A Be realistic. Yes, they should be banned. Taking any pupils on trips these days involves so many worries - from risk assessments to parents.

Taking pupils who may deliberately spoil things is way beyond the call of duty. Disruptive youngsters should only be allowed to participate if a parent is willing to take part and take full responsibility. School trips are not a curri-culum entitlement - they are extra curricular and extra work.

Sara, Essex

A If a child is considered to be a risk to the safety of other children or staff on a trip, the school is allowed to prevent them from going. In seven years of teaching, I have only seen one child stopped from going on a trip.

The teacher threatened a girl who was always in trouble for trivial things that if her bad behaviour continued, she would not be allowed to go. The behaviour persisted and the teacher kept his word. I’m against this type of punishment. Teaching is about building relationships. If you go about this with enough care, there will be fewer behavioural problems in your class.

Take the time to get to know the children in your class, stop shouting at them and try to understand them, so banning them from school trips will seem like a ridiculous idea.

Nick, Rainham

A Like anyone who has ever led a school trip, I have a certain sympathy with the view that known miscreants have no place on one. The risk of a loose cannon going off is just too great. And we all know whose head will be on the line if it happens. But the “outsider” status of the misbehaving pupil will be very publicly re-enforced if they are excluded. And there’s always the chance that the stimulation of a different environment will be the first step along the road to rehabilitation and re-integration for a child who is included.Terry, Worthing

A With the media scrutiny of school-trip tragedies and the increasingly litigious attitude of parents, I would err on the side of cautionPat, Brighton

Coming up

Q:I have been told that two pupils in my class “do not get on” and should not be seated together. Should I obey, or does this just make things worse? Wouldn’t it be better to work at helping them to get along?

Q:Any views on a school involving the police rather than merely following pupil behaviour and discipline policies in response to pupil misconduct towards staff or other pupils in the classroom?

Send your answer or any question you would like answered by your fellow teachers to askateacher@tes.co.uk We pay pound;30 for any question or answer published.