As a teacher, parent or school administrator, when planning a student group trip it’s important to know what needs to happen when. From an outsider’s perspective it may seem that these trips come together in a relatively short period of time, but if you’ve never done this before your initial decisions should happen between 18-24 months prior to trip departure. This is the point and time where you need to determine the purpose of your student trip, destinations and ballpark cost. Based on your group, you’ll need to decide whether it’s academic or performance based, or perhaps just a sightseeing tour.
Here’s 5 points to cover during the initial student trip planning time period:
- Who is invited to participate? Is this going to be class-specific or school-wide? Where there be specific academic requirements to be eligible to participate?
- Will the trip be to a domestic or international destination? Age of your students and economies of your local community often dictate this, plus be sure to review any school board regulations as they pertain to travel.
- Once you have decided domestic or international start making a list of potential destinations.
- Consider potential dates and length of your trip, steering away from major holidays and semester ends/beginnings.
- Research past school trips by polling fellow teachers and the school principal to get a potential price target point based on past tours.
- Research student tour operators that provide trips to your potential destinations. While they may not have exact prices for trips up to two years out, you can use current year numbers as a good ballpark figure. Perhaps your school has a working relationship with one or more operators?
Following these initial guidelines will ensure that your student trip gets off on the right foot!
Have any other tips? Leave them in the comments below!
