Parent concern over lack of funds for school trips

Parents have called out the need for "last-minute crowd funding" for school trips, saying more funds should be made available to cover costs.

Two Present Grange Primary School mums, from North Tyneside, have voiced their worries about children missing out on visits and outdoor education amid several cancelled trips.

A trip to the Rising Sun Country Park was initially put in jeopardy after the school was unable to raise sufficient funds to cover the costs, but parents stepped in to help fund it.

Headteacher Tracey A Taylor said funding issues facing "all schools" means they have had to ask parents for voluntary donations. The government said it was putting "record investment" into schools.

Mum-of-one Joanna Huggan, 42, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service they were given the choice to voluntarily put up £15 per child to cover the trip, but some parents were unable and the school initially said the trip would have to be cancelled because the school could not afford to subsidise it further.

"It shouldn't have to come to or depend on last-minute crowd funding or parents' charity to go ahead," she said.

"Schools in the North East are so stretched that they can't cover £105 for a group of 60 children."

While this week's trip was saved, several have had to be dropped, including the end-of-year overnight trip for Year 6 pupils.

Huggan said she believed these trips were important experiences for young children for "bonding with your classmates".

Another parent, Jane Maloney, 42, said it was a "shock" the trip was about to be cancelled, especially as Rising Sun is a "free park".

"They keep saying kids need to be outside and that's what this was an opportunity to do, and it was nearly cancelled," she said.

"Parents were asking if there's anything we could do, like a fundraiser at the start of the year and be allocated to trips.

"It's a nice idea, but why should we have to do that?"

Taylor said it was a "difficulty facing all schools" due to "inadequate funding".

"We have to ask parents to make voluntary donations towards educational visits," she said.

"Due to rising transport costs for visits, we are having to ask families for a higher donation."

A spokesperson for the Department for Education said they were "putting record investment into our schools" and increased funding by £1.7bn for 2026/27.

"We are continuing to work with schools to help them maximise value from their budgets, making savings on energy, recruitment and banking, and reinvesting every penny in opportunities for young people," they said.

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