Trip Programme

From our experience, pupils and teachers alike benefit hugely from school trips and off-site workshops. Not only are our trips a fun and a memorable experience, but they also offer great opportunities for both pupils and teachers to expand their knowledge and skills, which they can take back to the classroom.

At Brampton, we believe school trips:

• gives pupils experiences they may not otherwise have;
• bring learning to life;
• reinforce learning from the classroom;
• expand learning beyond the curriculum;
• build confidence;
• contribute to personal development;
• encourage discovery of new interests;
• offers cultural experiences;
• increase cultural capital; and
• provide long-lasting, positive memories.

With this in mind, we have designed a programme of school trips to ensure all pupils benefit from a wide range of curriculum-enhancing experiences. As far is practicable, we aim to repeat the trips each year, so that all pupils receive the same experiences; however, the trip programme is reviewed at the end of each academic year and is subject to change so that it aligns with the school calendar, reflects any curriculum developments, and ensures the trips offer pupils the best available experiences. Occasionally, the trip programme may need to change during the year due to availability of the venue and/or workshops.

From time to time, teaching staff may add a trip to the programme which may only be available for that academic year; for example, there may be a temporary museum or gallery exhibition available that links to the curriculum, but the same exhibition may not be available in subsequent years.

Through our trip programme, we:

• explore the local area of Bexley;
• make use of London being on our doorstep;
• visit a range of museums and galleries as well as places of worship from each of the major world religions studied as part of our RE curriculum; and,
• ensure pupils have a range of outdoor experiences.

In addition to the trips organised for each year group, our pupil leadership teams each have the opportunity to attend a trip. These are indicated on the trip programme.

Trip Safety

Pupil safety on school trips is our highest priority. In planning a trip, teaching staff complete a site visit and risk assessment, which must then be approved by the Senior Leadership Team before the trip can go ahead.

A staff to pupil ratio is agreed, using our ratio matrix, based on the age and needs of the pupils, distance from the school, mode of transport, nature of the trip, and trip activities.

Pupils are organised into groups of usually 5-10 pupils with a staff member overseeing each group, but all groups remain together with the class teacher overseeing the whole class and staff. Staff and pupils wear high-visibility jackets to ensure they are visible at all times.

Mostly, we are able to provide staff members to ensure we have the correct number of adults as per the agreed adult to pupil ratio. Occasionally, it may be useful to have the help of parents/carers. Parents/carers who wish to regularly help on school trips are requested to complete a volunteer application form and a DBS check. Some trips involve a parent/carer accompanying their own child; for example, for Eco Champions litter pick, parents/carers are invited to join their child. Parents/carers are never left alone with pupils, except their own child; they are always accompanied by a staff member.  

A Designated Safeguarding Lead attends all trips. Most staff at Brampton are first aiders so can respond to first aid or medical incidents; however, a designated first aider carries first aid equipment and pupils’ medical equipment throughout the trip.

Visits

As well as trips off site, teaching staff arrange for pupils to take part in on-site visits from outside providers. If necessary, teaching staff complete a risk assessment, which must be approved by the Senior Leadership Team ahead of the visit. All visitors are required to provide their DBS check.

Cost

We acknowledge that it can be difficult for parents/carers to cover the cost of school trips and visits, especially when they have more than one child attending the school; therefore, many of our trips, including most of those into London, come at no cost to parents/carers. 

With our Parent Council, we have agreed that, as far as possible, voluntary contributions for compulsory school trips will not exceed £30 per child per year. Where a trip cost or the year's combined costs does exceed this, we will discuss this with the year group parent representatives and offer a payment plan so that parents/carers can pay in installments rather than one payment. 

Non-compulsory school trips, such as Young Voices (approximately £60) and the Year 6 Blackland Farm Residential (approximately £350), can be paid in installments to enable parents to pay in smaller increments rather than larger sums.