Top School Trips 6

Planning to organise your next school trip in-house to keep costs down? Ben McCafferty explains why that could be a really bad idea (and it’s not what you think)... Your school would become the tour operator If you arrange everything yourself and “sell” it to parents with two ormore elements included (like travel and accommodation), then your school will effectively be selling thema package tour – and so the school would be bound byPackage Travel Regulations. Among other things, thismeans the school would have to provide parents with a full refund if the trip was cancelled or significantly altered (regardless of whether you can get themoney back fromthe suppliers involved). Weworkwith somany experienced group leaders who have the knowledge to arrange their own trips but choose not to because booking with a tour operator passes all this responsibility and risk to the operator. And that leads nicely on tomy second point… It’ll kill your work/ life balance Honestly, you’ve just got better things to dowith your free time. Unlikemany people, teachers don’t stopworking theminute they head home at the end of the day. You’ve already got a ton ofmarking, lesson planning, and all the other stresses of teaching. Why add something else to that pile if you don’t have to? Agood tour operator should handlemost of the adminwork for you. Their experience and ability to liaise with suppliers withwhom they have long-established relationships will not only make planning easier but also really helpwhenfielding questions fromparents too. And they should guide you through the process seamlessly, letting you know what you need to do and when. It’s the difference between shouldering all the pressure and responsibility yourself or getting dedicated support frompeoplewho do this every day (and actually enjoy it!). If you choose a tour operatorwith the right accreditations, it couldmean you have to do less paperwork too (win-win). Youmight struggle to access learning support Awell-established tour operatorwill have good links with local experts who can help you addmore educational value to your tour. That could be a specialist language school that can provide studentswith lessons focusing on the aspects of the language you feel they need to fine-tune. Theymay even be able to offer host family accommodation if a total immersion experience wouldwork for your group. It could be experienced guides who can bring locations to life andmake sure that students understand the importance of what they’re looking at. Expert guides can bring stories ofWWI soldiers to life, or help your group understandwhy it’s so important to know that the glacier you’re looking at used to reach the car park and is nowa five-minutewalk away. Or it could beworkshops that get students cooking local dishes, dancing traditional dances, or almost anything else you can think of. Youmight not get great value Youmight save a bit if you plan the trip yourself. But you’ll be taking on a lot of responsibility, hours (if not days orweeks) of extrawork, and all the stress that comes with it. So, whenweighing up the options, of course it’s really important to compare the numbers. But it’s just as important to take into consideration the value of what’s being offered. If budget is an issue but you can see the value of working with a tour operator, just let themknow. They’ll workwith you to arrange a trip that meets all your learning objectives within your budget – youmight just need to be a bit flexible. Don’t do it YOURSELF! Ben McCafferty is head of sales & product at school travel operator Halsbury Travel. Visit www.halsbury.com “A good tour operator should handle most of the admin work for you.” L OG I S T I CS 38 | www.teachwire.net/school-trips