Since restrictions were relaxed on education day trips in April, some providers have been starting to dust off the high-viz jackets and get on the phone to the zoo to see if any of the animals are self-isolating.
Our college has had no trips all year, and with the timing of the announcement coming right at the start of final major project season for vocational courses, it wasn’t feasible to try and organise anything. However, the increased Ofsted focus on cultural capital means that educational trips are definitely back on from September.
Having no kids or caring responsibilities means I have been particularly blessed in the trip department. I was regularly subbed on for overnight trips both at home and abroad.
For two consecutive years, we took a group of media students to the Cannes film festival. I was the envy of all my friends for getting five days in the south of France, at no cost to me, and for which I was actually paid. There were downsides, like the student who had never drunk before and decided this was the time to try it. Six beers in, he threw up very close to people arriving for a glitzy premier and headed back to the hotel to sleep. I had brushed up on my A-level French before we arrived, including the words “drunk” and “vomit” so I was well prepared to make the apologies.
More by Kirsty Walker: Why, in lieu of snow days, I’m hoping for a power cut
Long read: Meet Stuart Rimmer, Tes FE leader of the year 2021
Watch: Government won’t ‘clear up’ after colleges, says Keegan
York Film Festival is also a jolly I have enjoyed on two occasions; slightly less glam than its French counterpart but still a couple of days wandering around a great city where the students need little to no supervision. There’s usually at least one person who wants to “stay with the teachers” but they tend to toddle off after a while once they get more confident and/or bored of hearing us argue about auteur theory.
Cultural capital at work
My favourite trip moment ever was when I accompanied some level 2 art students to the zoo for a life drawing session. One young man had never seen any animal other than cats, dogs and rats in real life, and he was transfixed by the elephant, literally the first animal we saw.
The tutor attempted to move him on to another exhibit but he was adamant he wanted to stay and so I settled in on a bench to keep an eye on him. After 40 minutes he came over to say he was ready to leave but could he come back if he wanted? He made three trips to the elephants in the seven-hour trip and filled a sketchbook.
It was a real-life example of cultural capital at work - the same student did a gap year in Kenya on a conservation trip after having never left his home town for the first 15 years of his life.
Of course, it’s not all red carpets and safaris. I once got to go on a trip to Alton Towers, which was very exciting, but was only invited to supervise a student who hated rollercoasters but just “wanted a day out”. And so I just stood around watching everyone else have fun until a colleague took pity on me and let me go on Nemesis. I’m not sure that theme parks count as cultural capital but if it means trips can start again I’m happy to go anywhere. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for Cannes but I think it’s a stretch, especially after the vomit incident.
