[shygirl]

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?

[plumseverywhere]

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.

[Ina]

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.

[Fowgill Farm]

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

[lachlanandmarcus]

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.

[shygirl]

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.

[ZaktheLad]

Sad as it may sound, I am glad I only have the dogs - they don't bring letters home suggesting expensive trips abroad.

[plumseverywhere]

Sad as it may sound, I am glad I only have the dogs - they don't bring letters home suggesting expensive trips abroad.

   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!

[happygolucky]

  ....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
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 ........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

[plumseverywhere]

Some of the parents think they are elite    of course there's me in wellies and ripped jeans, lucky if I brush my hair most days 

[ballingall]

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

[Rosemary]

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 

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.

[happygolucky]

that's exactly my thoughts Rosemary


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

[Ina]

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... ) 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.

[in the hills]

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  .


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    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