How to Get Ahead With Planning School Trips This Term
School trips are an essential part of life for any educational setting- they give children an opportunity to visit places they may not have been to before and allow learning to come alive by seeing it in a different setting. For teachers, however, there is a lot to think about, from the planning stage, visiting the site and what items to take on the day.
This blog has some top tips to help you get ahead with your planning, including the resources you will need from the Paper Plus website, in order to have a fantastic day out!
Complete a risk assessment
Before any trip can take place, a risk assessment needs to be completed. This is done for a variety of reasons, but mainly to cover and insure the school if anything goes wrong on the day. Filling in risk assessments can be time consuming, but it gives you the opportunity to think about every aspect of the trip, often prompting you to remember something you have forgotten. If you are going on an educational visit, most places allow teachers to visit before the day of the trip to familiarise themselves with the location- this visit is often free, if you get in contact beforehand. Make sure you have clear designated roles before the trip (first aider, trip leader etc), so it is clear who is responsible for what area before you set off.
Pack your first aid kits
One thing you cannot leave without on a trip is a first aid kit. There are various types of kits, but the best one for a trip should be lightweight and easy to carry, as you will be taking it around with you all day. Paper Plus have a couple of different designs for any eventuality: this small kit and this sports one is particularly good if you are attending sports events and a child injures themselves.
First aid kits have a variety of treatments to help children (and adults) if they are hurt. However, it can be difficult to administer first aid when you are in the middle of a field or somewhere with large amounts of people. One resource we can really recommend is an instant ice pack. It only goes cold when you crack it in half, making it easy to transport, but is essential for head bumps in particular, which may need ice immediately.
Put a high visibility waistcoat on every child
For most teachers, the main worry about a school trip is losing a child- this is very rare, but there are steps you can take to minimise the risk even before you set foot out of the school building. Every child can wear a high visibility waistcoat on top of their school uniform, so they can be easily identified by school staff, as well as members of the public if they become separated from the rest of their group. For younger children in particular, this is an easy way to keep everyone together- children feel a sense of responsibility when they put on the magical high-visibility waistcoat!
Clipboards for learning on the go!
Clipboards are a fantastic way of ensuring children remember what they have seen and learnt, by writing it down as they go along! This works really well in museums- a lot of which have their own learning resources for schools to use when they arrive. It could be a treasure hunt, where children have to find different types of dinosaurs and sketch them or identify different paintings and write down who they are by. Having a clipboard for each child helps to keep them engaged and free of distractions, as well as being a handy place to store a pencil for future use! Clipboards also have a good wipe-down surface, meaning spillages can be taken care of.
Lanyards for identification
All members of staff in a school wear a lanyard around the premises to identify themselves and their role- therefore, why not get the children to wear one on a school trip? First of all, they will love looking like their teachers and secondly (more importantly) it will help to identify them if they get lost from the group. Each lanyard should be printed with the school’s name and main telephone number. Children are then instructed to show it to a member of staff at the trip venue if they get lost, who will then call the school. There can be prizes for every child who manages to keep their lanyard on for the whole day- easier said than done!
Contact Us
If you’d like to know more about how Paper Plus can provide your school with the supplies and stationery it requires, please get in touch. Call us on 01444 238 050 or pop us an email at sales@paperplusuk.com
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