Couldn't afford a school trip and I feel guilty

Souk08

Hi, just wanted to say that my mate is a teacher and sometimes she goes on the trips with her pupils but this year she decided to stay at home and had a right laugh with the kids who didn't go. She had tiny classes and got to spend time with different kids and made it fun for them, so don't worry. And better you show them the value of money than put it on cards and end up in a fankle!

don1975

dont feel bad when my kids were in primary school they had these trips at £300 plus hire costs and i couldnt afford it so i said i would take them for a butlins weekend away which was cheaper, both were more excited about going to butlins lol.both classes only had about 8 kids left behind and they done a week of a zoo trip,a canal boat ride,a cook your own lunch day(baking bread rolls cakes etc)sports fun day in the local park with ice creams and a visit to a muesum at a total cost of £30 each for the whole week they had a better time than those who went on the trip .all the kids hated it the food was rubbish and it rained all the time

Fang_3

Blackpool_Saver wrote: »

Schools should not put on trips that they do not fully fund themselves, they know not all kids can afford to go, it makes me angry.

Bulltish! Why should every child miss out because a few can't or won't afford it?

hngrymummy

Don't feel guilty. I never went on the residential trips because we were 3 kids and my parents couldn't afford it. One time there were 3 of us in my class that didn't go, so we got to spend the week with the year 3s (we were year 7). We had great fun, and the year 3s thought we were the best thing ever.

It was an adventure, and my parents gave me little treats all week to make up for it. They explained why we couldn't go, and I understood that we had better things to spend the money on.

lilac_lady

I remember getting a form from school to put names down for a trip to France. I didn't show it to my mother - there's no way that she could have afforded it.

It made me stronger because I got a Saturday job as soon as I was 14 (you could legally do that way back when!) and began to save for the next trip. There wasn't one before I left school at 15 though!

Started me on the MSE trail early.....

kazwookie

I never went on any school trips, my mother couldn't afford it, she struggled to feed us, so I would never ask, I just use to put the forms in the bin on the way home, and on the day of the trip went to school normally, to be one of 8 or so left at school, we did fun stuff all day, my brother and sister use to do the same.

BitterAndTwisted

Like others I never went on any school trips and neither did my two sisters. We knew it was because our parents couldn't afford it and I daresay my mother probably felt pangs of guilt about it as well. We weren't the only kids in our classes who couldn't go on these trips. I understand now quite well that sometimes these things can be terribly over-rated and they're often not good value either. All in all I think being "deprived" of these kinds of opportunities can be a more valuable lesson than parents busting a gut to scrape the funds together somehow. I don't believe that it ever did any kid any harm to come to the understanding that not everything we want or desire in life will come our way just because we want it to. We know there are some parents out there who would do almost anything to prevent their kids suffering any kind of disappointment and I don't believe that long-term they are necessarily doing their darlings any favours at all.

Britwife

I think you made the right choice for your family but don't feel guilty over it. I always explained to my oldest to take advantage of being in a small group and see if you can get some one on one help. (he struggled a bit) He was never really bothered.

However, back when I went to school, we had fundraisers to pay for residential trips. If 10th grade had a trip planned then that group raised money, teachers got involved too. It didn't cost the school or the parents any money and the students earned the trip and learned something valuable along the way.

dreambirdie

dont feel guilty!! you did what you had to do. you daughters sound lovely and very mature aswell.

i never went on any school trips, there was just no way our family could have afforded it! and the prices were usually extorionate (sp?) i never felt left out or anything, and going to class with only a few people in was always fun. they never made us do any proper school work and usually had lots of activities for us to do so i didnt mind.

meeps

we had a whale of a time at school when the rest of the year were on the french trip- a whole day making pottery with the headmaster, making afternoon tea and cakes for the teachers and being allowed in the staffroom to share it..