> Blog: Planning a School Trip to Educate and Excite Your Students

Looking to plan a school trip full of wonderful memories that will be simply unforgettable for your students? Well, you’ve come to the right place for the best tips and advice to ensure your overnight school trip is one that will be fondly remembered by everyone for years to come! 

We understand that you want to make your overnight school trip utterly fabulous, but there’s quite a few things to consider. There’s no need to worry, after reading this blog post, we’ll make sure you have absolutely all the necessary tools to ensure your school trip is well-organised, well-executed and well - simply sensational! So, let’s get down to it! 

School trip destinations - where should you go?

The first port of call is to think about what you want to gain from the school trip? Perhaps, it’s a field trip that offers a litany of educational value and enriches the knowledge of your students? Or, a fun-filled break that is brimming with adventure and activities galore? You can even combine the two together, enhancing education with a healthy splash of thrills and spills to keep all your students engaged and enthusiastic!

Once you’ve decided on the best type of trip that suits the needs of your students, you’re well on your way! Then, you can start thinking about the next steps. So, here we go! 

Travel in style 

There’s nothing quite like the fervour and excitement that builds as you embark on your journey to your chosen destination to begin your school trip. Whether it’s a coach trip, or even a short flight - it’s all part of the wonderful experience an overnight school trip provides. 

Your destination and group size will determine what mode of transport is practical, but regardless of how you travel, it’s all about the fun! Is it a long journey? Maybe you want to plan a few games for the ride to get the creative juices of your students flowing. If you’re travelling on a coach, you can encourage a group sing-along and lift the spirits of everybody with a symphony or two. 

Once you've decided on travel, it's time to crunch the numbers so you know the costs and what you need. 

Communicate with parents frequently 

Since the pandemic, parents may feel slightly more anxious about sending their children away on an overnight school trip than before. Ensuring good communication with parents makes planning a school trip much easier and allows you to give them an idea of what their child will be getting up to. Our new and improved parent-teacher presentations will allow you to do this with ease. Take a look at MyPGL once your booking has been made for all of the resources you’ll need.

It’s also a great way to reassure parents of the untold benefits of a school trip. School trips are proven to enhance child development, it reinvigorates their appetite for learning and fun, and it also allows for precious bonding time with their fellow classmates. This will be music to the ears of parents when their child returns from their school trip with a new lease of life! 

It’s also a great way for you to open a dialogue with parents for them to communicate any dietary requirements, allergies or specific things their child requires during the trip. At PGL, we like to encourage children to be independent, so we offer a superb choice of delicious, nutritious food for them to choose from and enjoy throughout their stay. If any of your students have particular dietary requirements, then we can accommodate for any specific needs completely hassle-free! 

Ensure your students are safe and secure 

Some activities or places you plan to visit may require a little due diligence in the form of a risk assessment. They can be an invaluable resource for ensuring safety is heightened and all potential risks are taken into account so everyone stays safe!

When planning a school trip with PGL, you can access risk assessments for the venue that your school trip is taking place at. It’s easy, fuss-free and ensures all your students can enjoy activities and adventure in a safe and secure environment. 

What’s more, our risk assessment process we use has been inspected by our own team of sector-leading safety experts and by the inspectorates of the AALA, BAPA and relevant National Governing Bodies. We’ve got all bases covered! 

Putting together an amazing itinerary

Now here's the best part, the fun activities! Where will you visit? What do you want to take your students to see? What learning outcomes do you want to achieve? All exciting and intriguing things to think about, right? Your itinerary will be crafted to suit the learning outcomes of your chosen programme and tailored to suit the age range of your group.

At PGL, we offer a variety of overnight school trips that could suit what you're looking for. From Multi-Activity trips to an Adrenaline Adventure, we have it all! So, strap in and discover all the amazing things we have to offer across our range of centres across the UK. Here are just a few of the overnight trips we offer! 

Multi-Activity

An action-packed trip full of thrilling activities and fun games for all your Year 5 & 6 pupils. All of which are designed to develop teamwork, communication, leadership, and problem-solving skills. With challenges such as Stand Up Paddleboarding, the fabled High Ropes Course, and a spot of bullseye-hunting at our Archery range, the Multi-Activity trip offers a diverse range of activities that you and your pupils will simply love. 

Adrenaline Adventure

Exclusive to secondary schools, get your students ready for a high speed weekend with this trip! From Banana Boats to Coasteering, your students will have an epic time tackling new activities designed to challenge their abilities. They'll also get to try some classic PGL activities, putting their communication and teamwork skills to the test. 
 

Sports Weekends

Planning a school trip for your netball or football players? Why not try our Netball Tournaments (delivered in partnership with England Netball) or Football Coaching trips? With high-class umpiring and training from our range of super-sporty experts, blended with fun, teambuilding PGL activities, we’ll enable your students to develop their netball gameplay experience or football skills! 

Let’s get started today!

So, now you’re a whizz at planning a school trip, why not seal the deal and discover the world of PGL? Our residential school trips offer pupils a fun-filled adventure with fantastic group activities, entertainment and most importantly, having a blast!

If you would like to chat to our friendly professional team about planning a school trip, then contact us to see if our centres offer all that you need to make your trip tremendous! Bring your students to PGL for a school trip they’ll remember for a long time!