The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: shygirl on June 28, 2013, 09:59:38 am
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how much do you expect to pay for your child's school trip?
my sons school trip next year is just shy of £800 - for a week in france. okay we do live in scotland but i do think thats a bit pricey?
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My eldest (11) had been at her new middle school for a week when we received a letter about a trip to, wait for it....NEW YORK!!! whaaaaaaaaat!? they wanted about £900. Its a long weekend.
I said to Milli "you do realise that we don't pay that for a whole family's camping for a week, don't you??" and she replied that she knew she wouldn't be going and would much rather spend a trip like that with family anyway!
They are expensive aren't they Shygirl? ELoise who is 10 is off on an activity weekend with school in July, I think we paid about £250 and it was over installments. Thing is, when you have a few children you have to do it for all or none.
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Quite ridiculous, I think - especially in this day and age, when lots of families are struggling to make ends meet as it is. It will just contribute to the "them and us" feeling at school - the haves and the have-nots. Very bad policy.
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If you look into the finer details its the insurance thats the killer cost for school trips due to our litigacious society who will sue at the mere hint of their little darlings stubbing a toe or breaking a finger nail ::)
My Godson has been to Iceland to look at volcanoes for a wek and that was in the £800 region. My niece is going camping with the girl guides for a week and thats just a touch under £300. Ouch.
Mandy :pig:
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how much do you expect to pay for your child's school trip?
my sons school trip next year is just shy of £800 - for a week in france. okay we do live in scotland but i do think thats a bit pricey?
I think that is very pricey for the destination and length of time, even with insurance costs.
I'm sure other parents will think the same.
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on a good note, my sons just joined the army cadets (which is free, including £500 worth of uniform). their weekends away are £10 and 2 week camps are £100 (which is travelling from aberdeenshire to liverpool). a slight difference.
£800 is extreme. i do wonder if the teachers are getting full pay and full board.
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Sad as it may sound, I am glad I only have the dogs - they don't bring letters home suggesting expensive trips abroad.
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Sad as it may sound, I am glad I only have the dogs - they don't bring letters home suggesting expensive trips abroad.
;D very true!!
I do agree about the 'them and us' vibes that can result from these trips. There is no way on earth my girls can be jetting off ski-ing with school or New York, nor for that matter would I actually feel happy with my 11 yr old being in the US so far away from me at that age! but those that are going are 'the elite'/
We always read through the letters and discuss what they will gain. The New York one was a trip to Empire state building and one to Broadway to see a play or something. milli said "where?!" - that kind of put that into perspective ;)
She has asked to go to Wales for a week, I think that one will be ok (yet to see letter) THis week alone though, its been a trip to a cow farm to learn about ice cream (a few £'s) then a trip to town on the bus (again £'s for the bus) today is a water park to do canoeing (£7) the zoo a few weeks back, not to mention this is only my eldest! the 2 middle ones had to fork out £3 each for a visiting theatre coming to school. It adds up. Yes, I chose to have 4 and we chose to have what we could afford but the school trips are a bit of an eye opener!
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:o ....well all I can say is glad my girls are grown up and can pay for their own trips.
I do remember the school holidays were always expensive, we used to pay in instalments for our children. I then worked at an upper school and went on tons of school trips myself...free of course :innocent:
May I add, its a great responsibility for teachers...and the public liability a big issue now I suppose......What I find interesting in, wages have not increased in proportion to the cost of living and as for taking children out on day trips :innocent: :innocent: ........its not on to make children feel they are missing out, they should plan cheaper school trips, I mean why do they have to go so far?
My eldest went on an expedition as a teenager but had to raise her own money for it, some £3,000, I helped her a lot and it was a fantastic experience and great that she had to find the money herself, we did all sorts of things such as apply for local funds, sponsored bean bath as the local factory was HP, raffles, collecting dressed up as Gorillas as she was going to work with them in Indonesia, sponsored clean ups, all manor or things and every penny was raised!!
Schools need to be a bit more realistic, I think parents should complain about the elitism :innocent:
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Some of the parents think they are elite :innocent: of course there's me in wellies and ripped jeans, lucky if I brush my hair most days ;D
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My neice went on a school trip to Paris this week. Left on Sunday night (had to leave the Highland show early!), got back on Thursday morning- £400 pounds. Mind you, they drove down to the euro tunnel, so might be why it was cheaper than the £800 quoted.
Beth
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It's a bit of a paradox, I think.
No doubt it's great for kids to experience all sorts of things - home and abroad. How do you do creative writing if you haven't experienced anything that inspires you? The ones from wealthy families probably do lots of these things anyway and the ones from poorer families (or those that don't care), who would benefit the most, can't (or won't) afford it.
When I worked for the Education service in Clackmannanshire, there were kids who lived in Alloa who has never been to Stirling (9 miles away, 10 minutes by train and free for kids). I worked with a lecturer at Falkirk College years ago who took his NC catering students to London every year - took them to The Dorchester for afternoon tea and stuff like that. He felt that if it inspired them to look past cooking burgers and raised their aspirations, it was worth it. It would have been cheaper to go to Gleneagles mind ;D
I think trips should be directly related to teaching and learning and should be free as part of the curriculum. It's not up to schools to provide holidays. Lots of businesses and organisations will host school visits. The transport is a bit of a killer so maybe parents should focus on fundraising to pay for that, then all are treated the same.
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that's exactly my thoughts Rosemary :thumbsup:
it's not just the trip cost it's the new outfits and spending money that's also required.........I would feel so guilty and that'sthat's not on
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Back in ancient times, when I was at school, we had one trip abroad in year 11. For us who had Latin as the second language, it was always Rome; for those who had French, naturally it was Paris. Can't say it helped any with my knowledge of Latin, but we certainly learned a lot about Roman culture! (And about the preference of Italian men for blonde girls... :innocent: ) Can't remember how much it cost, but it wasn't unaffordable. Nobody stayed home. I suppose insurance wasn't that much of a problem back then, either.
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Daughter has just come back from a two night activity holiday. It cost £109. Where we live people were complaining about the price of that so don't think many would pay £800 :o .
Daughter is at primary school still but is already saying that she will want to go on the trips abroad that are offered from High School. My son hasn't wanted to go .... bit of a home bird ;D but has said the trips are very expensive. We will have to see but you do have to be realistic in what you can afford and have already told my girl that she won't be able to go on them all ::) . You just get that guilty feeling :(
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We only got to go on the language exchange type ones, never on the ski trips or cruises. Parents could afford to and I did feel upset when my friends were going but they thought that jollies shouldn't be school trips, only educational things. Wouldn't mind but they never took me skiing or on a cruise in the holidays either :-DDDD
But the exchange ones were much cheaper cos you stayed with families, surely that would bring the cost down and be more educational?
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But the exchange ones were much cheaper cos you stayed with families, surely that would bring the cost down and be more educational?
In my view, the only way to learn about a different culture, and improve language skills!
Probably too difficult to organise, though.
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For a few weeks I have been thinking about a booking request for an exchange holiday, the women wanted me to take some, no idea how many, 14 year olds that were coming to the country on an educational trip, I said no almost straight away without much thought as we are full anyway, then, when I put the phone down I gave it some thought....now myself and my husband are CRB checked due to working with vulnerable people and children, we have them done as often as required BUT...we are a B&B and our guests are more often that not male and could be cereal child molesters for all I know :fc: , they are never a problem but if the house was full of 14 year olds, I certainly would worry.......then it occurred to me about abused children, wonder if any exchange students suffer at the hands of abusive families etc.....sorry to re steer the direction of the thread, I did think about posting it before, after my phone call........all sorts went through my head, may be my social work and youth work back ground :innocent:
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The way I know these trips, classes are "twinned" with another class in another country; similar in age etc. So that way each student stays with another student of that class. The kids would have been in contact for some time before the trip, as what we called pen friends - facebook friends these days! Some families may not be able to take on a student, others will be able to take two or three; but hardly anybody would be outside the confines of the class. Those families are known to the partner school. I think there would be a very small chance that anything criminal might happen. Nothing is 100% secure, of course.
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That was my view but the idea of putting them up in our B&B made me worry. Last night I saw the sentenced men who had been using very young girls in the sex trade, I did have knowledge of similar in my time in child protection, one of the girls was gang raped and had been to a guest house with different men 50 times, now we are very picky on who we have and no way would I have a young underage girl here share a room with any man!
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The way I know these trips, classes are "twinned" with another class in another country; similar in age etc. So that way each student stays with another student of that class. The kids would have been in contact for some time before the trip, as what we called pen friends - facebook friends these days! Some families may not be able to take on a student, others will be able to take two or three; but hardly anybody would be outside the confines of the class. Those families are known to the partner school. I think there would be a very small chance that anything criminal might happen. Nothing is 100% secure, of course.
That's right, and in our case the town we go to is our towns official twin town, so there are already links in place. You stayed with a pupil of the same age and sex: so while there might be a tiny risk of abuse, in reality when looking at 14 year olds for eg you might hope that that sort of thing might already have come to light re the family's own child.
No way would any one be sharing a room with anyone of the opposite sex or big age gap.
However the school trip we did to France at age 11, so younger, we stayed in a spartan hotel near Calais and were 2 or 3 to a room.All girls, all same age,
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My eldest is going to the WW1 war graves next month, only for 2 days so a lot of travelling but this is one trip I knew I had to find the money for.
Both my girls are in the Guides and their camps only cost £40 each for a whole week, they have a great time, learn loads and come home much better people.
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But the exchange ones were much cheaper cos you stayed with families, surely that would bring the cost down and be more educational?
In my view, the only way to learn about a different culture, and improve language skills!
Probably too difficult to organise, though.
my son doesnt even study french !
i remember the french exchange as kids but i never went as i was too shy.
my school trips were staying in hostels and lighthouses (portland bill) in britain, its a shame there isnt an alternatve, ie scotland or abroad - as aviemore isnt far away from us but its a different world. there is loads to do on our doorstep.
my son says he is fed up with being poor :innocent: - but £800 could pay for a really decent holiday for the whole family.
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Lachlanandmarcus the hotel you stayed in wasn't at Wissant nr Calais was it, that is where we went as 11 year olds.
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On a slightly different note, without wanting to worry anyone..many years ago, my daughter went on a school trip to Blackpool for a week. Near the end of the holiday, I had a phone call from her one night in tears because she was being picked on. I told her that I wanted to speak to one of the teachers but she said that all the teachers went in the bar in the evenings leaving the kids to see to themselves. I rang where they were staying (a holiday camp) and asked them to leave a message for one of the teachers and that it was vitally important......I never heard back.
When they got back from their trip, I went to meet Em from the coach and gave her friend a lift home too. I was then informed that during the day, the kids were taken to the rides etc in Blackpool and left on their own to do as they pleased for hours at a time. Now, these kids were only 13 at the time, girls and boys. Who knows who else prowling the area those days looking for vulnerable teenagers to abduct.
Needless to say, the following day, I was up at the school in front of the head teacher making a formal complaint against the teachers concerned. I understand that they were reprimanded and never allowed to go on school trips again. I wonder what else I could have done.
So, make sure when you sign that piece of paper, that your child is going to be properly supervised throughout the trip, and that you are always going to be able to contact them should it become necessary.
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I'm still bitter about spending £800 about 5 yrs ago for my daughter to go skiing, never got over it, really upset when they brought her back, I thought for £800 they'd keep her there, thought that was what I was paying for, since then she's cost me considerably more than £800, my advice would be to check the fine print, I should've, to avoid disappointment
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I'm still bitter about spending £800 about 5 yrs ago for my daughter to go skiing, never got over it, really upset when they brought her back, I thought for £800 they'd keep her there, thought that was what I was paying for, since then she's cost me considerably more than £800, my advice would be to check the fine print, I should've, to avoid disappointment
now that would be a wise investment :roflanim:
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'm still bitter about spending £800 about 5 yrs ago for my daughter to go skiing, never got over it, really upset when they brought her back, I thought for £800 they'd keep her there, thought that was what I was paying for, since then she's cost me considerably more than £800, my advice would be to check the fine print, I should've, to avoid disappointmentI
:roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim:
I used to love taking young people on residential trips and went off at least 4 x's a year, mostly in England with once a year sun sport holiday to the S of France, but always had my job in mind, we used to take it in turn, and depending on how many teachers -children, half would have the night shift roaming around checking on the pupils etc, while the other half of staff were allowed a little break,we could go to bed but were on call and not supposed to turn in or drink until it was safe, I never drank as people often think I am drunk anyway :innocent: During the day is was full on with all the pupils, never a break, me being who I am, ended up like a mum to them all, tears, tantrums and tiarias!!! I did have lots of fun though and loved it, I remember catching one lad crawling in to my daughters tent...they were over 16 but still ::) The stories I could tell :eyelashes: and the stories I did tell :innocent:
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I think schools need to join the real world and stop expecting parents to fork out for these expensive trips. Lots of parents struggle just to pay every day bills and cannot afford family holidays never mind £800 for a school trip. Its a disgrace.
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I had to complain to my children's primary school some years ago because they would organise educational trips and then send a letter home saying we are taking the children to ....... next Friday and need (say) £8 per child by next Monday. At that time we were very, very skint as our craft business was not doing well and had three children at the school. £24 (or whatever the total was) was often my week's entire food money. I said they should give us more notice and let us pay in instalments. They did start giving about three weeks' notice but still wanted the money in one go. When the entire school (around 20 kids) is going, it's nigh on impossible to tell your children that they can't go, especially when you know there are certain boys in the school who will give them a hard time about it.
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For "normal" school trips eg. a local castle , I don't think any child can be excluded from a visit because their parents can't afford to pay (or won't in some cases). By law I think the letter that comes home asks if you are willing to make a contribution and then states an amount. It may also say that the trip may not go ahead unless enough money comes into school. This was the case when I was teaching and that is a few years ago but would be surprised if this has changed.
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If you look into the finer details its the insurance thats the killer cost for school trips due to our litigacious society who will sue at the mere hint of their little darlings stubbing a toe or breaking a finger nail ::)
My Godson has been to Iceland to look at volcanoes for a wek and that was in the £800 region. My niece is going camping with the girl guides for a week and thats just a touch under £300. Ouch.
Mandy :pig:
The insurance doesn't cost that much - on a school policy it is only around £10 per child for a ski trip. It is the providers that charge the earth. And they don't always factor in enough staff places. However, it is litigation which puts prices up - we have to make sure things are very well staffed in case things go wrong - and then people will try to sue us for not taking enough staff.
I am the school educ. visits co-ordinator and for an overseas trip I like staffing to be around 10:1 plus a 'spare'. The 'spare' keeps the ratios manageable if one member of staff becomes incapacitated. Tour operators usually only include 1 staff member per 20 children! Therefore the cost of the extra staff has to be borne by the students. And if you have 32 children that still means at least 4 staff whilst the tour company is only funding for 1 in that case!! It's a pity the tour companies wouldn't at least pro-rata the cost based on the number of children. However, the costs of coaches and fuel is phenomenal now and that has caused a lot of these extortionate prices.
I have refused a couple of trips at my school that were over £500 as a lot of our intake come from quite a deprived area and often there are 3 or 4 siblings - I just don't think it's fair to put families under that pressure.
It is possible to do great trips more cheaply - I did an entire Duke of Edinburgh silver course last year for £120 per student - that was a local practise weekend and 4 days in the Peak District. The biggest cost was the mini-bus and fuel which was over £70 per student.
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For "normal" school trips eg. a local castle , I don't think any child can be excluded from a visit because their parents can't afford to pay (or won't in some cases). By law I think the letter that comes home asks if you are willing to make a contribution and then states an amount. It may also say that the trip may not go ahead unless enough money comes into school. This was the case when I was teaching and that is a few years ago but would be surprised if this has changed.
Yes - this is definitely still the same - however, it can be difficult and/or embarrassing for parents to have to say they can't pay.
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I think if it was today...i would ask my son if he wants to go a wave the other kids off.... no way would i pay that amount and i know my lad would have not expected me, he was taught the value of money...
some may think this is harsh, but children must learn that money really don't grow on trees
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Some parents from the school our girls used to go to didn't pay the 'voluntary contribution' twice and they were hauled into see the head and told in no uncertain terms that their children would miss out if they continued to do this. Like I say, this was the school our children USED to go to (its not one I'd recommend for many, many reasons!) today my 10 yr old has come home and said " guess what! I'm going to Bristol to a science lab!!" with this thread fresh in my mind I asked how much.....and she said "nothing, school is paying this one for us!" - yay! ;D
I agree with you john and helen - in fact, I've just sat down with my children to see how their ebay sales are going...they want new 'stuff', they are selling their unwanted things in order to pay. simples! I always buy uniform and neccessities but they are learning how to value hard earned cash :)
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Ooooo Plums ... think he/she would be way out of order doing that.
Well done your girls. My lad does the same and also jobs for neighbours who give him a bit of pocket money as a thank you. He also likes to buy things at farm sales and restore them a bit before selling them on. He bought a box of old tools a while ago for £2 and sold a drill that was in there for £38. ;D Some of our farming neighbours also give him things to clean up and sell. He loves it but you should see our garage and drive. ::)
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Good on him! I do like to see enterprise in youngsters!! I did have to put a stop to my 9 year old pinchin my handmade lip balms and selling them on the quiet at school though!!
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Lachlanandmarcus the hotel you stayed in wasn't at Wissant nr Calais was it, that is where we went as 11 year olds.
Yes!! At Wissant!!! What are the chances of that eh !! It was very French spartan!
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on a good note, my sons just joined the army cadets (which is free, including £500 worth of uniform). their weekends away are £10 and 2 week camps are £100 (which is travelling from aberdeenshire to liverpool). a slight difference.
£800 is extreme. i do wonder if the teachers are getting full pay and full board.
They will be - they may have to pay their airfare but I doubt they'll be paying for anything else. But remember they ARE on duty and the children are their responsibility. If anything goes wrong they carry the can.
I was never on a school trip in my life, my sister got to go on a boat cruise once (AND ruined my cine camera :rant:), but we were in a Youth fellowship where we went camping every year. Didn't do either of us any harm, and our Mum (cashier in Granda's firm) and Dad (postie) couldn't afford those prices anyway. I'm amazed they managed to pay for our weddings.(Mind you they cost £250 and £300 as opposed to £25000 and £30000 :innocent:)
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Good idea that kids help to pay for their trip. They learn the value of money.
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I used to be a regular on Sun Sport and PGL holidays...any one who has been on one will understand :innocent: ....funny thing was, one year my son in laws brother was the manager of one of the camps I was on...I vaguely remember him too.....I also remember some one complaining about our teenagers swearing behind a caravan, this was at the PGL in Brecon Beacons, I went to have a look and it was the younger junior group of 10 year olds, not our 15 year olds, that made me smile, but the biggest smile came from when I was on dormitory duty in S France, I was fed up with hearing giggling and feet running around, unlike me...I went into the dorm where the noise was coming from and demanded them to shut up and go back to their own room....it was 2 teachers from another school, they just looked down and did what I said!! :roflanim: :roflanim:
The other tales are far far toooooo risky and rude for this lovely clean forum and I am too much of a Lady to tell them :innocent:
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I remember (at the age of 50+ ) feeling like the poor kids at school when the skiing trip notes came home each year ..... my brother and i never even asked if we could go. I can't understand why school trips have to be so far and so expensive. Having taken a group of excluded lads out ... was amazed to find several had never visited a neighbouring town!
One trip that all my 3 said was worth doing was the history trip to the WW1 graves. .... left at 5 am and back midnight 2 days later so only one night board to pay for.
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on a good note, my sons just joined the army cadets (which is free, including £500 worth of uniform). their weekends away are £10 and 2 week camps are £100 (which is travelling from aberdeenshire to liverpool). a slight difference.
£800 is extreme. i do wonder if the teachers are getting full pay and full board.
They will be - they may have to pay their airfare but I doubt they'll be paying for anything else. But remember they ARE on duty and the children are their responsibility. If anything goes wrong they carry the can.
Exactly this - on duty 24/7, why should anyone pay to do that - school trips are exhausting and staff are not on 'holiday'. Can I make a plea to everyone on here - when you pick your child up from a school trip it would be really, really nice if you and/or child said thank you to the teachers. Sadly it rarely happens but when it does it is very much appreciated.
If I had to 'pay' for my trip then frankly I would choose to go without 30+ teenagers!!! :innocent:
Donna
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Ah Donna, mine do say thank you but I can imagine there's plenty that don't! Only last week India was on a sailing trip with Brownies, don't think I saw anyone else go up to say thanks to the leaders. Then again, not many children say thank you when they've been here for tea or if we take them on a day out, maybe I'm old fashioned but I was raised that way.
I wouldn't want to carry the can for being responsible for other peoples children, I remember my now 10 year old feeding herself a berry on a nursery trip when she was 2. No-one knew what kind of berry it was and she ended up in A&E with a very stressed nursery manager, they'd literally looked away for a matter of minutes and Eloise was foraging in the bushes for 'lunch'! turned out to be Hawthorn but you just never know I guess. When I hear what the children in my eldests' class get up to I think I'd go grey!
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I keep in contact with loads of students from when I went on School trips as an assistant, I am confident that they would express how much I did, one some trips I was the only female and even the other male staff became demanding....I was in constant demand and used to come home shattered and bruised as they were often sporty trips, I also took the cross country girls team around the country and was both a shoulder to cry on and a coach (ME?) I loved it but wow what a responsibility, I had to stop young lads getting Mohican's hair cuts, stop people climbing into each others dorms, tents or bushes :innocent: and be supportive and happy all the time....some times I hardly could go for a wee!!
One of the very best trips I did was for 6th formers, a group got together and organised a trip to N Wales where they could stay cheaply in one of the youth hostels, they all had to work out a time table, plan meals, trips, share the cost of transport and they invited myself and a male teacher who just happened to be the double of Clint Eastwood, the students had to look after us and pay for our food and activities, it was super....I thought the best bit was having a hot bath and being shouted to come out for my evening meal, cooked by a trainee chef......all I had to do was drive the mini bus, I do still have my licence but never use it now!!!
Most staff have to be on the ball and it certainly is not easy and yes, been to many a casualty with a pupil and saved the day in many other ways..
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For "normal" school trips eg. a local castle ,
my sons annual primary school trip was to the movies!! - i could never understand this when we have so much around to see from harbours with sailing trips to castles and museums and safari parks. going to the movies just seems pointless.
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Local natural history or history of the area would be more appealing for a cheap and educational school trip...even tours of the local sewer works or power statins if it were allowed!!
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£800 is just crazy! I'm on the PTA at school and we're raising money to extend the playground this year because the school can't afford it (or rather has more important things to pay for). We're selling raffle tickets in the run-up to the summer fete and I was bemoaning the slow sales to the school secretary the other day (was hoping each family could manage to sell 10 tickets at a £1 each to whoever they chose - I've been round all the neighbours and most have bought a ticket or two) and she was explaining that some of the older kids (yr 5 & 6) have school trips coming up which are costing them £25 and that was probably stretching them. My own boys are in yrs 1 & 2 and have a trip to the seaside as their end of school year outing (we live about 8 miles from the sea anyway) which will cost a voluntary £5. Their other trip this term will be a free pilgrimage from their school on foot to the local church. We live in the 'affluent' South East.
When I was at school, the only big trips were certainly voluntary - I know my secondary school did ski trips by bus but I never went on them (parents logic was that I'd never ski as an adult so it was a waste of money - how ironic that I then spent ten years as an adult living in Sweden and Switzerland so did lean as an adult). I never felt left out because it was certainly a minority that went. I seem to think there were other trips too but the only ones that the whole class went on were to study/field centres which were normally local and council run. My biggest ever trip was to Devon when I was in primary school and we took the train. One boy who was desperately poor came in to say his family had said he couldn't go and I just remember the teacher being so sorry for him she started crying and then paid for him herself.
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My middle one wanted to go on a camp organised by one of the local churches. As it was run by volunteers and they 'camped' in a local school, the cost was kept to a minimum. Nevertheless, it was more than we could afford living as we did at below the poverty line. He begged and pleaded and said he would pay for himself - the cost and some pocket money. We agreed that, if he saved enough, we would pay for the transport to the pick up point. This was quite expensive as we lived on an island so it meant a ferry crossing for him and a parent, then train fares but we decided that if he could make the effort we could help. He asked for money for birthday and Christmas presents and every penny went towards the holiday. Most of his pocket money was saved and he did odd jobs to earn extra.
He loved every minute and went three years running.
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Here's a classic.....the Wales activity trip that we decided our eldest could go on for sure? well its when she's in yr7 and to be just under £400 (!) and t'boot, yr 6 are going same time!! so thats my eldest 2 children, one trip, same time, nearly £800 - oh bum.
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For "normal" school trips eg. a local castle ,
my sons annual primary school trip was to the movies!! - i could never understand this when we have so much around to see from harbours with sailing trips to castles and museums and safari parks. going to the movies just seems pointless.
Depends what the movie was really - it could have been one that they wouldn't normally see and that supported/enhanced what they were doing in the curriculum.
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One of the very best trips I did was for 6th formers, a group got together and organised a trip to N Wales where they could stay cheaply in one of the youth hostels, they all had to work out a time table, plan meals, trips, share the cost of transport and they invited myself and a male teacher who just happened to be the double of Clint Eastwood, the students had to look after us and pay for our food and activities, it was super....I thought the best bit was having a hot bath and being shouted to come out for my evening meal, cooked by a trainee chef......all I had to do was drive the mini bus, I do still have my licence but never use it now!!!
Most staff have to be on the ball and it certainly is not easy and yes, been to many a casualty with a pupil and saved the day in many other ways..
I love this - sounds very much like a Duke of Edinburgh expedition trip - I can honestly say that, having done loads of trips, the DofE ones are always the cheapest and ALWAYS seem to provide the best experiences and memories.
I just had an absolutely lovely thank you letter from one of my DofE students - on the front is a watercolour of a country scene that she has painted and inside the loveliest thank you message saying what a wonderful time she had. And that's for the 2 trips (Suffolk and Derbyshire) that cost £120 in total!
I think that some teachers are being rather unimaginative. But I also suspect that in these days of litigation many teachers are going for the safe option of an organised trip provider which provides extra safeguards. It also reduces the workload of arranging a trip quite substantially. Everything I do for DofE is done in my own time with no extra payments - that's months of training outside school hours plus 3 weekends and 1 week away every year. And the arranging and risk assessing of sending kids into open countryside can be a bit mind-blowing!! None of this can be in school time as the activities have to be in students own time to qualify for the award.
Donna
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For "normal" school trips eg. a local castle ,
my sons annual primary school trip was to the movies!! - i could never understand this when we have so much around to see from harbours with sailing trips to castles and museums and safari parks. going to the movies just seems pointless.
Depends what the movie was really - it could have been one that they wouldn't normally see and that supported/enhanced what they were doing in the curriculum.
ice age 2 if i remember right. the whole school go together every year. personally i think its a bit lazy. id rather they went somewhere like arbroath or cullen and learnt how to make smokies or cullen skink or something, so that they will remember the day forever. there are loads of fab castles within a stones throw, ski slopes, sailing etc so movies just doesnt cut it for me.
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I am inclined to agree Shygirl - is it done a reward trip? That's the only thing I can think of.
For our reward trip for the Maths dept. we take a group to the Red Arrows base in Lincolnshire - of course it is also a reward for staff - men in RAf uniforms :innocent: