Adventurers Kate Humble and Paul Rose have given their support to school visits as a generation of young people risk missing out on experiences.
Wildlife specialist Kate Humble and expedition leader for National Geographic’s Pristine Seas Expeditions, Paul Rose, have both had their say on the importance of school trips, as the survival of organisations which provide these educational opportunities remain under threat.
Paul said: “I failed my Eleven Plus and hated school. I just couldn’t see the point of anything. Then in Secondary school my Geography teacher took my class to the Brecon Beacons. All the horrors of education and learning disappeared. It was truly inspirational.
”At last things made sense – if I wanted to use a map and compass then I needed Maths. If I wanted to understand the map and the ground, then I needed Geography.”
“That trip was the making of me, it was what I desperately needed. That was my door opening, it was me becoming Paul Rose. We cannot let these opportunities disappear.”
TV presenter Paul Rose
Kate added her support for educational visits saying: “Lessons in a classroom can only achieve so much.
”School trips I took to see the geological features we were learning about in geography, or to the Natural History Museum, or simply to our local park to collect leaves & pine cones, brought those lessons alive.”
“They made sense of things, gave us all a greater understanding & appreciation of what we were learning, and made our new-found knowledge something exciting. They were an invaluable part of my education.”
TV presenter Kate Humble
The Council for Learning outside the Classroom (CLOtC) has also voiced its concerns about the “stark” future of school trips.
Dr Anne Hunt, CEO for the CLOtC added: “Alongside the impact on the dedicated skilled staff and volunteers who run these inspiring programmes, these closures will push the opportunities for educational visits beyond the reach of the many thousands of children who we know do not get the chance to have these experiences in any other way than with their schools.
“With no overnight visits since March and for the foreseeable future, the providers of residential learning experiences are facing particularly challenging circumstances.
“There is a very real possibility that many organisations providing these very valuable learning opportunities simply won’t survive the current crisis, meaning a whole generation of pupils could go through school without experiencing a visit to a museum, a field studies trip or a foreign language tour.”
You can read more about the campaigns and what other providers and teachers had to say in our special feature in the October/November edition of School Travel Organiser here.
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