It’s autumn and it’s about to rain – AGAIN.
Maybe it’s just Hawklad’s Secondary School (11-16 age) but what happened to School Trips. Ok a Pandemic hasn’t helped but even before that kicked in, where are the school outings. At his last school they would go out once every term on a school trip. Always to places that supported a current learning objective. Trip to places like castles or Viking sites that fitted in with History. Trips to churches and mosques to support RE. Trips to plays to support English and Drama. Trips to the countryside to look at Geographic Features. Trips to local science labs to foster interest in Science. Trips to Sporting Venues to encourage PE. It’s been so different at his current school.
Before the Pandemic kicked in NOT ONE educational school trip out for Hawklad. A few pupils got the chance of a trip to France to see war sites, but spaces were limited. With so much available on the schools doorsteps. So much History, Geography, Science, Religion. Why don’t the school use it. One of the best learning tools is surely to put the textbooks down and actually experince what your learning about. To see, touch, smell the subject.
Why am I always so at odds with modern schooling in Britain. Surely there is more to education than just trying to increase the length of the school day and reintroduce Victorian discipline into the classrooms.
A Dad trying to cope with the loss of his Partner and becoming a single parent. 
Our schools aren’t any better.
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That’s a real shame
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Pandemic has put a stop to all school outings here too.
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I wish it so wasn’t like this
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So do I.
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I think it’s largely due to the cost of insuring such trips and teacher’s unwillingness to support them.
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The money is there just it’s nit silent on those things that should matter
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Days are getting darker, so I hope you’ve both got good jackets 🦺 and a pair of waterproof 👖 trousers etc… For it no good getting soggy, that’s the dogs 🐕 muckful job. 💩
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It is a mud fest here
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You might live in a place that has a very long and vivid history, but few places promote their own back yards. More interesting going elsewhere, than looking under your own garbage can. Meanwhile, if we ever get rid of Covid without replacing it with something worse, maybe daytrips will become part of the curriculum again, but right now the dangers are too many. BoJo does not want parents suing the education system. His government would go bankrupt, except for the fact he can print as much money as he needs.
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He’s too busy giving money breaks to his billionaire buddies and taking money off those in need.
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A typical politician.
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I loved going out on school trips. Good memories =D You’re right, and you know something? Some people do just learn better with personal experiences and feelings. Getting out and SEEING what they’re learning, can be better, when you get personally involved.
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Everyone learns differently. We should be looking after all kids, not just those kids with parents who can afford to send their kids to a private school.
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I have many fond memories of school trips from my school years and I agree with you that students benefit so much from these learning and social experiences. The pandemic has certainly not helped. I hope things pick up next year for some opportunities for outings!
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Let’s hope so, kids only get one childhood
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Sad
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It is
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Some of the things I remember most about school I learned from those outings! All my senses involved…
Such a loss to not have those. Here in the States, I feel like education changed for the worse when students began being taught to pass tests that would get them funding rather than teaching for the sake of expanding their horizons and enabling them to move about as a contributing citizen.
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That’s so true. Here it’s just about getting expected grades.
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I agree. I remember the school trips we had . Montacute House, Sherbourne Abbey, Glastonbury. Cheddar Gorge. I would never have seen those places otherwise.
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I’ve never been to Cheddar Gorge. So want to go there
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I remember school outings in beaten up old coaches with no air conditioning, having to take a packed lunch and only five shillings to spend. They were great! We went to a dairy farm, power station, Badbury Rings, Maiden Castle and Corfe Castle. Kids today are missing out.
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They are missing out on so much
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They are. Education is not just for the classrooms.
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I think they started outings and foreign stays again. But I am not sure and don’t know to which degree since my kids are past their school days.
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I really hope they are
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I am positive about that.
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Yes! I feel as if outings are important. They should try to make more time for them in schools.
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They should but it’s just about exams now
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I loved school outing when I was growing up and generally learned much more, and more importantly, the things I learned tended to stay with me much longer. Experiences linger much better than any lesson text books can provide. Yes, Covid has made that impossible, but hopefully the powers that be will eventually recognize the educational value of school trips (though probably not your present government).
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I really hope they do. Our children deserve the best we can offer them.
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Yes they do!
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Well said – l remember yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeears ago like you, when dinosaurs roamed the earth [notably our ancient teachers] and even then later 70’s, there weren’t many trips in Surrey being offered, but way more than the children of today’s schooling system see. I remember going to London and seeing Madam Tussauds, plus another was see how biscuits were made and cars all in one day, rather astonishing really and a third to the Imperial Museum. The trip to France was very entertaining also ..
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Should are just not the same and even before Covid. But covid did not help.😔
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