What information is available to parents? There will be a parental information evening early 2018, date to be confirmed, where most of your questions will be answered by a representative from Mercat Tours International and School Staff, in the meantime we will try to answer as many of your questions as possible without giving too much away to the pupils! This trip is a Battlefields Experience your son and daughter will be told very little about the day’s activities, where they are going and what they will be doing, this is the same as the young recruits were treated in WW1, they were told as little as possible, in some ways your son/daughter will be treated the same as the soldiers, only without the danger or lice!

Are the hostel rooms en-suite? Yes, all rooms have toilet and showers.

Can my child choose who they share a room with? Yes, within certain limits, all pupils are give a pro forma where they can state the name of 1 child they wish to room with, this pair then select another pair of children to also share the room, we try to always give at least their first choice, but cannot guarantee this owing to last minute changes of allocated rooms at the hostel, we cannot give pupils the names of children they are sharing with until we arrive at the hostel for the same reason.

Can my child refuse to share a room with anyone? As we attempt to always meet each child’s preferences hopefully this will not be an issue, however if you have specific concerns please contact pupil support.

Will my child need to bring towels? Yes, towels are a necessary part of the packing list, we suggest a bath towel and hand towel be packed.

Can my son/daughter bring their laptop? In light of problems in previous trips we will allow pupils to bring a camera and/or mobile phone only, there will be very limited time to use electronic equipment and pupils have damaged or lost tablets and portable DVD players in the past, the school and tour operator cannot be help responsible for personal electronic equipment.

How much money will my child need? At present we are suggesting around €60 and £25, there are only a few occasions where there are opportunities to spend money, we would also suggest that your child take a small sum in Sterling for the ferry trip to Calais breakfast on the ferry is the only meal not included in the trip cost. Each coach will have a teacher allocated as “banker” and we recommend your child place their money in a sealed envelope with the banker. School staff and the tour guides cannot be held responsible for any monies lost after handing over to your child or if you should choose not to use the banker facility.

is food and drink available on the coach? No, we do not allow food and drink to be consumed on the coach, this helps to keep the coaches clean, and also helps your child travel without feeling sick an many year’s experience has shown us, being unable to sleep on the overnight journey. We do allow and in fact encourage your child to bring a small bottle of water on the coach. There are several stops during the overnight journey, where you child will have the opportunity to grab a drink or quick snack. We would encourage you to try to impress on your child the benefits of eating and drinking healthily during the trip, but as parents ourselves we are all to aware that this advice can often fall upon deaf ears.

Will my child require travel insurance Your child is covered by Stirling Council’s insurance for health issues and or accidents, however this policy does not cover your child for cancellation owing to family reasons or health reasons before the trip departs, neither does this insurance policy cover the loss of personal items such as mobile phones or money. We suggest that you take out one trip travel insurance to cover all eventualities.

will my child be travelling on a group passport? No, Mercat Tours require that all pupils travel under their own passport, this also makes trip organisation for school staff far easier, please make sure that your child’s passport is current and has an expiry date later that the trip return date. Your child will also require their own EHIC card again please ensure that this is in date.