Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

My DD ( not at CH) is being charged £750 for a trip to France to do white water rafting etc during school time, saying that it is part of their curriculum. She's 12, not a strong swimmer and is keen not to go even if I accepted the "curriculum" rubbish and had the money, which I don't. She is the only one not going. Horrid.

My daughters were sent to France at the age of 11 (with their respective classes) to learn the language and get an impression of the country. They were imbued with a hatred of France and the French that appears to be lifelong. (And as bilinguals and binationals they were probably more open to cultural differences than most.)

My children only went on school trips related to the IB. One was to Chile where they helped build a school in a village in the Andes and the other was to the Chaco, where they did something similar.
We were living in Buenos Aires at the time and they went to a US school which apart from SAT's and AP's, also did the IB.
All trips were related to some social activity and not to getting to learn languages or the culture. This is probably because 90% were ex pats anyway and did not need the cultural exchange.
These trips were not expensive, and since they were vaguely related to charity, were a worthwhile activity.
Curiously, my son, who went to the Chaco, a poor province in Northern Argentina, could not relate to the poverty because the Chaco had electricity and running water, unlike most of the villages in Guatemala, where we had just been living.
What was expensive was the final years excursion, where they all went off skiing in the Andes or surfing in Brazil. Nothing to do with culture, all to do with having a good time.
IMHO, schools should forget about the cultural aspect and get the kids to do something for others, building schools, teaching or whatever, or simply allow them to have a good time.

Whether or not these expensive trips should happen or not/should be charged to the child, wouldn't the Necessitous Children's Fund or the BSB (if the parent is an OB) help out if the trip is virtually mandatory for some reason?

Most trips at CH fall into two camps - the educationary necessary and the nice to do but optional. Very few are mandatory in my experience. We publish the dates of trips well in advance and parents therefore have time to balance the books. It is certainly the case that the nature and range of trips on offer now exceeds what was on offer when I first came to CH. That says something about the disposable income available. The BSB will help, as will the school, but most parents are expected to contribute something.