Schools Suffer Further Restrictions To Educational Trips.
Organised school trips, already in decline, are about to get further restrictions. These stimulating visits to museums, theatres and historic locations staff are being chopped.
Teacher contracts have a new clause which limits the time that they are allowed to cover for colleagues. This is despite a government push in 2008 education needs learning outside the classroom This cost reduction measure means teachers who are leading a school excursion cannot have their normal lessons covered by colleagues. Teachers are now being instructed to use the cover for occasions classified as minimal, rarely or at best never! Some educational games being played here with the teaching resources. If the many benefits of school visits are to be recognised then the teachers must be granted the capacity to effect them.
Exploration and the practical application of learning, gives greater credence to classroom teaching resources. It is possible for parents to step up the plate and take over but the element of coordination to guide the parents could absorb more of the teachers time than the event itself. Tony Thomas of Council for Learning Outside the Classroom said “ In the time span of one generation, the number of visits by children to parks and open spaces has halved” Maybe we need a local excursion service that could provide a specialist resource for several schools.
