We recently shared the positive impact field trips can have on students’ critical thinking skills, historical empathy, and tolerance for people of other backgrounds.
Field trips can open your students up to new experiences, and give them the chance to see fresh perspectives and explore how other people live their lives. If your school is planning a field trip, it’s the job of the Business Office to create and implement safety guidelines. Consider the following recommendations.
Organize volunteers and staff appropriately. Make sure that each school employee or volunteer is assigned to manage a specific number of students. We recommend keeping the ratio to no more than six students per one adult. This ratio should be even smaller with young children or in more populated locations.
Vet volunteers. It’s always a good idea to conduct background checks on volunteers who will work directly with students. Volunteers must also be required to attend training sessions to learn expectations and rules when supporting your school in a volunteer capacity.
Create a ‘Volunteer Rights and Duties’ document. These guidelines should outline what falls into the purview of a volunteer—and what doesn’t. Often discipline is a tricky subject for volunteers. Usually, issues requiring disciplinary action should be reported to a teacher or administrator. Outline how these issues should be reported in the document, and educate your volunteers on this reporting protocol during your training sessions.
Volunteers must also:
- keep student information confidential;
- always be respectful of the children in their care;
- follow school policies;
- call in advance if unable to keep a commitment;
- sign in or out when entering the building through the school office; and
- wear a name tag while volunteering.
Volunteers should never:
- leave any students unattended;
- assume unauthorized responsibility;
- give medication to students;
- be in “one-on-one” situations with students unless absolutely unavoidable; and
- discipline students (unless safety is involved).
Consider unifying identification. Some schools require that students wear school shirts or colors while on a field trip to make identification easy. Coordinate with teachers and school leaders on what makes sense, and communicate these choices to parents. On field trip day, keep a few spares of clothing so anyone who forgot can be accommodated.
Use the power of a buddy system. Pairing students up can add an extra layer of accountability. All chaperones should know which students are designated to be buddies with one another. Buddies should be informed about how to react if one child is injured, or wanders off alone or to another group. A record should be left with the school and one provided to accompanying adults—meaning, the power behind the buddy system is really planning ahead!
Would you add anything to our list? Let us know in a comment below.
Additional ISM Resources:
The Source for Trustees Vol. 16 No. 9 Some Jobs Aren’t Made for Volunteers
The Source for Private School News Vol. 17 No. 4 Why Senior Citizens Are a Vital Addition to Your Volunteer Pool
Additional ISM resources for Gold members:
I&P Vol. 40 No. 16 Keep Track of Parent Volunteers’ Contributions
