Calum Petrie: Cost of school Activities Week unfair on parents

Just when parents thought they could give their bank accounts a break post-summer holidays, along comes school Activities Week.

Most schools have an Activities Week in late spring. While S4 to S6 pupils study for exams, S1s (in some schools), S2s and S3s get to enjoy either a residential trip elsewhere in the UK or abroad, or non-residential activities closer to home.

In itself it’s a good idea. Showing young people a bit of the world beyond their doorstep, exposing them to other cultures, broadening their horizons and all that. My child’s school says it’s an “important part of their curriculum”.

But there’s a problem.

A week into the new school year, my oldest informed me about his school’s plans for Activities Week next spring.

I had a week to hand in £150 in cash to the school office as a deposit, apparently, or he “wouldn’t be allowed on any of the trips”.

“We had to fill out a form. I’m going to Manchester and Liverpool.”

I see.

“Cost? Oh, it’s in some letter or email or something.”

£1,150 could buy a family holiday, instead it goes on school Activities Week

Having badgered my son for some more info, he forwarded on an email he’d got to his school account. All I’d received was an email from the school office saying pupils were being informed of the school’s plans for Activities Week, and to “discuss this with your young person.”

The knot in my stomach grew as I browsed the options. Manchester and Liverpool for £650. Paris for £850. Barcelona for, wait for it, £1,150. The costs given are “approximate”, meaning they could well be even more expensive.

Pupils at Hilton Academy in Aberdeen (since merged into St Machar Academy) went to Italy in 1985, a trip which included a two-day excursion to Yugoslavia. Parents weren’t priced out of such trips to the extent they are today. Image: DC Thomson

And there’s no guarantee they’ll get a place on their preferred trip, or any trip at all, in which case the deposit will be refunded to parents.

As for what they’ll be doing for all this money, there’s little information for parents other than the destination. No doubt my son will know before me.

Nearly £1,200 to go to Barcelona. What are they doing there, exactly? Is Concorde returning for one last flight, Oasis-style?

Having spoken to friends and acquaintances who have kids at secondary school, they all tell me similar Activities Week stories, so I know it’s not just my child’s school.

The haves and the have nots

A recent survey revealed that 23% of parents have to make cutbacks to afford school trips.

The school (council?) covers its back by saying “funding and support is available”, but a lot of families would rather put themselves in financial bother than endure what they perceive as the stigma of going cap in hand to the authorities. I’ve known several over the years.

Still others, through bitter experience of state bureaucracy, might not think applying for financial help worth the bother.

Many families will be lucky enough to be able to take the financial hit. But many won’t.

I suspect there have been a lot of disappointed children over the past week, having had the sit-down with mum and dad and informed that they won’t in fact be going on that amazing trip they’d promised their mates they would be.

Behind every school Activities Week these days are money-worried parents. Image: Shutterstock

Of course, there are non-residential, local activities on offer for “around £60”.

It seems a no-brainer to choose the non-residential option. But it’s never that simple.

It’s of course the sensible choice, but it’s a choice all parents are aware can have negative social consequences in the brutal world of playground politics.

Rising cost of trips isn’t explained by inflation

I went to Holland during my school Activities Week in the late 1990s. It involved a bus from Aberdeen to Hull, the ferry to Rotterdam with a night in a cabin on board, a week’s accommodation and various activities, and the same travel arrangements on the way back.

My mother remembers it as costing around £300, a sum I ran through the Bank of England’s inflation calculator, which shows it equates to £560 today. Less than half the cost of my child’s school’s Barcelona option.

We all want our kids to enjoy as rich an experience as possible before the responsibility of adult life hits them smack between the eyes.

But not at any price.

Honestly, if you’re asking parents to fork out such ludicrous sums of money for a few days’ educational experience, maybe just don’t bother.

Calum Petrie is Deputy Features Lead at The Press & Journal