Answer: Don’t
It’s a very old joke. So old in fact it will barely raise a smile. But the fact is that something like 90% of schools still run school trips each year, and tens of thousands of us put ourselves through the hard work of organising and developing the trips, because of the good that we know it does for the pupils and students we teach.

Which is why, as a result of setting and running the School Visits news forum last year, I wanted to publish a book on school trips, covering everything that we had discussed.

And that’s what we have done. It is called Organising Successful Trips and Visits: a practical guide for secondary school teachers, and we’ve made it available as a download. In that way you can simply click on the link, and the file drops into the computer, ready for you to run off as many copies as you want for colleagues across the school.

The book covers all the basic points, from “loco parentis” to turning the idea into a trip, from transport issues to the letter to the parents, from staffing issues to kit lists.

In just over 50 pages it gives you all the basics – not least so that if a colleague in the school is looking to organise a trip for the first time, he/she will be able to read up on all the key issues presented in a straightforward way.

There are sample pages at http://www.pdf.firstandbest.co.uk/authordownloadsamples/T1772samples.pdf

Organising Successful Trips and Visits: a practical guide for secondary school teachers” is published as a download so that you can receive immediately a copy onto your computer which you can print out for colleagues as often as you want. You can also put it on your school learning platform so all staff can access the document – and indeed you can make it part of the induction documentation for new members of staff.

You can obtain Organising Successful Trips and Visits: a practical guide for secondary school teachers” by going to http://shop.firstandbest.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=747

The price is £10 plus VAT (the VAT can be reclaimed in most cases by the school).

Organising Successful Trips and Visits: a practical guide for secondary school teachers” is published by First and Best in Education, part of the Hamilton House group. If you have any enquiries you can call 01536 399 011, or email sales@firstandbest.co.uk or write to us at First and Best, Hamilton House, Earlstrees Ct., Earlstrees Rd., Corby, Northants NN17 4HH.

The full range of First and Best books can be seen at www.shop.firstandbest.co.uk

First and Best in Education
Earlstrees Road
Corby
NN17 4HH

Website: www.shop.firstandbest.co.uk
Email: sales@firstandbest.co.uk