Single mom dismisses pricey school trip as ‘absolutely ridiculous’

A single mom has revealed how she wrote a furious email to her son’s school about the staggering cost of a trip.

Emma Mellor, 40, from Shropshire, learned that the three-night visit to Krakow, Poland, offered by her 11-year-old son’s school, would cost her £799.

But the costs didn’t stop there, as that only included two evening meals, meaning parents would have to shell out more money to pay for extra food during the trip.

The high compensation included round-trip flights, a coach transfer to Manchester Airport, a three-night stay in a Krakow hotel and excursions, including a visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

The mother-of-five was told that in order to take part in the trip, her child would need to pay a £300 non-refundable deposit to the school just 11 days after receiving the initial email.

The field trip was emailed to parents as an exciting opportunity, but Emma said the price puts it out of reach for many families.

Mrs Mellor said: ‘I was shocked to see it was £800 for three nights.

‘For this kind of money we can go on a nice family holiday in a caravan for five days, or we can go out for a weekend trip to Center Parcs with the six of us.

“I’d rather spend my money on something for the whole family.

‘I have an older child who is in his tenth year and I remember going on a trip to Berlin last year or the year before and it only cost him £275.

“The trip only says two evening meals and it doesn’t say anything about other food, so I suppose they’ll need more money for other meals.”

Stunned at the cost, the self-employed wellness business owner fired off a snappy reply in which he slammed the price and declined the offer.

Her email reply to the school read: “If I had £800+ to spend on going away I’d spend it on a trip for the whole family, not one of my five children, leaving the rest of us without a journey goes. holidays.

“These prices are simply ridiculous for many families.

“I assume the 1% with a lot of disposable income will be happy to participate.”

Despite her son not saying she wanted to go on the trip, she said it wouldn’t be an option because she couldn’t afford the trip and had to consider four other kids.

She believes she is not the only parent in this position and said some parents would have to sacrifice their own holidays to pay for their children’s travel.

Ms Mellor said: ‘This isn’t so much a complaint against the school, it’s more of a shock at the price of the trip.

‘It’s really started an interesting discussion about more and more people who can’t afford the school trips because they’re getting more expensive and out of reach.

‘People have to go without holidays or work even more hours if that is possible to be able to finance them and those are unrealistic expectations.

“With the cost of living rising at an incredible rate, people’s wages aren’t even adding up to this.

‘I imagine it would cost somewhere between £400 and £500 in extra money on top of the £799 for food, clothes for the trip, travel money, insurance and you want them to have a good time on the trip too.

“It’s not just our school – people seem to be experiencing this in schools across the country.”

She also added that two other excursions had also been announced in the email, both of which were even more expensive at over £1,000 per trip.

Ms Mellor said: ‘In the email they also informed us that there would be a trip in 2024 costing around £1,200 and another in 2025 for £1,200.

‘The other trips on offer, which were £1,200, were four or five night trips.

“I don’t think they’ve booked this one yet and by the time they do, they could bring in even more money.”

After being stunned by the cost of the trip to Krakow, Ms. Mellor took to Facebook to voice her concerns, and more than 300 comments were left by social media users who agreed with her.

She said: ‘I never thought this message would reach so many people.

“I was surprised to see how many people were in the same boat and found the trips above their means.”

One Facebook user said, “School trips can become a financial nightmare for many families. Schools must become more realistic.’

Another commented, “My husband and I recently went to Krakow. I don’t think we spent the whole trip for either of us.”

A third added: “I totally agree. I understand the great pleasure of going away with classmates, but I prefer to fund a family vacation.’

A fourth user said, “I totally agree! I will not be sending any of mine on excessive trips with school when we can vacation as a family. No guilt!’