Understanding the Importance of School Trips

As our society becomes increasingly worried about risks School Trips are becoming more and more of a debate topic. Should we let our children go? Will they be safe? Are there enough teachers per child? Will they be able to keep an eye on everyone all at once? So many questions and worries that can come up from a simple school trip approval letter.

Although these are all legitimate questions we need to be careful not to suffocate our children by not allowing them to partake. Although we would all love to wrap our children in cotton wool for the rest of their lives it’s not practical and will not benefit anyone in the long run. A private girls school in Surrey have pulled together some information to help us all to understand the importance of school trips.

School trips and educational visits should be viewed as positive teaching tools and powerful experience to will help to shape out children by enhancing their social, personal and emotional development. Extra stimulation in new environments can be particularly beneficial to help teach life skills, improve independence, and build on social skills and self-confidence.

Not only are field trips good fun and a chance to be part of something with their friends at school they also allow students to absorb, interact and immerse themselves in a practical way outside of the classroom! School trips can offer cultural learning experiences and are also valuable as an exercise in broadening a student’s understanding of the world and their place in it.

For older students there are extended trips, such as residential trips, which help support children’s personal development such as resilience and confidence. The experience of being in a residential ‘community’ adds a whole new dimension and fully supports the development of inter- personal skills such as trust, respect, team work and leadership.

*Collaborative post