing,and usually a % is built into the costing to allow for those who cant/wont pay,if those able/willing to pay dont cover the total cost, then the "trip" will be cancelled

[Deleted User]

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Just because it's voluntary doesn't mean that you shouldn't make some attempt to contribute what you can! As said before, parents receive substantial amounts for their children's needs, part of which is school trips.

This is particularly true when 3 months ago you were able to post

"My hubby and I paid off our 115k mortgage in 4 years. It was bloody hard work but so worth it.

Now we have a new major outlay though - kids school fees :rolleyes: ."

I`m a little surprised at the above from the above,isn`t that being just a tad judgemental?Its sometimes post like that,that can put people off posting on here afraid that something they said "3 months" ago will be thrown back in their faces,and possibly out of context as well.

arlybarly

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

When money's tight, educational expenses should come before social ones just as school unifrom should take priority over expensive trainers!

I think i must be going barmy here but what are you on about

Zara33

woodbine wrote: »

I`m sorry but that sounds abit like the benefit police, it can be incredibly hard to find £x at very short notice when "surviving" on benefits.
Just to add from my experience of being a school governor that payment for these trips is on a voluntary footing,and usually a % is built into the costing to allow for those who cant/wont pay,if those able/willing to pay dont cover the total cost, then the "trip" will be cancelled

Why should a trip be cancelled because others won't/can't pay for it! Maybe these kids whose parents can't/won't pay best stay in school the day of the trip.

LizzieS_2

woodbine wrote: »

I`m sorry but that sounds abit like the benefit police, it can be incredibly hard to find £x at very short notice when "surviving" on benefits.

Not if CTC and CB are used for their proper purposes it isn't. Take a single person with no children, income is £64pw for food, gas, elec, water. Add a child, yes there is a need for an additional bedroom so heating costs rise. Yes children go through electric with the washing/ironing they create. None of those actually double the gas/elec bill. It is unlikely to have metered water so water bill does not change. A child eats less than an adult. By my reckoning there is a lot of that CTC and CB left to pay for the rest of the childs needs - clothes, shoes, school trips etc.

Just to add from my experience of being a school governor that payment for these trips is on a voluntary footing,and usually a % is built into the costing to allow for those who cant/wont pay,if those able/willing to pay dont cover the total cost, then the "trip" will be cancelled

Not in the least bit surprised here - the costs I end up paying show this comment to be true. I will say though that once trips do get enough payers, the non-payers are then given alternate education in school.

dieselhead

When I was at primary school, we went on very very few trips, most seemed to be within the local town at little or negligible cost as we walked there 'crocodile style!!'

However at secondary school there were a number or relativity expensive trips that I just didn't go on, I wouldn't have said my parents were poor either, but I had guide holiday too and my parents always asked which I would rather do the school trip or guide holiday and I choose the guide holiday. I wasn't alone these trips were very poorly attended, they were very expensive. The skiing trip (I actually would have loved to have gone but just knew it would be a no no) was £600 that was 15 years ago!

It might be different in primary school but in secondary the trips seemed to be a luxury not a necessity for our education.