Trips

[iamamos]

How do school trips work ? Do you have a school coach/bus or do you take the train . Do any ta's come with you ?

Depends on the trip. I only do trips if I get to control everything including staffing.

Depends on the trip. When I worked in London, we took the underground no problems. Now I hire a coach. Staffing is 1:10 and I only get a TA if I'm taking someone flagged up as needing one.

Depends on the venue, numbers and nature of the trip.

In the last month I have run 2. The first we used 2 school minibuses for the morning and one in the afternoon (travelled to 3 external venues). A valued colleague and friend drove one and stayed with us all day - he is DSL and First Aid trained. The other driver was the Cover Supervisor who stayed at the 1st venue and drove us to the 2nd then went back to school. 25 kids in total so we were ok for numbers with just 2 teachers (1:15 at KS3)

On the 2nd trip, it was me and the CS again. He drove. We had 14 kids plus another 4 met us there as they live nearby.

I have also done music tours and we had a mixture of teaching and non-teaching colleagues. Most of us sang but we took a non-singing German teacher when we went to Switzerland & Germany and another lovely teacher who we all liked and was happy to look after bags and hot students.

I teach in a primary school in a London Borough. I organise many trips each year. Previously we used coaches or got the train/tube, depending on where we were going. Due to budget cuts we can now only go to places accessible by public transport as it's free for school children. We take some TAs and some parent helpers with us. Why are you asking?

I am starting a ta apprentice job In september ( I have been on here asking every question I could think of ) I would just like to prepare myself and gain a better understanding about the role from qualified teachers . I know what the role is by the way just want to hear a lot more about it .

Ah I see. I actually have an apprentice TA starting in my year group in September. I haven't been told exactly what their role is yet though. I'm a year group leader and am happy to answer any questions about school life in general.

Thanks I have wanted to ask somebody questions without annoying them lol .
Also how is the staff room culture like is very body friendly with each other . Also do you do primary ?

Yes I teach in a primary school. In my school everyone is very friendly. Not everyone uses the staffroom anymore - we weren't allowed to during covid and it still hasn't gone back to how it used to be sadly (staffroom used to be busy). Obviously I can only talk about the schools I have worked in but staff have always made newcomers feel welcome and chatted to them in the staffroom and I'm sure that your school will be the same. Good luck.

Thank you , I hope it is the same . Does your school begin with R by any chance ?

It doesn't! Which year group are you going to be in?

Oh i was winging it lol , I have no idea they have not told me yet I am currently going through ks2 work as it is easy but it's so easy I have a little gap in my knowledge

You'll be great @iamamos . You have a positive attitude and it sounds like you really want to do a good job.

Thank you !

It all depends on the trip and how many pupils are going and also any particular risks associated. As you are an apprentice TA under the age of 18, the school probably wouldn’t use you as a member of staff accommodating on the trip.

Residential trips are a different ball game as you need a balance of each gender if it is mixed pupils attending. Schools often have a designated Educational Visits Co-ordinator who manage school trips and the associated budgeting etc before presenting forward to the Head for approval.

As you have a few questions- might be worth putting them all on one thread - chances are we can answer them all for you. Good Luck in your new role.