Is it too early to start planning this year’s school trip?
The summer holidays are drawing to a close, and for teachers across the UK, it’s almost time to reopen the classroom doors.
In preparation for the new term, you have decluttered your classroom, stocked up on fresh supplies and tested out all your tech to ensure everything works as it should.
You’ve also reviewed the curriculum for the coming year and started creating lesson plans.
But have you thought about planning this year’s big school trip?
If you’re wondering whether September is too early to start organising, we’ve got some news for you: it is actually one of the best times to start planning, and here’s why.
You don’t have to work it all out right away
When returning to the classroom, getting to know your new pupils and helping students settle into their new timetables are the most pressing matters. So planning a trip that's months away might not seem like a priority.
But the earlier you start, the more breathing room you give yourself. This is particularly true for international trips or larger student groups.
But it’s important to know that just because you’ve started the process, it doesn’t mean you have to start booking right away or have every detail sorted out. You’ll simply give yourself more time to make travel arrangements and manage your budget more effectively.
Early planning can give you more choice
If you start the planning process earlier, you’re likely to have access to more choices. For example, better choices of:
Destinations
Travel dates
Flight times
Accommodation
Attractions and educational activities
You’re also more likely to have flexibility in these areas, so starting early can give you far greater control over your school trip.
You’ll give yourself more time to manage the budget
Starting from September means you have longer to manage your budget. This doesn’t necessarily mean choosing the cheapest option at every turn, as this doesn’t always lead to the best or most efficient travel itinerary, but it enables you to make sensible decisions.
Early budgeting gives families more time to prepare and teachers more time to:
Build an accurate cost per student
Explore different group flight options
Look at alternative dates or destinations
Give parents more notice
Set up payment schedules
You’ll also give yourself more time to organise fundraising initiatives or apply for funding grants if your school budget will not cover the entire trip and you want to keep it affordable for students.
You can avoid the “everything at once” challenge
If you leave school trip planning for later in the year, suddenly everything becomes urgent. You need to book group flights, find accommodation, set out the itinerary, organise payments and circulate details to students and parents.
Starting in September allows you to manage these tasks in stages, rather than letting it turn into one enormous administrative task that can become a logistical challenge.
It is always better to plan early, not all at once.
You’ll have more time for approvals and safeguarding
School trips involve more than your basic travel arrangements. Depending on the number of students, the destination and planned activities, there can be internal approvals, risk assessments, safeguarding considerations, parental communication and more documentation to organise.
Getting school and parent approval early on is key. By preparing trip proposals, cost breakdown, risk assessments, payment schedules and emergency procedures with plenty of time, you can make the booking process seamless and more enjoyable.
And starting early doesn't mean committing early; it just gives you that extra time to get everything right before you start making formal bookings and payments.
Group travel has its own challenges
Planning a trip for a group of 20, 30, 40+ students isn't the same as booking a family holiday. Group travel has its own set of unique challenges, and the more time you have to tackle these, the less stressful it will be.
When planning travel for 10 or more students, you need more coordination and foresight. You will need to think about:
Group flight booking and availability
Seating
Baggage
Connecting flights
Payment deadlines
Changes to passenger numbers
Staff/chaperone arrangements
Travel documentation
And the bigger and more complicated the trip is, the more valuable this extra planning time becomes. As does working with group travel experts and flight consolidators like BTG Travel Management.
You can find out more about the actual process of booking group flights for your school trip here.
You can make the trip better, not just easier
More planning time is not just about logistics and cost; it also means more time to think about what students will actually get from the trip. For example, you can give more thought to:
How the destination links to the curriculum
Which museums, landmarks or activities are worth including
If there is an opportunity for cultural immersion
If the itinerary has enough downtime
If the trip is suitable and accessible for everyone in the class
Educational objectives should be at the heart of school trip planning, so it’s important to give yourself plenty of time and thinking space in this area too.
Just know that you don't need everything figured out
It’s important that you don’t end this article thinking “Oh great, another thing I have to do immediately.”
You do not need to have the whole trip planned, booked and paid for by the end of September. You simply need to start the conversation and ensure that the planning process is underway, even if just in your mind.
Even choosing a destination, finding out roughly what your budget is or speaking to a group travel specialist can put you in a much stronger position later in the year.
So, if you’re ready to start thinking about this year's school trip, we can help.
Get in touch with BTG Travel Management to discuss booking group flights and any special requirements you may have. That way, you can start planning with plenty of time to spare.