Cancelled school trip

Jagraf

Very difficult situation, if that had been me as the school I would have got the parents to decide on the basis that if they still wanted it to go ahead then they would have to staff it. Otherwise cancel and lose deposit. It is the parents who are paying for it after all, so they should make the decision, and Staff it, if other teachers pull out.

whitesatin

Jagraf wrote: »

Very difficult situation, if that had been me as the school I would have got the parents to decide on the basis that if they still wanted it to go ahead then they would have to staff it. Otherwise cancel and lose deposit. It is the parents who are paying for it after all, so they should make the decision, and Staff it, if other teachers pull out.

Yes, and I would love to know what the result of that would be!

One cancelled trip, no doubt.......

pollypenny

Jagraf wrote: »

Very difficult situation, if that had been me as the school I would have got the parents to decide on the basis that if they still wanted it to go ahead then they would have to staff it. Otherwise cancel and lose deposit. It is the parents who are paying for it after all, so they should make the decision, and Staff it, if other teachers pull out.

That would mean that parent volunteers would have to have CRB checks, as well as a good proportion of them having good French.

I doubt whether other parents would be happy to have non-teachers, whom they and the pupils are unlikely to know in charge.

whitesatin

When my daughter was a teenager, I took her to Greece for two weeks, on holiday. She asked if 3 of her friends could also come along. Being a teacher and well used to teenagers, I thought that would be fine. The girls were well behaved but I can honestly say that I did not relax for the two weeks we were away. It is a very big responsibility taking youngsters abroad and not one that I would want to do these days with all that is going on.

maman

Jagraf wrote: »

Very difficult situation, if that had been me as the school I would have got the parents to decide on the basis that if they still wanted it to go ahead then they would have to staff it. Otherwise cancel and lose deposit. It is the parents who are paying for it after all, so they should make the decision, and Staff it, if other teachers pull out.

There's no way a school would take responsibility for running a trip which was staffed by parents. If that happened it would in effect become a private trip which those parents (foolish enough IMO) to run it would have to take full responsibility for.


I agree with whitesatin that it just wouldn't happen.

callum9999

Poppy9 wrote: »

No chip whatsoever and I'm proud to be a public servant but people think nothing of telling you to your face what they think about your job. Just look at all the digs at Teachers on this thread "supposedly educated people". OH was Police Officer and common event on being introduced to someone and them asking what job you did to say "oh I hate the Police................... but I don't mean you":D And my position has never been about PR just about LEGAL means for the school to reimburse parents.

So you are happy for the law to apply to a company in admin. but not happy for the law to apply when it comes to schools making discretionary payments.

I never said it was difficult for the school to pay I said it was illegal for the school to make the payment. The school being the entity not the Head who could use his personal monies!

Perhaps other schools had insurance that covered them but as I said above this is the only case I've heard about.

You CLEARLY have a chip on your shoulder. Protest as much as you like, it's blindingly obvious. You're still showing it now! People are insulting the teachers for their actions and NOT because they're teachers.

Lie - you said it was difficult and even wrote out scenarios where they could pay it back.

Though regardless, my point has always been that the school is in the wrong and shouldn't have created a scenario where parents lose money in the first place (or how you'll presumably interpret it, "ALL PUBLIC SECTOR WORKERS ARE SCUM!!!!!").

Martok

Martok wrote: »

My granddaughters school trip to Paris in February has been cancelled by the school because of recent events. It was cancelled without any consultation with the parents and we received a letter from the school saying an alternative holiday has been booked in the UK. It was a very short letter with a tear off reply slip giving 2 choices:

a. I accept the loss of my deposit of £110 and would appreciate a refund on the remaining balance paid to date.

b. I would like my child to attend the residential at Caythorpe Park. Please transfer my full balance paid to date to this trip.

The trip was booked through PGL and when I spoke to them they confirmed that they will not refund deposits for trips scheduled for February 2016. Other than this they declined to speak to me as their contract is with the school not with me.

We booked and paid for a school trip to France to give my granddaughter a chance to visit the sites of Paris not for a wet week in the UK.

My granddaughter has told us that she does not want to go on the alternative trip - she did a weeks residence holiday just recently.

Could anyone tell me exactly were we the parents and guardians stand in this situation? Are the school obliged to refund the full amount as they cancelled not us?

Thank you for all your replies, some of you are obviously very interested in having an update and some seem to have gone slightly off thread hence the reason for quoting myself in this reply. So to answer some of your questions, ask others and clear up a few points in no particular order:

This is a consumer site and I asked a consumer question.

At no point have I used the words cowardly teacher.

At no point have I said the school were wrong to cancel.

The trip was in term time.

If PGL are so experienced in this field why didn’t they provide insurance for this eventuality and if they did why didn’t the school take it up? That’s a rhetorical question I know you can’t answer it.

With regard to non-refundable deposits I have booked a holiday to the Algarve next year with a non-refundable deposit if I cancel, not if they cancel.

It is an academy and is part of the Schools Partnership Trust – who are now involved.

So to a summary of the last two weeks:

Very little contact on the schools part despite many parents contacting them.

No meetings arranged with parents.

A letter from the school 27 November asking for the final payment for the trip to France (not the alternative one).

A letter on the 30 November stating the trip was cancelled as it was no longer viable because of the teachers views and some parents withdrawing. This came with a slip with two choices, cancel and lose the deposit or transfer to the cold wet trip in the UK. I deleted these options and politely informed them I would be seeking a full refund including deposit.

A text message today saying refunds less the deposit would be available to collect from reception from 08:45 tomorrow. I didn’t ask for a refund!!

A phone call today from the School Partnership Trust saying a meeting had been held (it was with the head but they wouldn’t confirm that) and they would hope that the school will be arranging a meeting with parents next week. They did ask me if I minded them informing the head that I had been in contact with them, I said that was OK by me.

So in a nutshell that’s it apart from me to reiterate that I asked a question from a consumers point of view, this isn’t a personal dig at anyone.

jrtfan

Martok wrote: »

Thank you for all your replies, some of you are obviously very interested in having an update and some seem to have gone slightly off thread hence the reason for quoting myself in this reply. So to answer some of your questions, ask others and clear up a few points in no particular order:

This is a consumer site and I asked a consumer question.

At no point have I used the words cowardly teacher.

At no point have I said the school were wrong to cancel.

The trip was in term time.

If PGL are so experienced in this field why didn’t they provide insurance for this eventuality and if they did why didn’t the school take it up? That’s a rhetorical question I know you can’t answer it.

With regard to non-refundable deposits I have booked a holiday to the Algarve next year with a non-refundable deposit if I cancel, not if they cancel.

It is an academy and is part of the Schools Partnership Trust – who are now involved.

So to a summary of the last two weeks:

Very little contact on the schools part despite many parents contacting them.

No meetings arranged with parents.

A letter from the school 27 November asking for the final payment for the trip to France (not the alternative one).

A letter on the 30 November stating the trip was cancelled as it was no longer viable because of the teachers views and some parents withdrawing. This came with a slip with two choices, cancel and lose the deposit or transfer to the cold wet trip in the UK. I deleted these options and politely informed them I would be seeking a full refund including deposit.

A text message today saying refunds less the deposit would be available to collect from reception from 08:45 tomorrow. I didn’t ask for a refund!!

A phone call today from the School Partnership Trust saying a meeting had been held (it was with the head but they wouldn’t confirm that) and they would hope that the school will be arranging a meeting with parents next week. They did ask me if I minded them informing the head that I had been in contact with them, I said that was OK by me.

So in a nutshell that’s it apart from me to reiterate that I asked a question from a consumers point of view, this isn’t a personal dig at anyone.

OP, thank you for the update and I'm sorry to hear that you're no closer to getting an answer now, than you were a couple of weeks ago.

Have you done any research yourself meanwhile on PGL's website? Just for your own interest, I mean, so that you have some facts to hand rather than having to wait for the school to feed bits and pieces through to you? Although, from what you've said it does sound as though things might be taking a different route, if the School Partnership Trust has taken an interest.

PGL's booking T&Cs, their insurance documents and so on are accessible to view, but maybe you've already found them yourself?

My son decided he didn't want to go on his school trip to France (booked through PGL also) days before the final payment was due, so I cancelled. It saved me from having to make the last £80-odd payment to them, but I lost the £200 I had already paid. It was a completely different scenario to the one you find yourself in now, of course, because the cancellation in our case was down to us; whereas you've had no say in the matter. But I do know how frustrating it feels to lose a significant sum of money this way, especially given that the cancellation took place several months before the trip was due to happen. Even holiday companies will refund some of the payments pro rata, depending upon how long is left until the departure date, so it does seem very unfair that PGL operates a different policy.

Hope you will have some luck soon.

peachyprice

Martok wrote: »

If PGL are so experienced in this field why didn’t they provide insurance for this eventuality and if they did why didn’t the school take it up? That’s a rhetorical question I know you can’t answer it.

I do find the insurance situation very peculiar. My children have been on a fair few PGL trips with both school and Brownies/Guides, the insurance element has always been highlighted on the booking as a compulsory cost. ie. Cost of trip £200, compulsory insurance £8, total £208, and a copy of the insurance policy given to us.

It seems this could have been a choice the school made, if I were you I would want to know a) why/how they came to not take up the insurance offered and b) why they didn't tell parents there was no insurance in place so that they could make their own arrangements.

jrtfan

The OP's latest post is the first time they've questioned the insurance or lack of it, I think. At a guess, I'd say that either the school must have stated to the parents meanwhile that they'd chosen not to take up any insurance, or they've said the deposits aren't covered by insurance and the OP's taken this to mean none was taken out. I might be completely wrong, of course.

I had a read through the documentation on PGL's website a while back (the T&Cs and Insurance documents pertaining to French cultural visits, which I assume this trip was going to be). An insurance/legal professional would be able to interpret the information properly but I am neither of these.

To me, it seemed that insurance is included for all visits by UK schools and this takes effect as soon as PGL receive the money for the deposits.

The way I read it, the insurance extends to individuals as well as to the group and it might cover individual cancellations before the trip begins, but I think the grounds for cancelling are fairly specific. There was a section covering exclusions of course and I believe Terrorism (or the threat of this) might have been amongst these.

It didn't occur to me to check for anything about opting out of the insurance.

What you've said regarding your receipt of an insurance document in the past, peachyprice, rings a bell - there was another piece of documentation for Group Leaders and in this was mentioned that a copy of the insurance should be given to all parents. You're right, it does seem peculiar that the OP hasn't received anything like this from the school. It's odd that the school appears to be so reticent about sharing information, too.