Why children have to be put on the bus

Childhood memories stay with us forever. It's as if our new and blank brains are imprinted with experiences and as life adds more, the first ones have already bagged their place. In cases of dementia people cannot remember what day it is or what they did five minutes ago, but those childhood first memories are as clear as crystal. They never fade no matter what.



So it is with sadness that I note that school trips are in decline. I keep coming up with great ideas but the management always turn me down. GCSE Medicine Through Time pupils really need to see the Thackray Museum in Leeds. Not only are there hands on resources and artefacts but the recreated Victorian street includes the smells from the time. No text book can give you that. There are science museums, space centres, castles galore, historic buildings, stately homes in working estates...the list is endless. Why are school trips not utilised?



There are three reasons. First, the cost of transport. With fuel costs increasing at an incredible rate and insurance just as expensive, the entrance fees to these places is swamped and the trip becomes very unattractive. The cost of a day trip is as much as a week at a holiday camp and many families cannot justify it. Also schools are not allowed to demand the full cost only ask for a donation towards it. Usually, in my experience, parents will pay in full but it only takes a couple not to contribute and then the department's budget is severely checked.



Second, the dreaded health-and-safety- risk assessment. Every potential risk has be documented and a procedure put in place. I have completed these and they take forever to compile and  have checked. For example, a child may fall off the kerb. Kerbside will be monitored by staff. Will only be allowed to walk on perfect stones, avoiding any uneven or broken slabs. If child stumbles staff will apply cold compress, ointment, plasters - only if child's guardian has signed permission slip to say staff are allowed to do so. And so on.



Third, the timetable at schools is so crammed there simply is no time to squeeze in a day trip or even half a day. When I was at secondary school I studied seven subjects. Pupils now study between ten and fifteen subjects, all of them leading to examinations and qualifications. I don't know how they do it.



Despite these obstacles school trips should be pencilled in as essential. English Heritage chief executive Simon Thurley summed up the importance of extra-curricular visits: "People are more likely to visit historic sites if they first visited them as a child," he said. To maintain our history we have to address it at a young age, to imprint our brains.



The good news today is that English Heritage have designed a scheme using public donations to take school children to these important sites on free bus journeys. A lot of sites offer free entry to school children already so this is a fantastic opportunity for schools. It still leaves the problem of packed timetables and dreaded risk assessment forms, but it is too good a chance to miss. I urge all heads to take a look at this, for the sake of our children and British history.



With this little heatwave here in England  who needs to be stuck in a classroom? Wonder if there are any ice-cream companies willing to donate free ice cream to schools and teachers out there...

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