Trippin'

I love a good school trip (or, "Learning Outside the Classroom" as it is currently known). As much as I enjoy being in the classroom, there's nothing quite like getting out and seeing things for real rather than projected on the board. Sure, I've had some bad experiences, like the time that one kid on a residential stole ALL of the fruit from the canteen for three days in a row and hid it under his pillow. Or the time that I took a group of year eights to the Natural History Museum and five lads proceeded to "gangsta" around the place and not listen to a word any teacher had to say to them (between them they got 40 days of exclusions and isolations). My experiences are quite benign compared to some: groups of students deciding that they don't want to do the walk any more and setting off for "home", which happens to be 20+ miles away; kids hanging out of hotel windows; fights, drugs, rock and roll. It can be a minefield. That's if you actually manage to get through the miles of red tape involved in planning a trip - in itself enough to turn many teachers off planning even the briefest of sojourns.

The honest truth of the matter is that the planning of the trip is time-consuming and often frustrating, so much so that I don't really want to go through the process here. You will spend several months filling in forms, having meetings with various people, completing risk assessments, sending letters home, and filling in some more forms. But once you're there and you see how much your students are gaining from the trip it becomes worth all the hassle.

The benefits as far as I can see are thus:

1.  They are engaging - allowing students to interact with things which they can't in the classroom.
2.  They broaden horizons - a lot of students rarely get the opportunity to leave their community, so it gives them the chance to see different places.
3.  They can build self-confidence - once a student realises that they can leave their "bubble" and interact effectively with other people, they start to feel more confident.
4.  Linked to the two previous points, they can help increase aspirations - students can begin to see what is possible and develop new ideas about what they want to do with their lives.
5.  Teachers can benefit from them too - my experiences on trips have taught me about how to run a successful trip and aided me in my knowledge of specific subjects.

I have just recently got back from a trip to Belgium and France, looking at the battlefields, monuments, and cemeteries of WWI. This was the fourth time I have been on this trip, and the second time I have planned the trip myself, and I always return in no doubt that the trip was worthwhile and beneficial. One tool I use to keep a record of the trip and highlight the benefits of it is Twitter. As the trip progresses I will tweet photos, videos, and comments from the trip which allow students, parents, and other organisations to see how the trip is progressing. Here are a few examples from my most recent trip...

First stop - Memorial Museum Passchendale. pic.twitter.com/UUFJST9dLE

— DanumHistory (@DanumHistory) February 29, 2016

Students reflect on the scale of the sacrifice at Tyne Cot Cemetery. #FWWCBTP pic.twitter.com/gD9bmEo8yS

— DanumHistory (@DanumHistory) February 29, 2016

The Last Post Ceremony - performed every night since 1928 (minus a bit of a break during WW2). #FWWCBTP pic.twitter.com/5g3egJ5cCa

— DanumHistory (@DanumHistory) February 29, 2016

Lijssenthoek Cemetery was a fitting end to our trip - soldiers from 30 nations highlighting the "World" War. pic.twitter.com/YhQVQG54BY

— DanumHistory (@DanumHistory) March 2, 2016

Other ideas to get the most out of a school trip are:

1.  Have a clear idea about what you want the students to take from the trip overall, and each day (if it is more than one day) specifically. For me on the battlefields trip, I use focus questions for each day such as "Was the Battle of the Somme really a disaster?"
2.  Ensure that there are a good variety of activities. On the battlefields trip, students get sick of ABC (Another Bloody Cemetery!) so try to look for ways to provide an eclectic mix of activities.
3.  Involve the parents. The more involved the parents are, the better the behaviour and the more engaged the students should be on your trip. The threat of "I'll ring your mum" is much scarier if that student knows that you actually know who their mum is.
4.  Don't be afraid to self-aggrandize. Tell the leadership team, try to get something in the local press; video, tweet, and blog. Let people know what you are doing and why it is worthwhile.
5.  Have a plan for what you want to do when you get back. Why stop with just the trip? Why not take the energy and enthusiasm and use it productively? For example, you come back from a battlefields trip and encourage the students to make a memorial garden at school.

Obviously a lot of my ideas are linked directly to history and, in most cases, to my favourite trip on the battlefields. However, it would be easy to apply these ideas to any subject and to any trip. The main thing is to be enthusiastic and creative. It is true to say, as with a great many things in teaching, that the more you put in, the more you get out.

If you have any questions about planning a trip, or just want to troll me, don't hesitate to leave a comment below.