How do you feel about expensive foreign school trips?

FBaby

I too have a real issue with this. I can't understand how on one hand, this country is obsessed with term-time holiday and how families should forfeit holiday trips if they can't afford it during school holidays, yet encourage expensive school trips. Surely family holidays with parents and siblings are more valuable than school trips with friends they will never see again, or those who remain friends, they will have many other opportunities to go on the holiday of their choice together.

Thankfully, kids at my DD school don't seem that bothered about these trips. There is a trip arranged the last week of term, not as expensive, but still £300. She knew that I was planning a nice trip for us these past holidays and was absolutely fine not going on that trip. I think most of her friends are not going for the exact same reason. She loved our family holiday, and the one we are going on this summer, she will be taking her best friend with her anyway.

I have been wanting to go to America as well as skiing with my family for years. When I can finally afford it, it will be so all of us can go together, not so that they can go with the school and if I have to take them out of school for it, well just as they do with these trips, I will do the same!

mum26

One of my tribe went to Italy this year for 5 days for £145 (plus 50 Euro spending money and the cost of her passport), she had a whale of a time.

This was a trip for year 4 children organised as a sort of school exchange, a group of Italian children came here earlier in the year, "camped" at our school with a group of children from our school (some going on the return Italian trip, others not, cost £50 for our children including trips to town, London, London Eye, all food, trip to Cambridge etc) then the same happened in Italy with day trips and experience of their school and lessons etc. She had a wonderful time, her twin brother didn't want to go but even if they both had gone it would have been a bearable cost, especially since we had all the info in good time. I cannot imagine spending £2500 or so for two children to go skiing for a week!

We had to turn down a Barcelona trip for another daughter a few years ago as it was over £500 plus spending and meal money for three days, most of it seemingly spent on a coach travelling from one museum to another. So for me it depends on the organisation and the real benefits of the trip, i'm also fed up of theme park trips where the coach doesn't leave until 9.30am for a 3 hour drive then the kids have to meet their teacher every hour and back on the coach at 3.30pm! This is nuts but was routinely how one school ran their trips, seemingly no clue about good value or getting the best out of the day. Thankfully we don't have children there anymore lol

zaksmum

My grandson went on a school ski trip at New Year. Cost his mum and dad well over £1200.

FBaby

I totally agree, it does depend on the costs and what you get from it. Some experience could not be shared with family and/or certainly not at the price offered. I would definitely be happy with an exchange trip with another school at under £150. This is totally different to a ski trip abroad, with little education to be gained from it more than what you could get doing the same with family, at 10 times the price.

FBaby

zaksmum wrote: »

My grandson went on a school ski trip at New Year. Cost his mum and dad well over £1200.

Thinking about this, it also very much depends on whether this is something that they could ever experience with their own family. I love skiing and would love to go and share this experience with my family, so would see this as a sacrifice.

However, I can understand that if it is something that a child would love to experience, will only have this opportunity to do so, and a ski trip to the family would be their idea of hell, then I can see how they would be prepared to pay for such a trip.

GwylimT

I think there great as for a variety of reasons a lot of children don't get the chance to have these experiences with their family. My oldest (now 19) went to Germany and France (combined trip) and to Kenya where he spend 14 days exploring and helping to build a school as part of fund raising that his school had carried out.

Wait until they get to uni, as part of his Geography course there are two modules that are purely field work based, the first is Spain which is £700 and the second is New Zealand where you are able to book your own flights and we are finding it will total £2500 which I think is quite reasonable as he will be there for 5 weeks.

While with a lot of sacrifices I can afford school trips, I do say now as due to having a disabled partner we just can't have family holidays abroad and without school trips they would be able to go abroad until they were adults.

BitterAndTwisted

School-trips costing nearly a grand or more? What planet are these schools on?

Loz01

I never went on the expensive school trips when I was at school, one because I didnt even want to go but mainly because I knew my Mum couldnt afford it! Our year went to Austria for a skiing trip and it was £900 plus everyone had to buy skiing outfits and hats etc as they werent available to borrow apparently. I think its ridiculous and if I ever have kids then I'd rather use £1200 to go on a family holiday together instead of throwing it at a week long trip for one.

thatlemming

I went skiing three times when I was at secondary school. Ours was only £400 quid though (to austria, salzburg) and I paid half of that from my paper round and Saturday job. We could rent school ski suits for £25 quid for the week, but me and my cousins picked up cheap stuff from mountain warehouse outlet, was less than £100 each all kitted out.

The three trips were honestly the best memories I have from back then, I've never had such a brilliant time, even though once we got lost on the way and spent 31 hours on the coach, ouch. Ours was a lot cheaper though, would have been ~5 years ago now.

Edit: both my parents and younger brother made it very clear they wouldn't step foot on a mountain with skis on, so we could never do it as a family haha.

pixo

I went to New York on a school trip and can honestly say I had the time of my life! I've no idea how much it cost but as you can imagine it can't of been cheap.