Question regarding school day out.

Becles

We've had a similar letter saying the school are taking my son's year to the theatre as a treat but the parents have had to pay for the tickets. It's on a school day afternoon for the matinee performance. The theatre is about 15 minutes walk from school, so they are all walking down together and then walking back to school afterwards. However they will miss the school bus home, so I'll either have to give him the bus fare to get two public buses home, or drive through and collect him.

I did feel a little irritated that the letter was worded that the school was providing the treat but the parents had to pay for it. Maybe it could have been worded better and just said they want to take the children to the theatre.

Shelldean

My twins (14)school has a praise/merit system set up.
One has been to snooker, wimbledon during the tennis, as well as being taken to Ziggi's ( an expensive pizza place) All provided free.
They both was rewarded for being the in the top 25 of the year by being taken to Thorpe Park, this trip was not free, however it only cost £15 each. That covered coach fare plus enerance fees.
All these happend on a normal school day, in the case of lunch at the pizza place, son was released straight away afterwards and came home early ( this pleased him almost as much as going for the lunch) In the case of wimbledon and thorpe park, they arrived back at school after the school day had ended.

All of the above in addition to normal school activies which include alternative leaarning weeks were they get taken to London amoungst other things. Last alternative wk the twins went to the Tate gallery. There are also school based things to do.

This Thurs is challenge day, not sure what they'll get up to, but one has to go in old clothes while the other goes in his enrichment kit.

Both alternative learning and challenge day are provided free of charge

RobertoMoir

Becles wrote: »

We've had a similar letter saying the school are taking my son's year to the theatre as a treat but the parents have had to pay for the tickets. It's on a school day afternoon for the matinee performance. The theatre is about 15 minutes walk from school, so they are all walking down together and then walking back to school afterwards. However they will miss the school bus home, so I'll either have to give him the bus fare to get two public buses home, or drive through and collect him.

I did feel a little irritated that the letter was worded that the school was providing the treat but the parents had to pay for it. Maybe it could have been worded better and just said they want to take the children to the theatre.

That I would agree with. Things like that could be phrased better.

Takoda

Haven't read all of the other posts but just want to add my 2p. A school I used to work at (Primary though not Sec) used to have a termly trip to reward the 'good kids'. It was totally free for the kids and was in school time. However only one child from each class was actually able to go. That was still 12 odd kids!

So I agree with Mspig. A treat for good behaviour etc should be free. This one seems like a bit of a liberty to me. The school have sneakily avoided any transport costs and also sneakily avoided paying anything themselves.

Shabby I reckon. Considering what it is supposed to be all about.

patchwork_cat

That is class! If it is a reward then they should at least be contributing. Mind at least they are doing something, when my son was in Yr 9 his class won the class reward and were supposed to get a free trip to the pictures, but the school had run out of money and they couldn't go! We weren't even offered the option of paying for them.

He has left that school now and is at sixth form. I complained that despite my request for some support in raising his self esteem they had not given him any prizes for work , response, 'we hold our hands up!' That is how they reward a 3A*, 5 A etc. student who got 97% in Biology GCSE!

Sorry, rant over. Yes Ms Pig they should be contributing.

flippin36

Can see both sides, but just wanted to say mispig that out daughter had a similar treat last year and the school paid for everything. I was amazed at the generosity.

Debt_Free_Chick

It's a treat/reward as if the teacher hadn't organised it, it wouldn't exist! It's clearly not an outing/trip as not all the pupils have been invited. It's a reward as invitations have only gone to those that are deemed to deserve it.

Schools don't have the money to fund this type of thing and shouldn't be expected to. In my day, we'd have had a gold star on a chart on the wall.

This is also an opportunity for parents to share in the rewarding experience. If money is an issue, deduct it from the kid's Christmas Present budget.

Gingham_Ribbon

Takoda wrote: »

The school have sneakily avoided any transport costs and also sneakily avoided paying anything themselves.

Shabby I reckon. Considering what it is supposed to be all about.

OR perhaps the teacher is doing it out of the goodness of his heart, wanted to tell them it was a reward because they've been good kids and they deserve it, but the school budget doesn't/can't run to extras that teachers decide to do themselves and he certainly can't be expected to fund it himself.

It's simple. If people don't want to pay for it, they shouldn't send their children. If they do, then that's great.

It's out of school hours so it's almost certainly just the teacher doing a bit extra for the kids. I bet if he read this thread he'd wish he hadn't bothered.

bestpud

Now, I am normally on the side of the school when it comes to debating on here, but in this case, I can see why you are a bit miffed mspig!

How on earth can that be classed as the school giving them a treat for good behaviour etc?

What happens if a parent can't afford that much - it's actually quite a hefty amount for a couple of hours?

And, from a different POV, I thought the beauty of this kind of 'scheme' is to reward good behaviour, of course, but also act as an incentive for others?

How can it encourage the more disruptive pupils if they don't know about it because it's not on a school day?

Debt_Free_Chick

To be honest, I wished he/she hadn't bothered. We get what we deserve ......