General Chat

My son went to Australia for a month with St John Ambulance two years back now £2,000...and £250.00 spending money ....

so when he came home with a camp letter £150.00 ...it seemed cheap for a week!!!

Get them to join the Army Cadets!
Weedends away £10

Two weeks during the summer hols a whopping £40 I kid you not

and they only let them take £50 spends for the two weeks

Did anyone ever go to Guide place near Edinburgh , Netherurd , camping .I once went to a mixed camp in 1969 -I think , met a Scout there and went out with him for a few months --Pete Hart --if you are looking in --Hi , he`s on Friends Reunited!!
Ros xx

Catherine

Hate to disappoint you but boys can' tstart beavers until they're six. And cubs is 8 for some reason they're a yr behind the girls at rainbows and browines.

Old Geezer

I agree my 3 boys belong to our local troop and I really think it gives them an interest. Your story about Colin reminds me of my son who'd hurt his arm before camp, A&E doc said he couldn't go as he had an open cut. I said he was as i'd paid!!! So doc said he could go on condition he came back to A&E for dressing change halfway thru week. He was made up that he wasn't missing out. We drove down in the eve as site was fairly local took him to A&E changed dressing and back to camp and the only thing he missed was swimming which he couldn't do anyway.
Our troop camps regularly tho not at great distances from home as it costs a fortune
for a coach so go to local sites where parents can drop the child off.
The cubs are off to PGL in April looks great fun shame son can't go and I can't go and help:((((

It gets a lot more expensive the older they get.

One of my daughters did photography at college and their trip was to New York! I did wonder why they couldn't look at art galleries and take pictures closer to home!

We've just finished paying for older girl to do a Master's degree........no money from any source at all for that so we've paid her fees, rent, living costs etc for a year (I daren't think but it must be about 11 thousand pounds or so).
She's been offered a PhD placement but if she doesn't get any funding for that we can't pay for her for another 3 or 4 years.

As for school trips etc.........when my husband used to run trips for his class and I used to go as the second teacher (as a volunteer and for no pay whatsoever) we used to take them to a great campsite in a forest where they stayed in log cabins. A couple of mums normally sorted the catering and we'd organise various outdoor activities such as stream studies for the kids. It was exhausting work but worth it in what the kids got out of it. It didn't cost a fortune.

I did notice however that by the time my own children were going on school camps that they were often taken to activity centres where special instructors led all the things they did. I think increasingly teachers have become concerned about the insurance risks.

Gone are the days when someone like me would be expected to drive a minibus and teach about 15 kids on my own in a forest while the other half of the class was with my husband doing something else.

We usually had our own two girls in tow at the same time.......my husband would have the baby on his back while I took the older one with me. I used to have to tell her not to answer the questions because she'd done the same trip before and could remember which tree or flower was which!

Happy days!!!

Sue
x

Hi everyone
I agree with you Mac totally-getting kids into a hobby and doing stuff like scouts is wonderful-
I'm a guider in Rainbows and have done it for the last 7 yrs-It's wonderful, teaching the kids and they love it when they get their badges.

Can't wait for the lad to reach 5 then he will be going straight to Beavers, cubs etc.

catherine
xx

Catherine. You may be eligible for help from the school. Have a word with them, if your'e on speaking terms lol, sorry, but as a guardian, you may get help.
It's worth a try.
Good Luck
Vicky xx

tried to pm you, but it won't let me do it to your e-mail address. Hope you are Well.

I have just got the bill for my boys Year 5 trip - £290 !!!


A friends school went on a PGL or something similar - when they got there the adventures that the teachers had booked weren't available - the kids didn't know as they were not told what they were going for.

Anyway when they got back put in loads of complaints & now they have been offered a weekend in the Isle of Wight - parents just had to pay £5 !!!

My son went on most school trips altho they weren't as expensive as that, and he always went on Cubs/Scouts camps. As a single parent with no father contributing, I struggled to find the money but as my parents had never afforded for me to go away, my brothers did !!!, I didn't want my lad to be left out. I also got him in a gym club and swimming club when he was younger. I was lucky enough to find out about a charity that was set up hundreds of years ago which would help kids and parents, with uniforms and trips etc so was able to do it for him through them. I think also his school had some funds that they used to help subsidise families who didn't qualify for the charity help but couldn't make the whole payment.
Those prices are ludicrous, as someone says, you can get a whole family holiday for some of those prices.
Lizx

Alice, that's really disgusting, putting pressure on a child like that, how cruel.

Mac, with some it can be very difficult to keep patience with them. 14 year old girl from our street was sent to Lancaster Farm (young offenders institute) after assaulting a police officer (the culmination of a string of a whole other things including truancy and stealing). Trouble with this case, is that I look at the mother and think I'm really not surprised. This is the woman who allowed her baby son to be practically raised by her daughters 8 and 11 at the time...they dragged him round the street in a buggy and 'played house' as some would a doll and let me say their version of house was very disturbing and involved a lot of pointing, swearing and smacking...a baby! Social services were called and the two girls went into foster care, youngest returned after a short time. The son who was most at risk was left there. These are your delinquents of the future and it's no wonder they end up the way they do.

Well Mac, my sis in law and her father are scout leaders (he's deputy district commisioner or some such). They just went on camp last weekend. The had three cubs with them too, one of which was my nephew who goes to a different troop but loves to camp that much that he usually tags along at any opportunity.

They have a very active troop for such a small town (in Cazzle's town ~~~~~) but they're very busy and successful and go camping a lot. Nephew already is covered in badges and he's only 8! When he was in beavers he maxed out on the badges too (think he was the youngest ever to earn a camping out badge). lol.

I always got to go away on school trips 1) Because my dad never got the chance 2) Cause my mum got to go on one trip during school and loved it, so gave us the opportunity if we wanted it.

I went to London in S5 with my modern studies class (4 nights, trips, theatre, travel) though it didnt cost my parents much as we bag packed one weekend and made £500+ which took the cost down.

In S6 the Ochestra had a tour in Germany/Belgium and again we had lots of fundraising. We made a lot of money and had a great time doing some of the things.

I dont know why schools dont do more like that. It doesnt take much to organise and gets kids interested.

Bake sales are always popular. Especially with teachers :D

Summer

Yes they really do expect us to be rolling in it. You should see price of uniforms!!!
Best bit was for the french trip total cost £220.
Paid deposit of £30 so £190 owing (this was in June) They sent letter out asking for remaining balance of £140( this was late Nov).
Spoke to daughters dad who sent the money. We sent it to school. We then get a letter saying oppppppssss typo that last amount should've been £190 so sorry but you still owe us £50.
This was sent out on Wens eve, they wanted money by Monday. Called Ex and asked him for the money, he couldn't help. I didn't have it. So called school they said write letter into head explaining the problem, they have a school fund for situations like these and they MAY help. Spoke to daughter who said no way will you beg school to help. She paid the remainder herself!!!!

My daughter (the attitude) has gone skiing tonight with the school for the half term week, at a cost of £525 plus spending money. I am so glad this is the last child I have at school.

Tina x

Your daughter will love it at PGL..My daughter trained there to become a leader.The place is nice ,big open spaces.The children won't be bored as there is a lot of thing to do.Maureen

I think that School Trips are a BIG con!!!

You are paying, not only for your child but for the teachers who go along to 'supervise'.

In S1, I was told that because of my son's bad behaviour, he would not be allowed to go on the school trip!!! Whew!!! Saved me £200 for a week in 1990!!!

Then, at the last minute, I was told he could go. Sorry, but I was not interested in making up the numbers and paying for it!!! He didn't go.

But each of mine (3) did have one School Trip each.

When my son asked to go to France ski-ing for a week at a cost of £450 in 1993. I said definitely NO!!! But I looked for a holiday for the four of us, me and 3 children. We got a package deal to Malta, £600, dinner, bed and breakfast for all of us for 2 weeks.

I would not pay for the teachers to have a holiday!!!

Lindy
xxx

Not right is it?!

Summer

I'm one of those parents I'm afraid. I would go into debt to give my kids the chance to go.
I didn't do any school trips apart from one day trip to France, Nan simply couldn't afford it.
Am unlucky that daughter is at local grammar and they seem to think that any girl who attends there has rich parents.... WRONG!!!!
But luckly it seems boys high school just does the one trip a yr, excluding yr 7 when they do a day trip to eurodisney.

That's the thing though, Shelli, a lot of people will put themselves in debt to do it and it's really sad.

We only had the one big trip in school. And once a year we would go somewhere like alton towers. I only went to one of them as we couldn't afford it and I didn't really like the rides anyway. The germany trip was the culmination of our trips really. This is only in 1989 too. I loved it, but as I spent virtually the whole time ill with appendicitis I couldn't fully appreciate it. I didn't expect to be able to go, parents & bro were sneaky lol.

I think there should be one big trip in the whole of the school experience, and even that some parents can't afford.