Cost / Number of school trips

bigmomma051204

My sons school have offered a skiing trip which is at a cost per child of £1099. It is for 5 days.

Suffice to say, he will not be going - when I asked how it was linked to his education, they gave me some waffle about team building and seeing other parts of the World.

He will be going on the 3 day PGL trip which is to Wiltshire ( :cool: ) at a cost of £270 and I begrudge that too lol, but at least it is vageuly more affordable!!

Don't feel guilty about not being able to afford the trips - as others have said, a majority can't either.... especially in a normal state school which I assume is where your child is? My son is at a state school, but we are on the edge of the Cotswolds and people are generally fairly affluent round here so can afford these kind of nonsense trips - apart from us LOL!

missbiggles1

Our lad went on several PGL trips, which were generally excellent, but he went independently so that we, both lecturers, could go away on our own at the same time!

They were also cheaper than going with the school with the added bonus that he met children from different backgrounds and different areas - much better!

Homeownertobe

bigmomma051204 wrote: »

My sons school have offered a skiing trip which is at a cost per child of £1099. It is for 5 days.

Suffice to say, he will not be going - when I asked how it was linked to his education, they gave me some waffle about team building and seeing other parts of the World.

Perhaps it's so those like your son can experience skiing down an actual mountain in actual snow rather than on a dry ski slope in Skegness (or some other dreary place!).

pinkshoes

What was the exact wording of the letter?

As a teacher, I know that we are not allowed to ask for money for trips that take place during term time. All letters state that a voluntary contribution of £X is requested to cover costs.

This document details what they can and cannot charge for:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/365929/charging_for_school_activities_-_October_2014.pdf

Saying that, if the majority of people do not pay the voluntary contribution, then the trip gets cancelled, as most schools do not have the funds to cover the cost of several kids.

Even our school ski trip cost is a voluntary contribution, and I was amazed at how many parents have requested their child to go but they are not willing to contribute.

Spendless

pinkshoes wrote: »

What was the exact wording of the letter?

As a teacher, I know that we are not allowed to ask for money for trips that take place during term time. All letters state that a voluntary contribution of £X is requested to cover costs.

This document details what they can and cannot charge for:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/365929/charging_for_school_activities_-_October_2014.pdf

Saying that, if the majority of people do not pay the voluntary contribution, then the trip gets cancelled, as most schools do not have the funds to cover the cost of several kids.

Even our school ski trip cost is a voluntary contribution, and I was amazed at how many parents have requested their child to go but they are not willing to contribute.

Is the ski trip going ahead, if parents aren't willing to contribute? I only ever come across the voluntary contribution wording on day trips at Primary school. This is the wording from the letter of my DD's year group school trip that I've just copied and pasted.

The cost of the visit will be £285 approximately, depending upon the number of participants and the final itinerary.

This will cover transport to and from the centre, three night’s accommodation and all food whilst there, instruction,entry fees and insurance.

Parents will have to make provision for pupils to have food on the journey to the Centre and on the journey back. We have a packed lunch provided on our return journey but pupils will need money to purchase food at tea time on the return journey.

mum2one

missbiggles1 wrote: »

You must have had an irony bypass when you posted this.;)

Sorry but is there a problem - as for my 40th that was 4 hrs ago situations do change

bigmomma051204

Homeownertobe wrote: »

Perhaps it's so those like your son can experience skiing down an actual mountain in actual snow rather than on a dry ski slope in Skegness (or some other dreary place!).

Unfortunately, whether the skiing is better or not does not enter into the equation. That amount of money is more than we spend on our annual family holiday - and as such, the snow could be made of ground up Unicorns horns and fairy dust for all I care, he will not be going!!

I can just about stomach trips abroad which they can vaguely link to a subject at school - but skiing is, lets be honest, just a jolly! On this particular trip, they don't even travel to local villages to try speaking the language, try new foods or learn about local culture. They stay on the complex, skiing and eating burgers, pizza and nuggets!

pinkshoes

Spendless wrote: »

Is the ski trip going ahead, if parents aren't willing to contribute?

It is going ahead. The trip was massively over subscribed, so it went to a ballot of all those who wanted to go. I assume that the majority drawn out the ballot were willing to pay, otherwise they would have cancelled. The school have to be fair, but if not enough pay then it cannot happen.

I do know of one kid on the list who I am quite sure would not be able to afford to pay, or at least not a lot, but he has now been kicked off due to bad behaviour.

All the school trip letters my son gets ask for a voluntary contribution.

mum2one

Homeownertobe wrote: »

I had a feeling the OP had posted about school trips before and I was right.

Back in June she posted about sending her daughter on a school trip to France. Obviously this single mum on benefits (though strangely then claims she has a contributing partner) can quite easily to afford to pay for these trips.

Shocking, isn't it?

If u call £5 a week in Csa money as a contributing partner - as there's no partner contributing or not - yes I did comment about trip to France as I think there expensive - I did go without / change things and her grandparents (my side) helped out

Loz01

I can't believe schools have the audacity to send out letter with trips over 1k!!!! A GRAND. Jesus. I don't even spend that on a holiday for myself and I'm 29. Im not a parent but no kid of mine would be going on a £1,200 trip to New York, sorry but I find that massively OTT.