Why school can trips do more for your school than just enhance learning

Tim Johnson, Managing Director of Club Europe, explains how school trips can not just improve education standards, but also raise the profile of your school.

My father started Club Europe back in 1980, creating bespoke school ski trips to Austria. I’m very proud to still be here 40 years on. Our offering has increased to include school music tours, sports tours and education trips, but our ethos remains the same: to give students enriching and engaging school travel experiences.

With Brexit looming, it’s even more important now to ensure young people maintain links with Europe’s culture, history and society. Our European trips combine support for key areas of the curriculum with this essential ingredient, so that students really learn and absorb the culture of the destination they have travelled to.

Many of the trips we create take full advantage of the continent's breadth of history and culture. Our trips feature specially arranged activities, collaborations with other schools and specialist workshops; this ensures students get an authentic experience.

Learning Outside the Classroom has long been part of the school curriculum. It's widely accepted by educators to support learning, engage students and offer invaluable life experiences. Now with the scope and depth of school trips expanding, could the range of extra curricular experiences you offer your students set you apart from other schools?

With the help of an increasing number of specialist agencies, who will organise every aspect of your school trip, there is a huge market out there and no limit to what you can offer your students.

From dedicated CAS and STEM trips to European language and cultural tours, school trips these days can be tailor-made for each individual travelling group; targeted specifically to support one or more modules for a specific subject.

So what advice and support can we offer teachers about organising these trips? What kind of trips should you be considering and how can they be used not just to enhance learning but to raise the profile of your school?

The best advice I can give you is to plan ahead. Allow at least 12 months - if possible - to ensure you get the best accommodation, educational centres and flights for your students. Be careful when choosing your specialist agency.  Ask yourself: ‘Do they have the right accreditations? Do they come recommended? Good communicate with SLT and parents is key. A good operator will have a client portal and offer comprehensive support from parent evening presentations to publicity posters and even trip 'websites' to support the teacher. We have just launched a new ‘intuitive’ tour management portal, My Club Europe, which enables you to do all this and more very quickly and easily. Using various platforms, it also facilitates communication with students.

What kind of school trips should you choose?

With such a wealth of choice out there, the world really is your oyster. At Club Europe we specialise in unique trips and lesser-known destinations that offer trips that extra ingredient. These include joint trips with other departments such as a combined Classics and Art trip to Rome, a combined Language and Ski trip to France or a GCSE Music and Art Trip.

Popular education tours for us are short trips like WWI battlefields tours to Belgium as well as once-in-a-lifetime cultural trips to Japan, Hong Kong or USA.

Residential trips that support one subject are an excellent way to immerse students in their subject eg. A three-day Science trip to CERN in Geneva or a five-day immersive Language trip to a specialist language centre in France, Germany or Spain.

So how can school trips raise your school's profile?

You could consider developing a flagship school trip specifically for your school, which becomes an integral part of the curriculum for one year group or even all students.

Films can be a powerful tool: Make a film of some of your students on a school trip to show to prospective parents. It’s important to measure the results and the impact of your school trips on academic levels, pupil-teacher relationships and pupil confidence; you can use this data to demonstrate the tangible benefits of your school travel programme.

To get help with the planning of your school trips, speak to a specialist company, like Club Europe. They will have all the local knowledge, and travel expertise you need. They provide an essential backstop if anything goes wrong.

At Club Europe, we like to offer strategy and advice on a school’s whole travel programme from ski trips, sports tours and music tours to the full range of education trips.

We're founding members of the School Travel Forum and are also members of several other UK and international school organisations. We regularly travel across Europe and beyond to meet with HTs and subject leaders."

We organise bespoke school ski trips, school music tours, education tours and sports tours to destinations across the world. 

If you'd like to contact Tim Johnson or arrange a meeting with him at your school, email Tim.J@club-europe.co.uk.

Or find out more about all our school travel experiences.