Schools are prioritising natural and outdoor activities for trips in 2023
Jake Wiid, Senior Educational Visits Adviser and MD of EVOLVE Advice
The recent ‘2023 School Trips & Learning Outside The Classroom’ survey from STO magazine offers some interesting food for thought.
The survey, of over 500 teachers and EVCs in schools across England, gives a glimpse into schools’ behaviour and decision-making when it comes to educational visits. Take a look at the full results here.
The top five most popular types of trips were:
Museums and galleries (37%)
Adventure and activity centres (33%)
Natural and outdoor attractions (32%)
Residentials (30%)
Historic venues (25%)
Around three quarters of respondents said they prefer to visit attractions that provide workshops - something for venues to think carefully about. Almost a third (32%) said that natural and outdoor attractions were the most popular type of trip they run. It will be interesting to see if this continues to grow as schools and students embrace sustainability strategies and outdoor learning.
Could your local community hold the key to visits across the curriculum?
It’s no surprise that History and Geography top the list of 20 subject areas linked to educational visits. Looking further down the list it’s worth asking why science (6th) business studies (9th), food and nutrition (17th), and RE (20th) aren’t more popular when you also consider that 92 per cent of schools run local visits - think of all the opportunities in your local community to bring these subjects to life!
With budgets shrinking and some subjects struggling to engage young people in schools - are local educational visits part of the answer? Maybe tapping into community venues and groups is one way schools can include memorable educational visits across their curriculum.
The survey suggests a fairly broad distribution of planning timeframes. Over 45 per cent of respondents say that they plan overseas visits more than 12 months ahead, while around 35 percent plan local or regional trips within 3 months of the visit.
As Educational Visits Advisers we see lots of different ways of working from schools. We’re on hand to advise on all aspects of trip planning. We pride ourselves on being fast and responsive to schools; whether it’s for something happening in 18 months or 18 hours, we’ll work with you to help you create safe and enjoyable learning experiences for your young people.