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AIBU?

To be annoyed DD didn't get a place on her school trip?

28 replies

VictorianSqualor · 26/03/2008 10:51

Argh!
About three weeks ago DD came home with a letter about a residential trip to a farm.
DP and I discussed it that night and agreed she could go, as it was first come first served place-wise I took the deposit in to school the very next day and handed it to the office myself as I knew DD would lose it.

Found out from one of the parents in the playground that there were only 14 places for the whole of year 2, and apparently the other class in year 2 had had their letters two days previously.

Today I get a call saying DD hasn't managed to secure a space.

Surely if there are only going to be 14 places for 60 children they should try and find a way to make it fairer? Maybe two trips, or at least a warning that the letters were going out, and at the very least all children given the letters on the same day???

We had a similar disappointment with a school disco last year, she went to buy her ticket two days after the letters had gone out and they had sold out!

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Taweret · 26/03/2008 10:54

How bizarre.
Surely there should be enough places for all the children?
Sounds like very poor organisation by the school.
How disappointing for your poor DD.

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moopymoo · 26/03/2008 10:56

I would kick up a bit of a fuss about this. Maybe contact the place they are going direct and see if it possible to extend numbers so you are armed with some info. very unreasonable. but exactly the kind of thing that would happen at my school grrr.

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yorkshirepudding · 26/03/2008 10:58

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catsmother · 26/03/2008 10:58

I would definitely clarify with the school themselves when these letters were sent out. Clearly, it's unfair if - on a 1st come, 1st served basis - one group of kids get the opportunity to apply much sooner than another group.

I think they should also make it clear exactly how much places are limited. If parents knew it was 14 out of 60, then the chances of NOT getting a place are reasonably high and you can then prepare your kids for the disappointment.

Personally, I think to give letters like these out on different days is just plain stupid - and bound to cause ill feeling. I think they should ensure all such letters go out the same day - and, TBH, that parents are offered a "window" - say, 5 days, in which to return the forms, whereupon names will then be drawn out of a hat. There'll always be some families who can instantly agree to additional expense, whereas others may have to think about it, and juggle a bit in order to be able to afford trips. It's not always possible to make an instant decision.

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VictorianSqualor · 26/03/2008 10:59

Thing is when the woman from the school rang me today she apologised for taking so long to let us know but said she had been trying to get extra spaces.

The only good thing is I know DD's best friends mum went and paid the deposit about ten minutes after me, so I'm assuming she didn't get a place either. Hopefully that will make them both feel a bit better!

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Youcannotbeserious · 26/03/2008 11:00

Why can't the school organise more places?

14 places for 60 children seems woefully inadequate (though at least there will be plenty of other kids in the same boat!)

YP is right - the trips do seem far too exclusive

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VictorianSqualor · 26/03/2008 11:01

x-post catsmother, tbh we rushed the decision, the trip was £200 fgs, it's not something we can just pay out lightly but because we only had so little time to secure a place we said we'd work out payment etc once it was clarified.

I know that not all people at DD's school would've been able to pay a £25 deposit with one days notice.

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yorkshirepudding · 26/03/2008 11:02

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VictorianSqualor · 26/03/2008 11:03

Oh, and also, the children had a whole talk devoted to the trip, not just a letter sent out, but last years students telling them about how wonderful it was, the timetable explained etc so they were all hyped up.

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yorkshirepudding · 26/03/2008 11:04

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Syrupent · 26/03/2008 11:12

This happens all the time at DS school but it is a secondary. I wouldn't expect this to happen in a primary it seems very unfair especially as your DD class got the letters later.

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CrackerOfNuts · 26/03/2008 11:14

If more than 14 children wanted a place then names should have been picked out of a hat.

This is what dd's school were going to do should if more than 40 people had wanted places on her France trip. In the end 43 applied and the school managed to get 3 more places, but if they hadn't been able to do that, there would have been a draw of the names.

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ComeOVeneer · 26/03/2008 11:18

Why do schoole do these limited spaced trips? It always ends up with a load of dissapointed children, so unecessary.

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Ineedacleaner · 26/03/2008 11:21

TBH I would be really annoyed that the school was planning a trip for such a small number of children out of 60. Like Syrupent said I can see it at secondary school where you are probably dealing with even larger numbers again. We had this at my secondary school but there were a lot of trips planned for different things, eg: Rock climbing, trip to russia, water sports etc etc. so there really was a trip for everyones interests.
To do this at primary age is awful, our school don't plan trips that the whole year cannot go on.

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wheresthehamster · 26/03/2008 11:21

Yes, at secondary this happens alot. As catsmother said , all the applications received by the date specified should be put into a hat. I have suggested it to dd1's school but it's never been put into place.

They had a residential once and all applications were on a first come, first served the next day. All dd1's friends were going to get to school early but I couldn't believe the school would operate this way. How wrong can you be? Apparently they were told the doors would open at 8.00 am. But chidren in the know arrived at 7.00 am and by 8.00 am all the places had been taken. How ridiculous! School doesn't even start till 9.00 am!

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VictorianSqualor · 26/03/2008 11:25

So it isn't OTT to complain to the school?
I kind of feel like it'll be looked upon as sour grapes.

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yorkshirepudding · 26/03/2008 11:26

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yorkshirepudding · 26/03/2008 11:27

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PrimulaVeris · 26/03/2008 11:35

Not OTT, I would discuss with head and make it more formal if you don't get satisfactory reply. There must be other parents in similar situation you can get on your side.

There are 3 issues here - firstly the exclusivity. Why 14 places? Is that all that is available - why not book more, why not look at other residential centres that have a higher capacity.

Second - method of allocation. If oversubscribed, I can see unfiarness in both names out of hat and first come first served, but I think they need to say WHY they choose a partic method.

Third - communication is appalling and out of order. No excuse, all classes should be treated the same and one not given priority treatment over the other. Actually, this gets my goat more than the other two. I'd be spitting blood quite frankly.

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VictorianSqualor · 26/03/2008 11:35

I complained about the disco tickets before and said I felt it was unfair because some families were buying tickets for mum, dad, siblings fro other schools etc and treating it as a night out, which meant actual pupils were not able to go and was just told it was a 'fundraising event' and nothing I said was taken into consideration.

This time roudn thoguh surely they can't try using the money angle.

The way I see it at least we were able to try with DD, some children will have been ill, or their parents wouldn't have had the deposit right there and then and probably felt absolutely terrible having to say no because it was the wrong day of the week or whatever.

Ugh, It's really pissed me off!

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wheresthehamster · 26/03/2008 11:39

I think that having the forms later than the other class was unfair. Suggest the school re-do the selection process on a lottery basis with the applications received so far. The other class may not like it but if the boot was on the other foot...

(Although don't expect much obviously!)

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VictorianSqualor · 26/03/2008 11:49

I've emailed them saying that it seems discriminatory to people in a less favourable financial situation.

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MilaMae · 26/03/2008 16:12

When I was oprganising school trips we always got told we weren't allowed to exclude any child at all,so much so we couldn't insist on payment. If we didn't get enough money to fund the trip it had to be cancelled. I thought there was some legality that made this happen.

I wonder what the point is of a trip only some children go on, are the ones that don't go going to be able to do the follow up work? When teaching y2 we used to get weeks of subsequent work out of a trip.

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coppertop · 26/03/2008 16:23

The whole idea has been poorly thought out IMO. For starters I wouldn't be happy with the school giving the children a big talk about the trip, knowing full well that less than a quarter of them would be able to go.

First-come-first-served isn't a fair way of choosing children either, never mind the fact that half the children had a two day advantage.

I would also want to know why the school insisted on a deposit straight away. For our school trips parents just have to send a reply slip saying whether or not they want ther child to go. Expecting parents to find £25 overnight is too much.

Hopefully other parents will complain too.

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VictorianSqualor · 26/03/2008 16:24

Well a few of the kids weren't too impressed coming out of school today.
DD came out holding a letter 'mum, we've got the tickets for the trip' and I had to explain to her no she hadn't, the spaces were all taken.

Also spoke to another parent that said when she took the payment into the office there was no system going on about who was paying when and the other class had definitely had the letters a day before.

Either it's first come, first served(which I still think is unfair) or it isn't.

I'm expecting there to be a few complaints about it though.

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