We can all remember the excitement of school trips, whether it’s just for a day or a week-long residential, they allow students to experience life in an educational context outside the school gates.
Not only do school trips encourage students to learn outside of the classroom but they also allow children to socialise with peers in a different way than within day-to-day school. It also gives students an opportunity to visit places they otherwise may not experience.
The Benefits Of School Trips
Apart from being exciting for students, there are many benefits to school trips.
Bringing Subjects To Life
Everyone has a different way of learning. For many students, especially kinaesthetic learners who find it easier to take a hands-on approach to learning, school trips are brilliant for helping them to understand topics.
For example, when learning about rocks during geography, visiting a geological site and taking part in rock based experiments can really help students’ imaginations and provide a more tactile experience, leading them to understand more about a topic they are learning in the classroom.
Increasing Motivation
Visiting a place or seeing a sight that students have been learning about, allows them to become more enthusiastic when talking and learning about it back in the classroom. It gives them a sense of motivation and inspiration for the projects they complete on specific topics as they’ll have more personal connection to it.
It is said that school trips not only increase motivation, but also lead to higher achievement in class as seeing things in real life is more likely to stick in their minds.
Boosting Self-confidence
For some students, the classroom can seem very formal and a stressful environment to be in, leading them to be shy, unsure of things and not wanting to contribute ideas in front of the class, no matter how much support teachers give.
Taking children on school trips – an informal environment – helps children socialise in a different setting and in a way they can express themselves. This helps with social skills and boosting confidence.
Even the shyest students can really come out of their shell on these trips, where many take this new confidence back to the classroom.
St Peter’s Prep School Trips
Here at our independent primary school, we love school trips and recognise their value. On average, we run school trips around every week of term time. Often we make the most of our local surroundings with trips to farms, museums, castles and galleries as well as taking the train to Exeter library with our Reception pupils and our annual theatre trips.
In the past, our students have visited Torquay museum, learning fascinating stories of ancient history and bringing this knowledge back to the classroom.
As well as trips around local areas, from Year 3 and above, we introduce overnight expeditions. As our students move through school they go from staying locally to further afield, including locations such as London and France.
During the Easter holidays we usually offer optional sporting trips, with recent trips to Rome, Jersey, Barcelona and Iceland, as well as the regular ski trips which the children love.
Even if it’s just going for a walk, or doing a little bit of gardening, our students love learning outside of the classroom.
Opening students’ minds to new cultures and gaining knowledge about specific topics from places they have visited are some of the many reasons why school trips are important for children. A school outing promotes real world experience that can’t be taught in the classroom, providing the right balance for academic life.
