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Wales Online
5 days ago
- Business
- Wales Online
Parents do overtime and sell on eBay as school trips now cost £400
Parents do overtime and sell on eBay as school trips now cost £400 Some children are having to give up their pocket money or raise their own funds to pay for trips Students fill a bus as they head out on a school trip Some parents are working extra hours or selling possessions to fund school trips, a survey has found. About one in eight (13%) parents with school-age children said they have worked overtime to meet the cost of away days or residential trips, according to public sector insurer Zurich Municipal. Meanwhile, 9% said they have taken to selling possessions on second-hand sites such as Vinted or eBay to cover the cost. The research also indicated that, in some cases, children's own pocket money or fundraising efforts had been used to help pay for the trip. About one in seven (15%) parents also said they had needed to make their own sacrifices and 'go without' to be able to afford to send their child on an educational excursion. More than a third (35%) of parents surveyed said the ongoing cost of living is their biggest challenge and nearly a quarter (24%) blamed utility bills. The research indicated parents were paying around £30 on average for a day school trip and £412 on average for a residential trip. Nearly two-fifths (39%) of parents said they believe school trips are a critical part of their child's education and nearly half (49%) said children learn a lot from a school trip. Learning life skills was also seen as a valued benefit of school trips, with 61% of parents believing they help children to be adventurous and learn new skills, 59% believing they help children's independence and 57% saying they give children a confidence boost. In general, parents who are struggling with school-related costs may benefit from seeing what support is available from the school, the local authority or the parent teacher association (PTA). Article continues below The survey also indicated that schools are conscious of the financial pressure that parents are facing. More than a fifth (22%) of parents said their child's school had either covered the full cost of the trip, subsidised it or even taken part in fundraising activities to ensure pupils did not miss out on the opportunity to enrich their knowledge of a subject. Jason Elsom, chief executive officer at Parentkind, a network of PTA fundraisers, said: 'School trips are an important milestone in children's lives and something that many of us look back on and reminisce about as we get older. But these trips are becoming more expensive and unfortunately many parents are struggling to afford them. 'Parent teacher associations work tirelessly all year round to raise money for their school. A new trend we've seen emerge over the last year is the number of PTAs now stepping up to cover the cost of these extracurricular activities. Article continues below 'Schools struggle with budgets at the best of times and it is important we do what we can to make sure children don't lose out on school trips.' Natalie Bate, head of education at Zurich Municipal, said: 'These trips are a key milestone in a child's education and often open children up to experiences they wouldn't necessarily have with their parent or guardian outside of school. School trips should conjure up happy memories, but the truth of the matter is that they're now often steeped with guilt or embarrassment as parents struggle to find the money to pay for their children to attend.' Zurich Municipal's analysis of claims data indicates that cancellations or lost deposits are a particularly common claim that schools make on their school trip insurance policies. The survey research was carried out by OnePoll in May, among 1,000 parents of children aged five to 16 years old across the UK.
Metro
14-06-2025
- Health
- Metro
Children asking to miss school or wetting themselves over 'horror movie' toilets
More than one in 10 parents say their children have asked to miss school because of the poor state of the toilets, new figures suggest. A new poll by charity Parentkind found almost a third of parents have raised concerns about school toilets to staff, while about one in six say the loos at their child's school are unclean. One parent said the toilets were so dirty their children 'felt like they were stepping into a horror movie', while another said their child had spotted cockroaches in the toilets. The Censuswide poll of 2,000 parents to school-age children found 11% of parents said their children had missed school or asked to stay at home because of worries about the school loos. They added some children had either wet themselves in school or suffered constipation while trying to avoid using the toilets. Earlier this week Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced schools will receive about £2.3billion per year to fix 'crumbling classrooms' and £2.4billion a year to rebuild 500 schools. In response, the chief executive of Parentkind called on the government to use some of those funds to make school loos 'fit for use'. Jason Elsom said: 'With a million children facing humiliation because of the disgusting state of school toilets, we need to shine a light on the health and well-being of our children who are refusing to drink during the day to avoid going to the toilet and the millions of children suffering constipation because their school toilets are so dirty. 'Parents tell us that we need to set aside the cash to clean and upgrade school loos. 'Parents tell us their children have seen 'cockroaches coming out of the floors' and toilets 'covered in poo and urine'.' The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) says it's 'dismayed' at the research findings, and said 'years of government underfunding' may in part explain why parents feel this way about school bathrooms. Pepe Di'lasio, general secretary of the ASCL, added: 'Schools understand the vital importance of toilets being clean and in good order, work hard to ensure this is the case, and will be dismayed at the findings of this research. 'Many schools are struggling with old and outdated buildings which require a great deal of maintenance. More Trending 'We urgently need improved investment in upgrading and modernising school buildings.' A Department for Education spokesperson said: 'We're investing in excellence everywhere for every child, which is why this government is dedicated to fixing the foundations by rebuilding crumbling school buildings. 'Despite inheriting a schools estate in disrepair, the government is creating safe learning environments through condition funding and ramping up the School Rebuilding Programme to give children growing up in our country the best start in life. 'We have increased overall capital budgets by over a billion pounds a year on average, the highest since 2010, showing this government's strong and unwavering commitment to the maintenance and renewal of the education estate.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Mums 'in love triangle' fought in school playground in front of children MORE: I've been revising for my son's GCSEs – I'm more stressed than him MORE: Free school meals to be extended to 500,000 chilldren across the country
Powys County Times
14-06-2025
- Health
- Powys County Times
One in 10 parents say children ask to miss school over concerns about toilets
More than one in 10 parents said their children have asked to miss school because of concerns about school toilets, a survey has suggested. A poll of 2,000 parents of school-aged children in the UK suggests around one in six (17%) parents rated the toilets at their child's school as unclean. Nearly a third (31%) of families said they have raised concerns about the toilets with school staff, according to a survey for charity Parentkind. One parent told the charity that the toilets were so dirty that their children 'felt like they were stepping into a horror movie', while another parent said their child had seen cockroaches in the school toilets. The Censuswide poll suggests that 11% of parents said their child had missed school, or asked to stay at home, because of worries about the toilets at school. The charity is calling on the Government to prioritise funds to improve 'disgusting' school toilets as part of plans to improve the school estate. It comes after the Chancellor announced around £2.3 billion per year for fixing 'crumbling classrooms' and £2.4 billion per year to rebuild 500 schools. Some surveyed parents suggested their children had wet themselves at school, or suffered constipation, because of avoiding the toilets at their school. Jason Elsom, chief executive of Parentkind, called for Government funds set out in the spending review to be used to make school toilets 'fit for use'. He said: 'With a million children facing humiliation because of the disgusting state of school toilets, we need to shine a light on the health and well-being of our children who are refusing to drink during the day to avoid going to the toilet and the millions of children suffering constipation because their school toilets are so dirty. 'Parents tell us that we need to set aside the cash to clean and upgrade school loos. 'Parents tell us their children have seen 'cockroaches coming out of the floors' and toilets 'covered in poo and urine'.' Pepe Di'Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: 'Schools understand the vital importance of toilets being clean and in good order, work hard to ensure this is the case, and will be dismayed at the findings of this research. 'Many schools are struggling with old and outdated buildings which require a great deal of maintenance because of years of government underfunding, and this may play a role in the perceptions reflected by respondents. 'We urgently need improved investment in upgrading and modernising school buildings.' A Department for Education spokesperson said: 'We're investing in excellence everywhere for every child, which is why this government is dedicated to fixing the foundations by rebuilding crumbling school buildings. 'Despite inheriting a schools estate in disrepair, the government is creating safe learning environments through condition funding and ramping up the School Rebuilding Programme to give children growing up in our country the best start in life. 'We have increased overall capital budgets by over a billion pounds a year on average, the highest since 2010 – showing this government's strong and unwavering commitment to the maintenance and renewal of the education estate.'
Leader Live
14-06-2025
- Health
- Leader Live
One in 10 parents say children ask to miss school over concerns about toilets
A poll of 2,000 parents of school-aged children in the UK suggests around one in six (17%) parents rated the toilets at their child's school as unclean. Nearly a third (31%) of families said they have raised concerns about the toilets with school staff, according to a survey for charity Parentkind. One parent told the charity that the toilets were so dirty that their children 'felt like they were stepping into a horror movie', while another parent said their child had seen cockroaches in the school toilets. The Censuswide poll suggests that 11% of parents said their child had missed school, or asked to stay at home, because of worries about the toilets at school. The charity is calling on the Government to prioritise funds to improve 'disgusting' school toilets as part of plans to improve the school estate. It comes after the Chancellor announced around £2.3 billion per year for fixing 'crumbling classrooms' and £2.4 billion per year to rebuild 500 schools. Some surveyed parents suggested their children had wet themselves at school, or suffered constipation, because of avoiding the toilets at their school. Jason Elsom, chief executive of Parentkind, called for Government funds set out in the spending review to be used to make school toilets 'fit for use'. He said: 'With a million children facing humiliation because of the disgusting state of school toilets, we need to shine a light on the health and well-being of our children who are refusing to drink during the day to avoid going to the toilet and the millions of children suffering constipation because their school toilets are so dirty. 'Parents tell us that we need to set aside the cash to clean and upgrade school loos. 'Parents tell us their children have seen 'cockroaches coming out of the floors' and toilets 'covered in poo and urine'.' Pepe Di'Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: 'Schools understand the vital importance of toilets being clean and in good order, work hard to ensure this is the case, and will be dismayed at the findings of this research. 'Many schools are struggling with old and outdated buildings which require a great deal of maintenance because of years of government underfunding, and this may play a role in the perceptions reflected by respondents. 'We urgently need improved investment in upgrading and modernising school buildings.' A Department for Education spokesperson said: 'We're investing in excellence everywhere for every child, which is why this government is dedicated to fixing the foundations by rebuilding crumbling school buildings. 'Despite inheriting a schools estate in disrepair, the government is creating safe learning environments through condition funding and ramping up the School Rebuilding Programme to give children growing up in our country the best start in life. 'We have increased overall capital budgets by over a billion pounds a year on average, the highest since 2010 – showing this government's strong and unwavering commitment to the maintenance and renewal of the education estate.'
Rhyl Journal
14-06-2025
- Health
- Rhyl Journal
One in 10 parents say children ask to miss school over concerns about toilets
A poll of 2,000 parents of school-aged children in the UK suggests around one in six (17%) parents rated the toilets at their child's school as unclean. Nearly a third (31%) of families said they have raised concerns about the toilets with school staff, according to a survey for charity Parentkind. One parent told the charity that the toilets were so dirty that their children 'felt like they were stepping into a horror movie', while another parent said their child had seen cockroaches in the school toilets. The Censuswide poll suggests that 11% of parents said their child had missed school, or asked to stay at home, because of worries about the toilets at school. The charity is calling on the Government to prioritise funds to improve 'disgusting' school toilets as part of plans to improve the school estate. It comes after the Chancellor announced around £2.3 billion per year for fixing 'crumbling classrooms' and £2.4 billion per year to rebuild 500 schools. Some surveyed parents suggested their children had wet themselves at school, or suffered constipation, because of avoiding the toilets at their school. Jason Elsom, chief executive of Parentkind, called for Government funds set out in the spending review to be used to make school toilets 'fit for use'. He said: 'With a million children facing humiliation because of the disgusting state of school toilets, we need to shine a light on the health and well-being of our children who are refusing to drink during the day to avoid going to the toilet and the millions of children suffering constipation because their school toilets are so dirty. 'Parents tell us that we need to set aside the cash to clean and upgrade school loos. 'Parents tell us their children have seen 'cockroaches coming out of the floors' and toilets 'covered in poo and urine'.' Pepe Di'Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: 'Schools understand the vital importance of toilets being clean and in good order, work hard to ensure this is the case, and will be dismayed at the findings of this research. 'Many schools are struggling with old and outdated buildings which require a great deal of maintenance because of years of government underfunding, and this may play a role in the perceptions reflected by respondents. 'We urgently need improved investment in upgrading and modernising school buildings.' A Department for Education spokesperson said: 'We're investing in excellence everywhere for every child, which is why this government is dedicated to fixing the foundations by rebuilding crumbling school buildings. 'Despite inheriting a schools estate in disrepair, the government is creating safe learning environments through condition funding and ramping up the School Rebuilding Programme to give children growing up in our country the best start in life. 'We have increased overall capital budgets by over a billion pounds a year on average, the highest since 2010 – showing this government's strong and unwavering commitment to the maintenance and renewal of the education estate.'
