We understand that many parents have concerns over school trips that are scheduled to run this year (and the beginning of next). We also appreciate that lots of people are now finding themselves in very different financial circumstances due to the current situation.
As a school, we have to continue to make sure that all the finances are in place for us to remain operational and comply with strict guidelines on the use of school funding. One of these areas is school trips. The school must act purely as an agent and ensure that trips are self-funded. In other words, the school can’t step in and make payments for trips on parents’ behalf. They have to be fully covered by the payments collected from parents/carers for the sole purpose of the trip.
All trips are booked using agents that are ABTA bonded and insurance is always taken out at the time of booking. This means that payments to the tour operators do have some protection on them. At the moment, due to the situation the travel industry finds itself in, the ABTA website gives a couple of options such as credit notes/rebooking of a holiday in preference to refunds due to the significant pressures on tour operators’ cash-flows and their ability to survive this crisis.
Myton School’s finance team is working alongside all of the tour operators to ensure the best possible outcome for parents. At no point in the process can Myton School be seen to initiate any cancellations. Unfortunately, if we fail to keep up with the schedule of payments due to be paid to the tour operator, we will be in breach of the terms and conditions of the trip and this would invalidate any refund options available to us.
For this reason, we are continuing to send out payment reminder emails for these trips and we hope that you are able to continue making the payments towards all trips that your child is booked on. If this is not possible, perhaps due to changing financial circumstances, please could you contact the Finance Office on [email protected].
Many thanks for your understanding.
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