School of ski

School ski trips might sound expensive, but they’re ideal for those kids whose parents don’t know one end of a ski from another, says Felice Hardy, and they’re great confidence builders too.

There’s a cry that many of us parents will hear time and time again: “Can I go on the school skiing trip? All my friends are going. It’s only £750. Please say yes.” But before muttering a time-worn excuse about a visit to granny while desperately thinking how you’re still struggling to scrape together next term’s fees, do give it careful consideration.

Of course, if you’re an established skiing family, the question probably won’t even arise. After all the annual family ski holiday offers more comfort and the promise of less invigilated teen freedom – who wants to spend their holiday with a bunch of beginners and teachers? But if, to you, a gondola means only Venice and a DIN setting is the volume control on your son’s electric guitar amplifier, don’t be too hasty in turning down the chance of your child gaining useful social skills and mastering a sport they’ll hopefully enjoy for the rest of their life. Long after cricket bats and lacrosse sticks have been banished to the attic, he or she is likely to be among the 1.2 million Brits heading for the Alps or the Rockies each winter.

And perhaps most importantly, this isn’t a school trip for which your child is picked because of a particular talent – anyone can go, even complete beginners. Children who are habitually and painfully excluded from football and rugby teams because of their lack of ball skills often excel at skiing and snowboarding. My Persian-Italian friend Amin found it difficult to fi t in when he first arrived at school in Brighton. “The reason,” as he puts it, “was because I was both small and foreign.” However he could already ski, so after the school trip he was overwhelmed with new-found rung space on the school’s social ladder. He was still small and foreign, but in the eyes of his schoolmates he was now also “super-cool!”