Suffolk schools including in Bury St Edmunds say it is ‘becoming harder’ to fund trips

Schools have spoken of the challenges of funding trips for pupils – with one saying they are having to limit how many take place.

A number of schools have told SuffolkNews that increased coach costs were making it harder for them to cover trips for students.

Maria Kemble, executive head of St Edmund's RC Primary School, in Bury St Edmunds, said these activities brought the curriculum to life and created memories, so reduced school outings had ‘a real impact’ on children's learning.

She said there had been an increase in the cost of transport over the last couple of years, alongside the increased admission prices.

“A recent trip we were trying to organise to a local farm would have meant asking parents for a contribution of £18, which we felt was too expensive,” she said.

“The average cost of a coach to transport a class of 30 children is £300 for a local visit and more if it is further away.

“We understand the coach companies are just reflecting the cost of fuel and their overheads, but it is making trips so expensive.

“We are limiting the number of trips as it becomes unrealistic to ask parents for multiple contributions if they have more than one child.”

She said they were fortunate their parents had fund-raised to subsidise trips this year and were also making use of the places in town they could visit, such as Moyse's Hall, so they did not have to pay for coaches.

Mrs Kemble added they were also using visitors to the school instead of taking the children out, for example having a Roman day in school instead of going to visit Colchester Castle this term.

“School budgets are very tight and funding is not sufficient to subsidise trips any longer,” she said. “I believe this has a real impact on children's learning as they cannot experience the kinds of activities that bring the curriculum to life and create memories they can look back on.”

James Tottie, headteacher of Sebert Wood Community Primary School, in Bury, also said transport costs had risen ‘substantially’ in the last few years which had ‘sadly’ impacted on the cost of trips out of school.

“We're fortunate that FOSWS [Friends of Sebert Wood School] already generously subsidise, however it may reach the stage where we have to cancel a trip if sufficient voluntary contributions [from parents/carers] are not received,” he said.

And another Suffolk school said earlier in the year: “School trips are becoming harder to cover, especially with the costs of coach hire rising dramatically. We now rely mostly on parents transporting children to venues.”

Graham White, spokesman for Suffolk NEU (National Education Union), said this was an issue he had known about for a long time and it was becoming ‘even more serious’.

“It absolutely comes down to school funding,” he said. “It you value education, you have to fund it.

“Education is not just about academia. Education is about socialisation, it’s about wider experiences.

“It’s giving pupils every opportunity to show what they are good at and give them life experience – and they gain life experience by visiting different places.

“But because schools don’t have the money and parents don’t have the money these sorts of trips don’t happen and that means these students’ experience of education is in school.”