School has cancelled trip but said they won't refund

m0bov

Was the money paid directly to a company or was it the school? If it was the school, then a letter before action is the first step as they have broken the contract and failed to provide the trip. They should be given 7 days. Keep the letter short and to the point, don't let it get emotional, just set out what you want and why you think you are entitled to it.

NorthernLassie

steampowered wrote: »

Personally, I would let this one go.

I think it is a bit silly that the school cancelled the trip. But it is also understandable, especially if parents expressed concern.

Any money you claim won't be reimbursed by the government. It will be coming directly out of that school's budgets.

If you and other parents push hard for refunds in cases like this, the school will be less likely to organise school trips in future. The school simply won't approve school trips if they result in money coming out of the school's budget.

I think that is the argument the school will use, but whilst some parents had withdrawn their children prior to the cancelation there were still a substantial group who wanted to go. Whilst nobody is suggesting the ones who didn't want to go should have been pressured to do so, I think the school needed to either let the trip go ahead for the ones who wanted to go or accept that they are liable for refunding them.

It is a horrible situation to be in and I don't want there to be any acrimony between the school and myself but the trip was well over £300, that's a lot of money to write off when I didn't want the trip to be cancelled - my child had been desperate to go.

I think it would be very unfair of the school to try and pressure parents not to seek a refund (if we are legally entitled to do so) by using arguments about school finances or that it would jeopardise future trips.

As I said it's a difficult situation to be in but not one of our making.:(

The money had all been paid directly to the school rather than a third party provider.

daytona0

How many similar attacks have taken place in schools?

1? or 2? or more?

Silly irrational thinking. As long as the safeguarding is in place, the school have nothing to worry about. If the kids end up in a terrorist attack through no fault of the school/kids then there is no legitimate backlash!

CardinalWolsey

As a former chair of governors of a primary school, my advice would be to go straight in with an LBA. Don't follow the complaints procedure - you are not complaining, you are requesting that the school refund monies that you are rightly due. Address this to the head teacher, but copy in the chair of governors and the clerk to the governors. Keep it concise and factual. You are not asking if it would be possible to receive a refund, you are requiring it due to the school's cancellation.

In a situation such as this, I cannot believe the head teacher would not have spoken with the chair of governors to reach a mutual decision, but in any event the buck stops with the governing body. It could potentially be argued that the governors are personally liable in this scenario (although they should have insurance in place to cover their liability).

See https://www.brownejacobson.com/education/training-and-resources/guides/2012/09/risks-and-responsibilities-of-a-governor

cattie

steampowered wrote: »

Personally, I would let this one go.

I think it is a bit silly that the school cancelled the trip. But it is also understandable, especially if parents expressed concern.

Any money you claim won't be reimbursed by the government. It will be coming directly out of that school's budgets.

If you and other parents push hard for refunds in cases like this, the school will be less likely to organise school trips in future. The school simply won't approve school trips if they result in money coming out of the school's budget.

£300 is more than a weeks earnings/income in many parents case & probably would have made sacrifices to gather the money together for the trip. They likely wouldn't be interested in signing up for future trips anyway having suffered the cancellation of this trip with no real need. They are entitled to try to recoup the money they have paid.

CardinalWolsey

NorthernLassie wrote: »

So my question is can the school legally refuse to provide refunds? Also is there anything I can do if they continue to refuse (beyond following the schools procedures to make a complaint), do I have any further redress?

@NorthernLassie - please do keep the forum updated with progress, particularly if you get movement before the end of the school year.

NorthernLassie

Hi everyone,
Well, as advised a group of us did get together and sent a letter asking for a refund and on Friday we had a letter home saying that having sought legal advice the school had been informed that they were obliged to provide everyone with refunds (even those who'd withdrawn their kids prior to cancellation which I was really pleased with as ultimately this proved irrelevant as the school cancelled the trip anyway). The tone of the letter was rather grudging and suggested that we may want to donate our refund cheques to the school but overall I pleased with the outcome as all the parents now have the option of taking the refund or not as they choose. In lots of ways the school is brilliant and I'm very grateful to the teachers for the work they do with the kids, I think this situation has been mishandled but hopefully things can move forwards now. Thanks for all the advice and good luck to everyone in a similar situation.

maisie_cat

NorthernLassie wrote: »

Hi everyone,
Well, as advised a group of us did get together and sent a letter asking for a refund and on Friday we had a letter home saying that having sought legal advice the school had been informed that they were obliged to provide everyone with refunds (even those who'd withdrawn their kids prior to cancellation which I was really pleased with as ultimately this proved irrelevant as the school cancelled the trip anyway). The tone of the letter was rather grudging and suggested that we may want to donate our refund cheques to the school but overall I pleased with the outcome as all the parents now have the option of taking the refund or not as they choose. In lots of ways the school is brilliant and I'm very grateful to the teachers for the work they do with the kids, I think this situation has been mishandled but hopefully things can move forwards now. Thanks for all the advice and good luck to everyone in a similar situation.

Well done, but expect the school to reduce or simply stop school trips because they simply cannot afford the risk

hollydays

If the school goes against the advice of the government they have upped the risk of losing money themselves

Cherryscone

steampowered wrote: »

Personally, I would let this one go.

I think it is a bit silly that the school cancelled the trip. But it is also understandable, especially if parents expressed concern.

Any money you claim won't be reimbursed by the government. It will be coming directly out of that school's budgets.

If you and other parents push hard for refunds in cases like this, the school will be less likely to organise school trips in future. The school simply won't approve school trips if they result in money coming out of the school's budget.

A lot of Parents scrimp and save to send their Child on School Trips £300 is a Lot of Money to some Myself Included .