In a recent article for The Guardian the ‘secret teacher’ explained how an unforeseen menace had blighted what had been planned as a delightful residential trip. Staff could not get adequate sleep, children were violently ill, half of the pupils were not speaking to the other half and theft was rife all because parents could not obey the rules.
Teachers have enough considerations before a residential trip, from risk assessments to travel, handling money to planning, without the need to police the parents. The ‘secret teacher’ explained how reasonable restrictions of no sweets, no electronic equipment and no more than £5 were applied to the residential, with parents informed well in advance of these rules and the reason for them.
However, the first night of this long awaited residential saw violently sick children and two kilos of sweets confiscated from one room alone. The plethora of electronic gadgets which had been brought along against the rules had resulted in mass division and bitter arguments. One child’s parent had hidden £50 in her bag, which had been stolen. The chaos continued throughout the week of outdoor activities, with children throwing up on the paddle boats, being unable to eat breakfast and refusing to work together.
The parents had made a conscious decision to ignore the rules put in place to protect their children and to make sure the trip was as successful as possible. They had succeeded in undermining the teachers, leading to a week of sleepless nights, discord and illness. The carefully planned activities designed to boast confidence and independence through exciting learning opportunities was instead an exercise in cat and mouse and bag searches.
The 'secret teacher’ described how the trip had been ruined as a result and the situation made worse by the bitter reaction of parents. Accusations of having denied them access to their children were made (contact numbers and a 24 hour line had been provided) and they were told they had stopped the children having fun. The ‘secret teacher’ was left feeling humiliated by the giggling parents when the confiscated items were returned, and foolish for thinking they would want to work with the school to keep their children safe and well.
Residential trips and outings of all kinds are designed as controlled learning experiences which require the parents to cooperate for the good of everyone. The children were put in distress and danger by the flouting of the rules and the teachers were forced to try and control the subsequent nightmare.
Handsam can help you plan robustly for your upcoming trip with our trip planning service. See also our page on safety on your school trip.
