Cancelled school trip

mgdavid

Janepig wrote: »

Absolutely Pol, I wouldn't want to take a bunch of kids out at the best of times! I'd be on pins!

I'm not someone who complains about teachers on school trips, I'm grateful to them taking my children away!! In the nicest possible way of course!

Jx

If I was in your position I'd be volunteering to go in place of a teacher. Tap up a few more committed and concerned parents, too.

pollypenny

mgdavid wrote: »

If I was in your position I'd be volunteering to go in place of a teacher. Tap up a few more committed and concerned parents, too.

Parents would not be insured, nor would many have CRB checks.

GobbledyGook

I would go, I think it's likely to be as safe now as it'll ever be with the high state of alert and the number of police on the streets.

However, I wouldn't be one of the volunteers in the school saying I'd take the kids. There are endless risk assessments as it is for trips, doubled for trips abroad and so I can only imagine the phone calls/paperwork the teachers are dealing with at the moment.

As was said further up the thread - can you imagine the press if anything happens? Even if the kids were caught up in a scare that turned out to be absolutely nothing it'd be everywhere because one of the kids would Tweet or Facebook it and parents would panic...

I wouldn't want to be the teacher or head teacher who signed off on this one. One incident, no matter how minor or unconnected to current events could be your career if it was hyped up enough by the press/parents/outraged public.

peachyprice

pollypenny wrote: »

It wouldn't stop me either. But it would stop me taking a party of school kids.

This exactly.

What we would all do with our own children can't be compared to what we are willing to do with a group of other people's children.

If a parent chooses to go to Paris and something happens it's for the family to live with, if a school takes children to Paris and something happens it will be for those teacher and that school to live with, the parents will become the 'victims' even if though they they their children go.

Janepig, could the school make arrangements for parents who want their children to go to travel independently and meet with the teachers to want to go and are willing to travel independently? Then it isn't a school trip.

Yolina

That trip was planned for mid-February, right? I'd kind of understand the school not wanting the responsibility if they were due to travel this week but in over a month time?!

lazer

I remember back in 2005 we were booked to go a London abut a month after the underground bombings, it was a group of 6 of us. 5 of us were fine about going, one girl was really nervous, the ironic thing was she worked in the Europa Hotel in Belfast (Most bombed hotel in Europe!).
There is a risk of something happening every time you step out your front door, the risk of actually getting caught up in anything in Paris is minimal. There is probably just a much risk of something happening in your home city.


In saying that the teachers are responsible for other's safety, and they need to be confident they can look after your children, if they are nervous about going do you really want them looking after your children?

Gavin83

I have a question for you. If the school decided to continue with the trip, the choir go and while on the trip the entire group is murdered by terrorists would you in any way blame the school for allowing the trip to go ahead?

The school need to access the risks and have clearly decided that the risk is too great at the moment. Personally I think theres more risk of an incident in London than Paris at the moment but it's still their call.

silvercar

peachyprice wrote: »

This exactly.

What we would all do with our own children can't be compared to what we are willing to do with a group of other people's children.

If a parent chooses to go to Paris and something happens it's for the family to live with, if a school takes children to Paris and something happens it will be for those teacher and that school to live with, the parents will become the 'victims' even if though they they their children go.

I totally disagree with this. The events have happened. Whether parents now let their children join a trip to a city where two terrorist activities have taken place is their decision to make.

Having made the decision, it would be wrong to them blame the school for anything that happens.

The timing means it is totally different to a situation where the attrocities happened when the children were already in Paris and the school had to make a decision on whether to bring the children home early.

silvercar

Gavin83 wrote: »

I have a question for you. If the school decided to continue with the trip, the choir go and while on the trip the entire group is murdered by terrorists would you in any way blame the school for allowing the trip to go ahead?

No. Parents, aware of recent events have to make a decision for themselves.

The school need to access the risks and have clearly decided that the risk is too great at the moment. Personally I think theres more risk of an incident in London than Paris at the moment but it's still their call.

If the trip is cancelled, and some of the children end up floating around London in a less organised manner, they could find themselves more at risk!

pogofish

Yolina wrote: »

The millions who took to the streets yesterday back home in France say otherwise

And this seems to have gone right over the heads of these teachers.