Learning on the outside

THERE are limits to what you can teach pupils in the classroom. School trips offer lessons like no other, by promoting social skills, giving children some independence and a taste of maturity outside the confines of four walls.

Whether it is visiting the local church or even a week at a skiing resort, learning out of the classroom gives education a sense of adventure.

However in some schools around the country, a number of tragedies and disasters, followed by tough guidelines and bureaucracy necessary to organise excursions, has led to a fear of trips because of the threat of litigation.

Northamptonshire has had its fair share of ordeals. Last summer 17-year-old Aaron Goss, a pupil from Wollaston School, died during a three-week expedition to Ecuador. He went missing while swimming.

Image source ; rushdentoday.co.uk