£1,850 School Trip

[Deskdiary]

This is becoming silly, isn't it?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5908197/Single-mother-32-asked-pay-1-850-school-trip.html

I suspect there are many parents in the area concerned who would be unable to afford £1,850, and yet with zero sense of irony the school posted the following on their website.

'It’s an unforgettable and eye-opening trip, where students learn first hand about the enormous resourcing gap between people groups and how the squalor of poverty sits alongside the extravagance of wealth.'

[ToraToraTora]

"I never understand how these trips cost more than I could book it for. " - because you pay for the teachers to go too.

[Prudie]

This is nothing new. Even when I was at school there was a school cruise every year that my parent couldn't afford. Not going didn't leave me traumatised, there were all the free geography trips I could still go on. I paid 2.5k for my daughter to go to Honduras and learn to dive when she was in 6th form, I had the money so it was good experience. Kids need to be aware that some things are not affordable and they know there are well off families and those who struggle. That's life.

[gulliver1]

A school trip to see " How the squalor of poverty sits alongside the extravagance of wealth" How about a walk around London area, start at Tower Hamlet , Camden, then go to Knightsbridge , Kensington. Sure that trip would not cost a lot.

[237SJ]

I don't see why they can't just learn about the poverty of the townships in this country and then donate money to SA charities.

[EDDIE51]

Yes, as said the Teachers go free and get paid their full salary. So they have a motive to suggest trips to places they would like to go for an all paid for holiday. Often the school asks for parents to go as well, there are rules about how many adults must be with the group. There are often not enough school staff available. My wife went on a week long school trip years ago as a helper. If she had not gone the trip would have had to be cancelled as there were not enough teachers to go on the trip and keep the school running.

[ToraToraTora]

yes an unusually good suggestion from Gulliver, dunno what happened there!

[Baldric]

Really, ^^ the responsibility of other peoples Children in a foreign Country?

[cassa333]

TTT @9.00

It would teach them a valuable lesson that there haves and have nots. And they are luckily in the haves.

It will be remembered for the rest of their lives as a turning point. When they become campaigners for change...

[kvalidir]

I personally think it's ludicrous, creates a division between pupils and encourages bullying. Plus frankly how cheeky that teachers don't pay , there is well enough to learn in the UK for £50 which could include everyone. Granted kids need to learn that not everyone has the same amount of money and some people will have things their parents can't afford, but life I imagine is quite stressful as it is for some kids whose parents might on very low incomes so the fact that the school chooses to underline this is crass to say the least.

[EDDIE51]

The teachers and adult helpers normally get 'time off' from the trip to give them some time on their own.

[237SJ]

I don't think it's any coincidence that they have chosen such a nice place as Cape Town for a holiday (sorry, educational trip) If they really wanted to see poverty, they could have taken them to Delhi..

[ToraToraTora]

cassa 10:03, they can do that in any city in the land.

[Canary42]

/// so the fact that the school chooses to underline this is crass to say the least. ///

I agree entirely. And it's really done to get the richer ones embarked on a lifetime of profligate consumerism and coffee-table competitiveness.

[EDDIE51]

There must be at least one adult supervisor to every 10 children. More for some activities, it can be as little a 1 adult to every 4 children.
So it's not going to be like an entire class with just one teacher.