Thoughts on 9 year old going abroad on school trip ?

Athens, Olympia, Delphi etc yes, all very educational, especially if in school they have been studying Ancient Greece.
And yes, I agree, What about looking at cultural differences, currency exchange, how the passport system works, different foods, the different alphabet?
My point was, clumsily expressed I admit, that at KS2 there are no specific school visits to Greece, so all the above would need to be planned, risk assessed, and delivered by the class teacher which would be way beyond the call of duty in my opinion. I always visited the locations of school trips in advance to check everything 100%.
There's no point just having a jolly outing.

Ancient Greece is on the Y5 curriculum I recall.
It would take wild (Trojan) horses to make me go on a foreign trip with a load of kids.
I didn’t even like taking them to the park.
But I do appreciate that my clientele were somewhat out of the ordinary

I agree with OP , way too young to go abroad on a school trip. A trip in this country fine, if there's a problem or she gets seperated from others then at least she would be able to ask for help but not so in Greece. Wonder why Greece has been chosen for such a young age group? If it's meant to explore historical sites or culture then will 9 yr olds be able to get much benefit from this? I would also be worried about the heat, temps in parts of Europe this week due to rech high 40's . Would there be enough staff to make sure children stay cool/ sun lotion/ hats etc.
When it comes down to it it's not your decision but I sincerely hope all goes well and you manage to put some of your concerns aside.

Difficult for you, if the parents are happy with it, so I wouldn't intervene, as it's unlikely to change anything, and will just cause friction. Personally, I would not be happy with a child of mine of that age going so far afield on a school trip. However well-intentioned and responsible the accompanying adults are, the ratio of them to the number of children means that they could not possibly provide the one to one supervision that a parent can. I'm also surprised, as recorded on this thread, that anyone thinks that it's safe to allow a 9 year old to walk to school unaccompanied. Not in my world, and I say that regardless of the environment in which that journey takes place. Encouraging children to stretch their wings is fine, but exposing them, unsupervised, to an environment in which those wings could so easily be clipped, or worse, is most definitely not. Some may feel that for a particular child in a particular environment, 9 may well be a safe age, but why take the risk for the sake of an extra year or so? Returning to the OP, there are plenty of opportunities for exciting school trips in the UK for children of that age, with the added attraction that they are obviously more affordable for parents. Times are hard, and money is in short supply for some. Finally, please excuse my cynicism, but I do also sometimes wonder if some of these more exotic trips aren't more for the benefit of the teachers. Get those kids to bed.. game on for the grown-ups? No thanks. Not for a child of mine at that age.

Without reading any responses, my gut is telling me NO, absolutely not to go on this trip. I think shes just too young for international travel without a parent.

There’s just so much potential for stuff to happen with youngsters.

Daughter/mother does not seem interested in asking questions pertaining to the trip either (per G’ma) and I find that alarming.
Maybe Dau or Sil can sign on as a chaperone.

Just my opinion.
USA Gundy

I can’t help remembering the girl on a school trip staying in a French youth hostel who was murdered by a man who broke in. Sorry to bring it up, I know bad things are unlikely to happen but 9 seems a bit young to me.

Compromise, OK for trip but can't walk alone to school just yet.
Maybe over Protection, keeps her young, I say this from a professional perspective. Safeguarding children can be made not just for neglect but also for stopping children from doing the things their peers are doing, whilst it can be done all for the right reasons 'keeping them safe' I.e. suppression of what others consider normal behaviour can be seen as damaging the child. Please don't think I'm telling you off, it's just another perspective to allow you to consider all options

Jaxie

I can’t help remembering the girl on a school trip staying in a French youth hostel who was murdered by a man who broke in. Sorry to bring it up, I know bad things are unlikely to happen but 9 seems a bit young to me.

Had that girl been 16, she would probably have still been murdered! Age would not have made a difference to a predator. It was tragic but not a reason for school trips to stop or for age limits.

My son went on a school trip to the Isle of White for 4 nights with his school. When I went to pick him up, he was sitting on his case sobbing uncontrollably. He begged me 'never to send him away again.' His choice was to never do another residential trip. I dread to think the effects of a longer trip abroad would have had on him, and he was the youngest in his year...

A few years ago I worked in a secondary school as a TA, I was usually asked if I wanted to accompany them on a school trip, Madrid, Hamburg, France, I asked the teachers how they chose the locations, they said usually its somewhere where the adults have always wanted to go, they get a list of companies who would book it all for them, it's just a matter of choosing. One year, before covid they took a group to Borneo, a few years later they booked to go to the Galapodous Islands but this didn't go ahead because of covid. The cost for the staff is added onto the cost for the children, so teachers don't pay a penny. In secondary, I can see the reason for going abroad for educational trips but Borneo was over 4k which was definitely for the more affluent children and definately ruled out most of the students. They also did skiing holidays but the same teachers went on this every other year. As a parent it was an eye opener. I'm not saying I wouldn't have trusted the teachers with the children, but used to wonder what teacher this time was making a tick against their bucket list.

School trips are not jollies , I can assure you. They are hard work.Teachers can be on duty 24hours a day, so please can we have less of the snide remarks.
To the initial poster ,I'm sorry but it is not your call.Try not to worry . Your grandchild will be well looked after and will have lots to tell you. I'm sure she would like you to be enthusiastic too .

That sounds quite shocking twograndchildren my DB and his DW are both recently retired teachers.
They have been in charge of groups of 6th formers (yr 11 and 12) for trips over the years mostly within Europe but to China too and USA.
I can promise that they work very hard and do not treat these trips as holidays.
They take their responsibilities very seriously.

"Can def get my head around local stays but not abroad. I would need to know the teacher pupil ratio etc - which isn’t forthcoming.". But is it your decision!? You're the grandparent, not the parent. Unless she's in your guardianship it really has little to do with you. I know if my children's grandparents had tried to inject their thoughts and opinions into the way I raised them I would have been extremely unhappy. If you've been asked your opinion, then that's great. If not, I'd stay out of it. It's not like the parents are deliberately putting the child in danger. Accidents on school trips do happen, but they'll happen whether in the UK or abroad. Trying to stop your GD from going on this trip (which again, really isn't your business) will only cause her to resent you. When she's one of the very few children who have to stay home and all her friends and peers are having the time off their lives, she'll be very unhappy with the one who caused that to happen. Plus, there's a good chance that ongoing school work afterwards will involve activities/ knowledge/experience gained on the trip which she'll have no idea about. Don't be that mother/M-I-L/GP. Step back and let the parents parent!

I am not a teacher but twenty years ago I took a small group of children away for a week. I can still remember the utter exhaustion at the end of it.

Drina01

..re the park - it’s been reported.
Perhaps my solution …. Get a ticket on the same flight and book into the same hotel 😎

I hope you're joking!

9. Is too young maybe a teenager but 9 no.I’m a nursery teacher. Would hate the responsibility.

Actually, as a teacher, it's a privilege to take children away on trips because you get to see their personalities out of the school environment.
One of my favourites was, "Oh Mrs. B., if my mum could see me now doing this, she'd kill me!"

My son had summer job escorting 9/10-year-olds in London who came from afar, China, Mexico etc. They did English in the morning then taken all over London to see the sights. It sounded chaotic and relied on good sense of young people like him. They didn’t lose anyone! Hopefully, a school trip will be more organised!

My kids walked to school on own at 9…..my son went on foreign trip at 9 but not my daughter as she is extreme asthmatic and chose herself not to go . But that was a long time ago …..I wouldn’t want my grandkids to go abroad with any of there teachers. Think these trios are more ‘jollies’ for the teachers. Why do kids need to go to Greece….

What an exciting and worthwhile opportunity for your grandchild!

I can certainly appreciate your concern, but it's not your decision to make. I'm sure any educational trip for students of this age have the appropriate protocols in place. I'm not sure where brainwashing comes into it.

However well-intentioned and responsible the accompanying adults are, the ratio of them to the number of children means that they could not possibly provide the one to one supervision that a parent can.

We had 6 kids...they rarely got one to one supervision and yet, we never lost any of them when on holiday; they all returned safely.

Finally, please excuse my cynicism, but I do also sometimes wonder if some of these more exotic trips aren't more for the benefit of the teachers. Get those kids to bed.. game on for the grown-ups?

You have obviously never been on a school trip with children, particularly primary school children. It is absolutely exhausting and you are never off duty, especially as a group. If you think the little Darlings hit the sack early and that's it, you are much mistaken. Believe me, you earn your money. Oh wait! Most trips abroad are taken during the school holidays so you aren't paid for them and you give up your holiday. I'm not sure that is a win, win for the staff!

I think 9 is far too young to go overseas on a school trip
As for walking to & from school Has the school not heard of child abduction!

What is the carbon cost of the trip? These trips are becoming normalised so more difficult to refuse even to those without the cash. But all this travel to places further + further away is adding to levels of pollution and burning of fossil fuels that will shorten the comfort of children's future lives. How many trips per school career is normal now?

I've brought up 7 children (i remarried) and no i dont think an abroad school trip is for primary age children either- and they are ALWAYS overpriced! A short 3 day uk trip maybe just to give the kids a 'taster' of independance- but not longer than that and certainly not abroad- theres more dissapearances of children reported these days, or even accidents around water etc, and 9 seems too young definitely.Plus like was said theres the language barrier if she got lost or needed help.A lot of schools push these trips as i think they must get some funding from LEA and then they bump up the price for parents- theres got to be something in it for the school i think?The new york trip (in high school) was pushed on my son and he turned it down as it wasnt good value he said- we had all 3 been the year before and it was all 3 of us went for 6 days via virgin atlantic and wasnt much more than they charged for 1!- plus they never get time to do anything they want so neither of my youngest 2 ever wanted to go on the abroad trips (i did offer for them to!) Even the older ones always preferred our family trips.As for walking to school alone this school dont seem to have a grip on life in the real modern world- 9 is still too young for going unaccompanied- my kids were coming up to 11 before that, and as a 'preparation' for moving to high school, but we literally lived 2/3 minutes walk away from school so not that far.Even then parents had to give a note to school saying its ok etc.No offence, but that school dont seem to give a hoot about the childrens safety- just so they dont have to wait beyond finishing time with a late-collected child.😐

Well then, Icanhandthemback- maybe its time for the teachers to start putting their foot down and saying NO to these trips then, is'nt it? It cant be all bad or no teachers would volunteer, or agree, to go would they?! I suppose your GN name says it all really.....😐🙄