School Trip rip-offs : A DISGRACE

PabloNeruda

The following is an excerpt from a letter my daughter brought home from school....

Dear Parent/Guardian,

As part of the integrated cirriculum students in year 8 spend a great deal of time studying science in module 2, as part of this model I feel it would benefit students immensely if they were able to visit the British History Museum on Monday 2oth November '06. We will be traveling (sic)by coach to the museum in Kensington, London.

Although every effort has been made to keep costs to a minimum, if the trip is to run, there is a voluntary contribution required from parents and carers. This is mainly to pay for transport to the British History Museum (sic). This contribution will be £15 and it will need to be paid by Friday 3rd November. If we do not receive this contribution, it is unlikely that we will be able to go ahead with this important visit.

etc etc etc.......




I think this letter is an absolute disgrace for a number of reasons

1) The school can't even get the name of the museum right.
2) The teacher seems unable to spell
3) £15 for a 20 mile trip ??????? (I live on the London/Essex border). I am absolutely certain, having had these kind of letters before, that such trips are used solely for fundraising purposes for the school. How much does a 50-seater coach cost to hire for the day??? I have travelled on trips to the north of England in privately-hired coaches with friends and had to pay less than £15!!! There are no other costs besides the congestion charge, and the museum is FREE.
4) The parent is put in a difficult position and made to feel guilty should they refuse to pay. This is a lot of money for some people
5) The wording of the letter. The contribution requested is clearly not 'voluntary'

The simple fact is I cannot afford it. I will return the slip saying that I wish her to go, but that I'm not going to voluntarily contribute £15. I will then see if my daughter is excluded from this trip, and boy there will be trouble if she is.


Any thoughts?

Scarlett1

yes I think £15 is pushing it, if they would have asked for £5 then yes fair enough, I have travelled up to london recently off peak £7 and paid £1 for DD's ticket, that £8 for 2 people so I doubt they can justify £15, I would be inclined to take her yourself

teresa13

I completely agree, a friend of mine who has twins has just received a similar letter, £15 each for a trip that is apx 10 miles away into a museum that has free entry !!! To add insult to injury the letter stated that if your child was in receipt of school meals benefit thay could have a free packed lunch. I do believe that support should be given to those who need it most, but should other families be paying over the odds, to subsidise teachers and other childrens charges for school trips.

PabloNeruda

It's very obviously to me that it's simply a clandestine way of raising funds for the school. If that's the case, why not just launch an open appeal for money? Do not use emotional blackmail.

I shall also be going to my local train station later to find out how much a group booking for kids is, and then ask the school why this option was not put forward. Cheaper and GREENER.

Scarlett1

PabloNeruda wrote:

It's very obviously to me that it's simply a clandestine way of raising funds for the school. If that's the case, why not just launch an open appeal for money? Do not use emotional blackmail.

I shall also be going to my local train station later to find out how much a group booking for kids is, and then ask the school why this option was not put forward. Cheaper and GREENER.

if you are on the C2C go on their website, I had to look at train prices recently and im sure there is a school discount price

silvercar

Doubt its a way of raising money for the school. More likely the price is set at a level necessary so that those that pay will subsidise those that refuse or can't. They will have calculated the total cost and estimated the number of children whose parents are likely to contribute.

Don't forget to include the cost of insurance and the cost of employing cover to teach the classes that won't have a teacher because their teacher is accompanying the trip.

Raspberry_Swirl

i organised a trip to boulogne, france for the day recently. cost included hire of a 49 seater coach and shuttle over to calais all for £25 per person.

so £15 seems rather a lot.

sea-sidelady

silvercar wrote:

Doubt its a way of raising money for the school. More likely the price is set at a level necessary so that those that pay will subsidise those that refuse or can't. They will have calculated the total cost and estimated the number of children whose parents are likely to contribute.

Don't forget to include the cost of insurance and the cost of employing cover to teach the classes that won't have a teacher because their teacher is accompanying the trip.

Our school relies on parent helpers for school trips so they cant even use that as an excuse.

pboae

There will be coach costs, parking costs, congestion charge, teacher's wages, insurance for teachers, helpers and children. Plus, although the museum itself is free, most museums charge for workshops etc for schools, typically a few pound per child. It can also sometimes work out cheaper to pay for coach hire than to pay the extra insurance premiums to use public transport. Then they have to add on a surcharge to cover the people who won't or can't pay. So if the trip is going to cost £10 per pupil, but they expect 1/3rd not to pay, they'll ask for £15.

The payments are voluntary in that they cannot force you to pay it. But if too many people refuse to pay they will cancel the trip.

It's extremely unlikely that they are using it for fundraising. All their income has to be accounted for at audit, just like any other organisation. If they were making large profits on trips like this, the school governors would be asking questions (at least they ought to, if they are doing their job properly).

dud52221

Sorry if i'm going off the track a little but we are in the same position and it makes my blood boil. My daughter who is a 10 yrs has been sent a letter exactly the same as the OP to visit a museum in Bham some 8 miles from school (Which they went to about 2 years ago) the school is asking for a voluntary contribution of £10.50 per child (The museum state the entry fee is £3.25 fo groups of 10 or more, so £7.25 coach fare)....i'm thinking like everyone else this is just a quick money making exercise by the school combined with those who refuse or allegdly can't pay. Whilst i do not have a problem with subsidsing those with genuine financial difficulties - why is it that they always rely on the same parents time and time again (And we are paying for Adventure week for next May a mere snip at £265 for 5 days!!)...sorry for going on, but i do feel better now!

jane45

Why should we be charged a third extra than the actual cost to cover the children that parents dont pay? Surely the cost should be worked out per child and not per how many they think may pay. I bet the ones that dont pay arent the ones that cant afford to pay.

Jane