Some of your most read stories of 2021

The country saw in 2021 with another national lockdown and weeks of online learning, boosted by a variety of virtual extra-curriculum activities from organisations around the country, including The Natural History Museum’s ‘Homework Club’ and weekly online lessons and virtual tours courtesy of the Ocean Conservation Trust. Unsurprisingly, our most-read content detailed these updates, announcements and developments. 

Proposal to resume UK trips

In February, a proposal by the outdoor education and school travel sectors to resume overnight school trips was submitted to the Department for Education (DfE). It highlighted the extent to which millions of children had missed out on valuable residential experiences since March 2020 with trips not being able to take place, either in the UK or overseas. 
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School day trips to restart from April

Schools in England reopened on 8th March and the sector welcomed the news that school trips were finally given the green light by the DfE to resume no earlier than 12th April, with residentials being allowed to start no sooner than 17th May. The announcement followed months of campaigning and lobbying from across the school travel and outdoor education sectors. 
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Teachers on why school trips will be invaluable

That same month, buoyed by the lifting of restrictions surrounding school trips, we spoke to a selection of teachers and educational visits coordinators about how school visits and learning outside the classroom would be invaluable in helping to rebuild children’s confidence after a disjointed time away from classroom settings.
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Boris Johnson confirms residential trips can go ahead

In May, the DfE officially confirmed, in the updated guidance on educational visits, that residential visits in the UK would be permitted from 17th May, in line with the Government’s roadmap, subject to certain conditions, such as keeping children in bubbles.
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Schools given the go-ahead to take school groups on trips abroad

Finally in July, school trips abroad which had been postponed, as well as new international trips, were given the go ahead to resume in the autumn term, following updated guidance from the DfE from Step 4 of the Government’s roadmap.
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How learning beyond the classroom can aid recovery 

You also enjoyed hearing from Anne Hunt, chief executive of the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom (CLOtC), about why learning beyond the classroom would be central to the recovery of schools, pupils and teachers.
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Visitors try out Legoland Windsor Resort’s new Mythica world

And finally, on a completely different theme, another of your most-read stories this year was a video of the UK’s first ever flying theatre ride, Flight of The Sky Lion, at LEGOLAND Windsor Resort’s new Mythica world. Clearly it was time for some light relief, ahead of the summer break.
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