Mention the idea of running a school trip nowadays and the blood pressure of the average teacher will soar in a way that would have the medical profession writing to the Lancet. What if something happens to the kids? What if they embarrass the school? And then there’s the paperwork . . . Is it worth it?

I think the answer has to be a resounding yes. No matter what the trip, it is almost guaranteed to increase the students motivation and enthusiasm for the subject. They will learn far more from being there, seeing for themselves and doing than they ever could from any explanation or video you could use in the classroom.

There are other benefits, less concrete but equally valuable. Students recognise the time and effort that organising a trip involves and they appreciate the commitment it shows to their education. They also have an opportunity to see you, the teacher, out of the classroom and this can make a phenomenal difference to your relationship with them back in school.

With careful preparation and attention to detail your trip can be a pleasant and profitable experience. Each authority and school is likely to have their own guidelines, but here are a few pointers: o Make your first stop the school handbook and gen up on the regulations. Make the second stop the teacher with resposibility for overseeng school trips, for a translation.

o Check out agencies who offer educational packages, it may be worth the extra cost to have them do the organising.

o If the place you want to visit doesn’t offer special rates for schools tours teaching materials, negotiate.

o Plan the date and time of your trip very carefully; deciding to go on a day when cover is already expected to be heavy is not going to make you popular with the headteacher.

o If you decide to use a coach I would: check out the company, personal recommendation is always useful; ring round and ask for quotes, on occasion I have found differences of Pounds l00 between companies for the same journey; ask for written confirmation that the driver will be a full-time employee of the company.

o Minibuses have the advantage of flexibility, lower costs and they allow you to take a smaller group of students. Teachers will have to drive, often after a long and tiring day and you will have to plan for parking. Check the rules about who can drive the bus, in some areas teachers have to take a special test.

o Check insurance arrangements, whether or not you will need a permit and what the procedure will be in the case of a breakdown. Make sure there will be at least one other member of staff with you who can drive the bus.

o Cost your trip very carefully and enlist the office staff in helping with the collection of payments.

o Make sure you have sufficient staff, the usual recommendation is 1:20+1 but there’s no harm in having more. It s a good idea to have at least one teacher with plenty of experience of trips, even if they’re not the trip co-ordinator. If you are taking boys and girls you will need male and female staff.

o Plan your itinerary carefully, as well as exciting activities the students will need rest time. Make sure you follow the set guidelines about supervision and free time, and make these arrangements very clear to the students.

o Before you go, collect all the information you need from the students. This will include emergency contact numbers for parents, relevant medical information, for example students with diabetes, epilepsy etc, and in some cases a consent form allowing emergency medical treatmnet. I always ask parents to confirm that they will be collecting their child from the school on their return or that they have arranged for them to be collected by a named person.

o Leave copies of all this information at school and with a member of staff who will be your point of contact out of school hours.

o Check (obsessively if you re anything like me) that you have all the tickets and entrance passes with you and give another member of staff lists of ticket numbers, photocopies of passes, copies of confirmation letters etc.

o Have a meeting with the students before you go to brief them about pocket money, uniform requiremnets etc. This is also an opportunity to lay down the expectations you have of their behaviour their behaviour is unacceptable.

Lindsey Thomas teaches at Lea Manor High School, Luton.