If you have been left in charge of planning a school trip, you may be feeling at a bit of a loss regarding where to start. After all, the pressure is one to ensure that the trip is fun yet educational. You also need to make sure that all safety aspects are covered too. Don’t let this responsibility work against you, though. Instead, you should thrive on it, as it is a great chance for you to impress. With that being said, read on to discover everything you need to know about planning a successful school trip.
Make sure you plan in advance
There is only one place to begin, and this is by planning in advance. This is vital for a number of different reasons. Firstly, you will want to give yourself as much time as possible to organise all elements of the trip. In addition to this, you will want to ensure that parents have enough time to save. School trips to Normandy and other overseas locations have become very popular, and the last thing you want is for children to miss out because their parents have not been given enough notice. Allowing parents to pay in smaller instalments for trips like this definitely comes highly recommended. Giving them at least a year is the best thing to do.
Promoting your tour
It is also important to recognise that you will not only need to organise the tour, but it needs to be promoted too. After all, you are going to want to make sure that as many children and parents are on board as possible. If you have empty spaces, it will cost you money. There are lots of different ways you can promote the trip. This includes printing posters and leaflets. Leaflets cannot only cover the benefits of the trip, but also details regarding travel insurance, financial protection, and how safety will be managed. It is also a good idea to hold an assembly where you can showcase a PowerPoint presentation that details everything about the trip.
Source funding
In addition to the points that have already been mentioned, funding is another vital aspect that you are going to need to handle. There are a number of different options you have at your disposal. You could, for example, encourage your students to fundraise through a variety of means. You may also be entitled to a Government grant, so it is worth looking into this further.
The finer details of the trip
You are going to need to make sure that everything is planned to perfection. You will need to put together an itinerary that runs smoothly. If you are going on an overseas journey or a stay that involves several nights, you need to make sure every day has the right level of balance for the children in terms of the places you are going to be visiting, with realistic timings included. You should also pre-arrange and pre-book all of your entrance tickets, visits, meals and passes so that everything runs smoothly and there are no delays. Museums and such like often have set procedures for school trips to make this a lot easier.
Complete risk assessments
Last but not least, health and safety are of critical importance when it comes to any school trip, and this is not something that you should ever cut corners with. You need to make sure that all potential hazards are identified. Once you have done this, you need to make sure that you rank these risks in terms of likelihood and severity so you can put the correct control measures in place to rectify the problem. A thorough risk assessment needs to be carried out and this needs to cover all aspects of your trip, including excursions, transport, and accommodation.
As you can see, there is a lot that needs to be considered when planning a school trip. Nevertheless, if you follow the advice that has been presented above, you can make sure that everything goes as smoothly as possible. Planning in advance is key, so that you have plenty of time to organise this, and you have plenty of time for parents to budget too, especially if you are planning an overseas school trip.
Places to go in the UK
Kenilworth Castle has been a major military stronghold, a royal palace, and an inspiration to writers and artists. It’s the perfect destination for schools to bring history learning outside of the classroom.
Treat the kids to an exciting trip to Legoland Windsor. An information pack is available to download on the Legoland website.
Exploring the history of The Royal Mint and the rich heritage that influences each coin is an experience that children will remember forever.
