Seeing your students' blossoming ability and dedication to their academic pursuits is incredibly rewarding, but equipping students with essential life skills is an equally important part of their development and education.
We are all familiar with the Ofsted 2019 framework, which reinforces this balance between academic and life skills development. A framework introduced to better evaluate students' aspirational and behavioural qualities, it heralded a move towards a greater focus on spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, balanced with academic achievement. That’s where we come in to support teachers achieve this balance through enriching travel experiences.
Over the years, the feedback we’ve receive from our customers is that for a school trip to be successful in enhancing the life skills of students, they need to be designed around developing pupils' interests, knowledge and supporting them in dealing with the demands and challenges of everyday life creating cultural capital.
As a team we pride ourselves in doing just that, creating exhilarating and unforgettable travel experiences, which are designed to enthral and delight students while boosting their confidence, empowering students with practical skills that are essential for their independence beyond the classroom.
School trips are not about ticking landmarks off a list, the fun, learning and excitement, students experience whilst travelling, is like taking part in a boot camp for life skills.
Imagine the excitement of a 6th form group, taking their first long haul flight to the USA on a trip to New York, navigating the airports, seeing the bright lights of a Broadway show after a walking tour of Midtown Manhattan, in the heart of the hustle and bustle of the big apple.
School trips and learning outside the classroom is about more than enhancing grades, they are about learning how to communicate more effectively, developing opinions and knowing when and how to voice them, whilst becoming more independent whilst away from home.
A great example of this is on a guided history trip with Anglia Tours, where students will find themselves gaining a new perspective from personal stories linked to the historical locations they are visiting.
Wherever their travels take them on a school trip or college tour, students have opportunities to try new things, step out of their comfort zones and discover new personal strengths. They’ll put their skills to the test when using the local language and work together to navigate new places, that’s all part of the experience.
What better way to develop financial literacy skills than being in charge of budgeting their own money during their trip as well as using a different currency to buy snacks and souvenirs.
Figuring out how to use public transport in a foreign city, and making decisions about their actions and behaviour, without their parents' guidance (but with the safety net of their teachers or guide), are all essential practical skills learnt whilst on an educational visit, which will place them in good stead in the future.
For some it will be the first time they have had to take personal responsibility regarding their personal care, eating well, and recognising and managing tricky situations.
Our Anglia Tour guides often say it is interesting to see who is last down for breakfast (or misses it) the last to get to the coach or who forgets their passport as they check out to come home (yes this happens all the time!) and how suddenly they understand the power of taking responsibility for their own actions, not blaming or relying on others when things don’t go their way, or wait for someone else to find a solution.
Disneyland Paris wouldn’t be the first place you’d expect to take a group of students to develop their collaboration and teamwork skills.
However attending a Disneyland Paris Study seminars and your students will combine time exploring a relevant part of the curriculum for a range of subject areas, then come together to tackle challenges as a team in the workshop, recover from setbacks, and learn resilience by working with others and taking on new and different roles to solve problems.
Twice a year over 500 netball players descend on Disneyland Paris to participate in the April pre-season and October end of season Festival of Netball organised by Sport Experiences in partnership with the amazing team at the Elite Netball Academy. With masterclasses focused on building technical skills, personal performance and resilience, the players come away as better netballers and stronger teams.
The best part? Your students will come back home with a newfound sense of confidence, resilience, independence, and a willingness to take on whatever life throws their way. Their demeanour, communication skills, confidence, self-esteem and self-awareness all soar.
The skills gained on a trip are then applied at home, within friendship groups and at school. It’s a virtuous circle which starts with a Next Generation Travel tour.
For more information on how we can support your pupils’ learning, please call one of our educational travel experts on 01253 441900, email us at enquiries@ngttravel.com or get a quote here: https://www.ngttravel.com/get-a-quote/
Next Generation Travel is the parent company and driving force behind the UK’s fastest-growing and most innovative educational travel brands. Since 1988, we’ve offered unique, immersive tours to young people aged from 10 to 21.
All our unforgettable adventures are designed to open minds, empower learning and encourage personal growth. Our tours have enabled thousands of young people to enjoy time away from home, learn, bond with their groups and come home brimming over with stories and memories that will last a lifetime, as well as increased confidence in their own abilities.
If you’re interested in taking your students on an educational trip, contact us today to request a quote.