Are you looking for some special education school field trip tips? Field trips are a great way for us to expand our students learning. It helps us work on important life skills. But, most of all, I have always loved how it gets our students out into the community. And this is fantastic for spreading awareness.
But, field trips can sometimes be stressful. Especially if you don’t go on them regularly. Or you’re worried about how your students will behave. Or how you’ll manage your team of staff to ensure the field trip is a success.
Today, I’m sharing some of my best tips with you to ensure that your special education school field trip is a success for you, your staff and your students.
Tip #1
My first tip, and the most important of all, is to ensure you have access to every student’s family member details. You want to make sure you have all of their contact information.
My biggest tip for this, is to put together a contact information book on your students. Make it small so that it’s easy to transport and carry around on your field trips. All you need is one page per student. And on this page, you should include;
- Student initials – we avoid using full names for protection.
- Student’s date of birth.
- Any allergies that the student has.
- If your student is on any medication.
- Your students GP details. Who their doctor is and their contact details.
- The contact details of 3-4 emergency contacts. If something happens, you want access to as many contact details as possible. You’ll be grateful of this if there’s ever an emergency and you can’t reach the first 2 emergency contacts.
Tip #2
Visuals. I know I always go on about visuals. But, visuals are very important for our students. And being out on a field trip is one of the most vital times that you have access to visuals to use to communicate.
We take a generic communication book to use for where we are going. For example, if we are going to a specific restaurant, we will ensure we have the appropriate symbols to suit that menu. This will allow our students to communicate.
Our staff members also wear a visual communication keyring. This keyring has a range of different symbols that they can have instant access to. This works great for communication as well as behaviour management strategies.
Tip #3
Have a back up plan. I can not stress enough how important it is that you have a back up plan for every field trip you go on. There’s a few important things for you to consider why and when you make a back up plan;
- Weather – what happens if the weather changes? Will the weather affect your back up plan? Is the back up plan suitable for changes in weather?
- Time of day – this can have a huge effect on your back up plan. Will it be busy? Is there going to be a lot of traffic? Is it easy to get back to school afterwards?
- Location – where is the back up plan? Is it easy for you to get to? Is it in an area that’s suitable for you to take your students?
- Safety – is it a safe space for you to go? What about escape routes? Do you have enough staff to cover the area?
Tip #4
You’re going to want to ensure that you plan your staffing situation in advance for field trips. How many staff will you have on the day compared to students? What students need specifically 1:1 staffing?
I always recommend writing down a staff/student ratio when you’re planning field trips. This way your staff members will know who they are looking after. And this makes it easier for the trip to run more successfully.
Tip #5
Take a visit to the venue beforehand. Is it safe? Are there staff members that you can speak to? This way you can find out more about the venue. And you can speak to staff to let them know that you will be coming to visit the venue with your students.
Tip #6
Prepare your students. Share photos and videos of the venue and type of field trip you are taking your staff on. Read social stories together. This will help prepare your students for the field trip. And what they may do and experience on this trip. It can also help prepare them for a range of situations and reactions.
Tip #7
Pre-book anything that you can. Especially if it’s your students first time visiting a restaurant. You can easily pre-book meals for the visit. This means that your students will have less of a wait for food when they get to the restaurant. And this is a great way to help build up your students tolerance for waiting when out in a restaurant.
What are some of your best tips for having a successful field trip? Let us know in the comments below.
And if you found these tips helpful, please consider sharing them with your friends and colleagues on social media.
