Trips

That 'school trip feeling'! Going on school trips is a great part of our curriculum. It ties learning to personal experiences and memories, helping our pupils develop a deeper understanding of subjects and topics. This often promotes better behaviour, achievement and involvement back in the classroom. It is an excellent opportunity for students to experience cultures outside of their own and understand shared interests, such as music, art and history. On school trips, our children experience learning outside the classroom environment, going through experiences together and building relationships outside of their usual groups. They develop a unique relationship bonding through mutual interests and the shared memories and experiences. These experiences equip our children with new skills for collaborative work, group discussions and group tasks, enhancing their performance and achievement in these activities.

The trips promote social skills and confidence by challenging our pupils who may be shy or find it difficult to engage with unfamiliar people, to step out of their comfort zone. Asking for directions, asking questions to staff at visits make social interaction unavoidable, and will boost students’ confidence every time they encounter it.

It is an excellent way for children to gain a better insight of the world around them. Experiences like educational trips will not only allow our pupils to view a country and culture as it is today but explore how it got there through its history and where it’s heading in the future. The excitement of school trips and educational visits is priceless for children in Pathways. The visual and sensory experiences benefit our children's grasp and deepen understanding of topics being covered and these experiences outside the classroom promote positive engagement with people, places, activities and new environments.

Each trip requires advanced planning and robust safety strategies to support our children's individual needs. The venue is typically visited by the Group Leader (teacher) to identify and anticipate potential risks, such as tricky transitions, timing, slips and trips, food safety, and unsafe equipment. The teacher puts together a risk assessment which is overseen and agreed by the Head of ARP and filed on EVOLVE - an online system which ensures the trip follows both the school's and the National Guidelines in order to keep our children safe.

The children are prepared for the outing through a social story, informative assembly or a practice lesson, which helps them to understand what to expect as well as reduce their anxiety.

Teachers plan at least 2 trips every half term. We travel by public transport most of the time, but for longer trips, we have the option to use our very own school minibus. We try to reduce the costs of our trips to a minimum and lots of our trips are free. Should there be a cost associated with the trip, the payment will be agreed in advance and set up on ParentPay for parents to cover the costs.

Some of the places we have visited so far include: