Glynis Pattison on what it means to be a School Trip Champion

How did it feel being named School Trip Champion?

I was really overwhelmed, I hadn’t expected to win at all so it was a wonderful surprise. The other finalists were really good, and I thought it would go to one of them as they were all teachers and are with pupils day-to-day, whereas I am in more of an admin role.

What was the reaction like when you got back to school?

We had our morning staff briefing and the staff all welcomed and congratulated me which was lovely, and then throughout the day the kids came up to me and said well done and congratulations. The school put it on social media and I had parents emailing me to congratulate me too, and I’ve even been stopped in the shops by some parents.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

I love it when everybody gets back from a trip and I know that everything has gone well and everybody has had a good time. I can then sleep soundly because I know everyone is back safe.

I love the fact that we can help parents out when some kids, for whatever reason, can’t go and we can give them that assistance and make sure kids don’t miss out. Sometimes these trips are the only school trips that kids get so if we can help them, that’s great. 

My favourite part is seeing the pleasure and enjoyment pupils get from the trips and seeing the learning experiences and the confidence they gain. I think it’s a real privilege. It’s great being able to provide the kids with different experiences that they wouldn’t normally do.

What positive impact have you made on the school trip programme since you joined?

I think I have been able to provide a central point for all trips, with the communication and information all coming from one place. I suppose we’ve streamlined and coordinated everything and we’re sending the same message out, whether that’s trips to Berlin, Italy, Paris or anywhere else.

Parents now have one point of contact and it really allows us to offer a wider range of trips so other staff can focus on the pupils. Staff can come to me with the idea and I will pick that up and run with it, liaising between the travel company and member of staff that wants the trip.

What trips have you been on with the school?

I’ve been very privileged to go to some amazing places which are quite often places I probably would never have been to otherwise. I’ve been to New York, Iceland, Berlin and Naples. Visiting Naples and being able to go to Pompeii, which is somewhere I always wanted to go, was one of my personal favourites and I was very lucky to be able to go.

Quite often I would go on new trips with other staff first to make sure everything ran properly and we were getting what we wanted from the trip. The staff and I used to love that because I would look after the logistics of the trip so they could focus on the pupils.

What’s coming up for the school this year?

We have a huge trip programme! We’ve already had a ski trip to Andorra, a creative arts visit to London, A-level languages students in Berlin and a health and social care trip to London.

We have some big trips coming up. Our year sevens have got a trip with the Outward Bound Trust, we also have a year eight trip to either Paris or Switzerland. They get to choose from the two different options. Our year nines have a choice between Berlin and Naples, and year tens get a choice between going to Tuscany or the Ardeche.

We also have a lot of day trips throughout the year. We’ve done gallery visits, pottery and science shows. Our A-level politics students went to a conference in London and in the summer our year 11s will all go to a theme park as a reward trip.

How are you going to spend the prize money?

Our initial thoughts are to take a group of students who are all young carers out for the day to do something they wouldn’t normally be able to do because of their caring responsibilities. I’m looking at taking them for a reward trip to somewhere like Alton Towers. Somewhere they can go and let their hair down and have a good day.