School Changing Trip Destination 3 days before travel

tooldle

Often with activities type trips, the slot for each school is longstanding over many many years. Some will even be booking now for dates for trips several years ahead.
I'm originally from Portsmouth, so can say with certainty, the Isle of Wight festival took place on August bank holiday weekend for many many years. For a while there was no festival at all. It is only in recent years that it has restarted, and then as a single day event, rising to two days and them three days.
Activities centers are a business. It is unfair to expect them not to trade just because the festival is on.

rach_k

It would be disappointing but I think the priority would be helping the children get excited about the new location. They'll have a good time wherever they go and it seems silly to let 'what could have been' affect that.

I probably would want to complain but there's absolutely no point complaining without knowing where the actual problem lay. If it wasn't the school's fault, what good will it do to complain to them? I would probably get together with the other parents and either send a letter or a representative to the head teacher/trip organiser to ask (calmly!) what the problem was. If it was the coach operator, complain to them! You can ask if there was anything the school could have done to avoid the problem (perhaps asking for written confirmations and double checking every booking) but I wouldn't put that as a complaint, just comments that you'd like them to take on board for next year. Also consider what you want to do if it is the school's fault - say it was the school secretary who didn't make a call, what exactly do you expect her or the school to do? Sack her, pay for all of your trips out of money that might otherwise be used for books? No point complaining unless you have an idea what you would like as an outcome (and I'd suggest that your desired outcome for the school should be along the lines of 'checking bookings' rather than sacking or offering cash!). If it's the coach operator, feel free to go for the throat/purse - they're a business after all, the school isn't.

Spendless

Say_who? wrote: »

As it is she was encouraged to watch 'the hunger games' (12 rating) on the ferry and witnessed teaching staff drinking alcohol.

Hunger Games at the cinema was a 12A . A stands for adult, so an under 12 can watch as long as they are accompanied by an adult. A child under 12 wouldn't be allowed in alone. When the film goes to dvd format, it becomes a 12. This is so an under 12 can't buy and watch the film on their own.

I'm unsure if you mean went to the on-board cinema or not, in which case there should have been an accompanying adult with them.

Do you mean the teachers drinking alcohol, were falling around legless, or had a glass of wine with their meal?

OP- I too would be upset if I missed waving my child off on a trip, daft but in my mind it'd miff me in the same way having to miss them run at sports day, or not being able to see their Xmasconcert. But I'm aware that I 'own' that emotion. My eldest wouldn't have cared, youngest would have been understanding, though disappointed. You certainly won't be the only parent not able to make it. When my yr6 child did her residential in the Autumn term, there were kids making their way to school with their own luggage as parents hadn't been able to drop them off, Re your course, how much of it would you miss by going in late. If it's just a short time which will be spent filing our registration forms could you contact the course tutor and arrange to fill them in in advance, or can you ask how much they'd charge to move the course to a different date rather than cancel and re-book?

Ultimately it would depend on the cost of the course and how beneficial it would be to me, for me to make my decision about whether to attend or not.

duchy

Festivals are very trendy at the moment - another couple of years and they won't be. The school has obviously built up a relationship with the centre over the years and felt the disadvantages of festival week outweighed the disadvanatages.

Knowing the kids would be travelling on ferries with a crowd of people leaving a festival after partying hard and the likely presence of drink or drugs or the aftereffects of them -I'd be thrilled the trip had been relocated to Norfolk !

mandragora_2

Please tell me he won't be coming up to the secondary school I work at in September. He sounds fine. You, on the other hand...http://inreferencetomurder.typepad.com/.a/6a00e009989f8f883301287653a4a9970c-pi

GobbledyGook

It's hardly surprising the school continued going to IOW, despite the issues, with the way the Norfolk venue seems to be hated by the parents.

POPPYOSCAR

GobbledyGook wrote: »

It's hardly surprising the school continued going to IOW, despite the issues, with the way the Norfolk venue seems to be hated by the parents.

It does seem that the IOW is the favoured place to go.


At our primary they always booked the IOW but one year they were late booking and could not get in and so went elsewhere.

The staff did say that it was not as good and ever since they have made sure they booked early enough.

My two were fortunate to go in the years that did go to the IOW and they had a fantastic time, so much so, they did not want to come home!

Part of the fun was travelling on the ferry.

Idiophreak

mossstitchmama wrote: »

I am sure they will have a good time no matter what. I am just curious as to how many of you would accept a change of destination on a holiday you had booked eight months in advance without any complaints?

My wife organises these kinds of things for her school. If anything goes wrong (and things do, that's life), she gets incredibly upset about it - she wants the children to have the best time she can manage and hates it when other people stop that from happening.

People complaining to her just piles on the misery, really...it doesn't actually achieve anything...if there was anything she could actually do to put things right, she'd have done it. Changing venue / destination is a very last resort.

caprikid1

"If there is somewhere more suitable, please feel free to move it."

Mumsnet ?

onlyroz

I'm not completely sure I understand the problem - is it that the destination has changed, or that you can't get to wave off your child? If it's the former then I don't see the problem unless the new destination is a significant downgrade from the original. If it's the latter then ... to be blunt ... get a grip!!!

My son went on his first residential trip (in year 4) just before half term. We dropped him off at 8:40, said goodbye, and let the teachers get on with it. Presumably they had registration and left at some time after 9. No need to be waving hankies tearily as the bus rounds the corner.