Holiday with the school

Never went on a school holiday but was a boarder there so that was a sort of holiday from home I suppose. Did once go on a day trip to Stirling Castle when I was about 6 I remember.

I only went on a holiday with school once. I remember it so vividly. We went to London from our little town in Cumberland. It was the first time I'd been to the capital. It was October 1966, and I remember the holiday not for what we did, but for what happened while we were away. The weather was dreadful, it rained continuously. At the beginning of the week the Aberfan disaster occurred, and at the end of the week Alma Cohan died. The only thing I remember doing was going to the theatre for the first time in my fourteen years.

I went to Derbyshire with the school Brownie pack when I was 11. It was 1951, and the census was done when we were there. There was quite a kerfuffle over one girl who didn’t know her place of birth. No email or mobile phones then! The other problem was that almost all of us had long plaits, but only one girl could do them herself. She was one of seven children, so was more independent then most of us. The brownie leaders had to do everyone else’s, including mine.

Apart from that we had a good time. It was in the heart of the country and pretty primitive as I remember it. Not camping, but very basic accommodation, with outside loos. At night we had an “arrangement in the landing” for anyone who needed the loo.

When I was in senior school there was a school trip to Austria, but I didn’t go for some reason. I think I was ill.

I meant “ON the landing”, not “in”.

I never went on holiday with the school - the furthest afield we went was a day trip to London, and one to York. DD, in secondary, went to Paris for a week with the school, and then to Germany for week, connected with her A level studies. My Grandson, still in his junior school has had a couple of residentials in this country and will be goi

.....Going to Paris the week after next (not sure what happened there!!). These trips are expensive and there is a home based adventure alternative for those children who either don’t want to go or can’t afford to go. The older they get, the more expensive the trips seem to be.

hildjenniJ ‘s post reminded me of a trip to London when I was in the sixth form. It was to some sort of conference, rather than a holiday exactly, but we did go to a live television show, I think the Television Toppers (dancers of a sort, if anyone remembers them). Our teachers also (bravely or foolishly?) let us out on New Year’s Eve - well, we were 17 or 18. We went to Trafalgar Square. It was the first time I had seen lots of very drunk people, and the crowds were horrendous, the sort of crowd where you could get crushed. To be honest, we were all terrified and went back to our hostel as soon as we could escape.

The children of today just do not know how fortunate they are,our schools seem forever offering trips abroad during the various school holidays.
I have to wonder if all households can afford them,and if not does that make their child feel somewhat deprived and possibly the target for bullying?

There was no mention of such trips when I was at school,which perhaps was just as well,for as a fast growing gangly youngster my poor foster mother had her hands full just keeping me suitably dressed in the school uniform!!!

Seems as though the schools in your region Greyduster...... offering an home based adventure alternative has the right frame of mind,catering for all eventualities.

As for these trips,they seem to get further afield with each new year which in monetary terms means yet more expense.
A great way to learn though I feel sure........and perhaps practise those new languages learned.

Our senior school did do trips abroad for the older girls. My sister and I didn’t go, we knew our parents could not afford to pay, it didn’t bother us. However, at the end of each summer term each year went on a day trip, a mix of education and fun. (Battle/Hastings, Dover Castle/Folkestone, Canterbury/Whitstable etc. They were wonderful days out, still fondly remembered).

I went to the IofW for a week when I was 11 in 1964. It was there that we received the results of the 11+ exam. I did very well and went on to an all girls grammar school.
One of my DGD's, who goes to a private school, has recently been on a weeks skiing trip, I was quite shocked when my DD told me how much it was costing.

My GS's school was offering ski trips to the US costing well into the thousands. It's not a particularly affluent area, and, though his parents are, by most standards, moderately high earners, GS did not go on that visit. I'm not sure how many children - if any - did go. When I was at school -well over half a century ago - 'abroad' was still getting over WW2. However, Ayrshire annually took a party of 15-16 year-olds to France, having first entertained a group of French teenagers at a schools' camp in Scotland. We stayed in a Lycée in Versailles, saw the sights in and around Paris and spread a bit of Scottish culture while absorbing French customs and language. We were let loose in Paris one afternoon and were told to re-assemble at the coach at 5pm. Miraculously we did! I suspected that the teachers had gone off for a quiet smoke. As did a few of the pupils...
My sisters, when their turn came, went to a ''posher school, and went, respectively, to the the Swiss Alps and the Austrian Tyrol. But I doubt if they had as much fun as we did in that halcyon summer in France.

I never went away for more than day trips, but those who chose geography A-level did the obligatory field trip to the South Coast (Portland).

My sister and I were in the twinning association and did a couple of trips to France to visit our pen friends, and had French girls back in return, but that was in the Easter holidays and involved children from all the local schools.

My mother, however, who left school in about 1936, still remembers many details of her school outing to Northern Italy, and still quotes the smattering of Italian that they learnt whilst there (mainly ordering ice cream!). So that was one school trip that certainly had a lasting effect.

If you've seen "Tea with Mussolini" you will get a good idea of what that area was like in the 30's, but before the War, which is the period that the film is set in.

I was completely astonished the first time I heard a mother say that her daughter had to save her pocket money to pay for the school trip. I didn't say anything, but felt sorry for a child who had to pay herself for a tour of a museum or factory. Then I found out about these 'holidays', and honestly, remain quite astonished!

My parents told us we could go on the school trip when we reached 6th year. When my turn came the destination was Bavaria, up until then then I’d only flown from Glasgow to Dublin but I’d been doing it for years so the flight wasn’t a huge deal for me, however the following overnight journey by train sleeping in a couchette car was so exciting. Bavaria was a different world to me, sleeping under duvets and then being served bowls of milky coffee for breakfast. I remember standing on a snowy mountainside listening to the sound of goat bells imagining I was Heidi going to visit her Grandmother. I was sixteen at this point .

The memory of our trip to the salt mines in Berchtesgaden will stay with me forever.

I know it must have been expensive but we had a savings scheme at school so it was paid up over months. I’m grateful to my parents for giving me the opportunity and for making me wait until I was old enough to really appreciate it.

Recently my DGS (8) brought a letter home from school informing his parents that there was to a be a school trip to a local marina approximately 15 miles away. The letter said that around 15 children from a class of 33 would be required to each pay £7.50 for the trip to go ahead and the balance would come from school funds. Now first of all £7.50 is quite a lot to pay when you have 3 children and secondly does the school just target/guilt trip the parents who they know will pay in order to fund those they know won't? My argument is why could the school not write to every parent and ask for £5, £4, £3, £2 or even a £1 donation. Why just expect a few to pay the whole amount?

Needless to say we did pay the £7.50.

My grammar school ran cruises (yes cruises) every summer. I can't remember the exact cost but I didn't even bother taking the letter home.

I went on a cruise in the mid 60s, on the SS Nevassa. The first night on board we had greasy fish and chips, a bad choice as that night the ship had to drop anchor in the middle of Biscay because of the storms.
Three days of sea sickness followed, all lessons and activities were cancelled. The Med Sea was kinder to us.
We visited Algiers, Malta, Greece and flew home from Venice.
The cost, £40 exactly.

A quick calculation shows that the £40 cruise you had in the 60's sparkly would be approx £644 in today's money. A lot of money but perhaps still within the reach of many families. I recall "our" school cruise in the mid 70's being £100's and no doubt the same one today taking into account insurances, employment costs, taxes etc. being in the £1000's. An almost impossible amount for many families to find.

When I was at school, there was a cruise on the SS Canberra.
I think it cost about £40. My friends all went, but I hid the letter from my mother, as she could hardly feed us, let alone find £40 and I didn't want her to feel bad about it.
In my 6th year at school, I went on a free trip to Furth in Germany, which my home town was twinned with. There started my love of foreign travel. I was hooked.

Gosh, that's a lot of money considering we had basic dormitories and had to clean them ourselves daily. The food was plain and there was no choices.
We were allowed to take up to £5 to buy souvenirs.
My parents both worked and I was an only child so that's how they could afford it.

Many of my friends went on the school cruise too Marydoll but like you I didn't bother even taking the letter home. I was quite jealous when they came back as they seemed to spend the entire next term talking about it and I felt like an outsider not being included in their happy memories. They also seemed to go on to develop an "understanding" with the various teachers who had gone along although that might have just been my imagination.

Gillybob, I can empathise with you. Talk about rubbing salt into the wound. The following year, there was the trip to the chateaux of the Loire Valley.
I hid that letter also!

I don't know how typical I was. I am now in my late 60s, and my school only did 'educational' day trips.
I did go camping with the Guides, and took my 'Leaders' badge so I could take others.
I also had a French pen pal, and when she wrote suggesting an exchange visit, I was very excited,and my mum opened an account to save for it. Actually my grandfather stepped in and paid the air fare (£40 in 1966). I of course, saved my pocket money, and my parents set aside money to take us on trips when my friend visited. After that first visit, I saved out of my Saturday job pay in order to go again.
It has been one of the great joys of my life, a friendship that has lasted over 50 years, and encompassed children and grandchildren. I am so grateful that we could do it, but I know that I didn't 'show off' to the other girls, because no-one else went. The only chat at school would have been with my 2 close friends who met my French friend when we went out together.And we too, are still in touch.

Same as some others - there were a few trips abroad and a cruise possible at my girls grammar school and even a trip to France in the top year at junior school but I didn't even bother asking if I could go as I knew the answer would be 'no, we can't afford it'. My brother was allowed to go camping in Wales, that was the only school trip any of us ever went on - he told me he had less spending money than the other boys and always remembered that with resentment. The thing is, we were not poor as such, my police officer dad just wouldn't 'waste' money, as he saw it, he was always saving. He was quite a wealthy retiree, I'll give him that. Now my DGS is signed up for a private school where he will go on skiing trips even in the infants school, if I understand correctly - times change indeed.

I was given the school cruise letter each year of secondary school. I took it home for my parents to read, but never expected to be allowed to go. My sisters would have wanted to go too, and that would have been too much of an expense for my Dad who was the sole wage earner.