North Tyneside parent concern over lack school trip funds

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 it was “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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