School travel winners honoured at annual awards

The winners of this year’s School Travel Awards have been revealed at a glittering ceremony held at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington, London.

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The UK’s biggest event for school travel and learning outside the classroom provided a celebration of the very best in the sector, and for the second year, the ceremony on Thursday 9th November was hosted by BBC TV news anchor and Antiques Roadshow presenter Fiona Bruce.

A fantastic surprise performance by members of the School of Rock cast, from London’s West End, kicked off proceeding after a themed drinks reception, sponsored by The London Bridge Experience & London Tombs. A five star lunch followed before the awards ceremony began.

17 accolades were handed out in total at the ceremony. Amongst the winners were KidZania, London, which was named the Best UK Destination or Attraction, Bletchley Park, for the Best Venue for Maths Learning and Kingswood was crowned the Best Residential Experience.

Two of the awards recognised best practice within schools and each come with a £1,500 prize to spend on a school trip.

First to be recognised was Upland Primary School in Bexleyheath, which was revealed as the winner of this year’s ‘My Best School Trip Award’. Teacher Alex Langley entered his Year 5 class’ trip to the Outward-Bound Centre in Cumbria. He got his class to write about their experiences of the residential to the centre and provided his own commentary on what impact the trip had on the pupils.

The judging panel for the award consisted of Elaine Skates, chief executive of the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom, Gill Harvey, CEO of School Travel Forum, Peter Carne, OBE, Learning Away National Adviser, Rob Yandell, publisher of School Travel Organiser and Keeley Rodgers, editor of School Travel Organiser.

The final accolade of the afternoon went to Jacqui Hargreaves, head of Design Technology and Food Science at Vandyke Upper School in Leighton Buzzard, who was presented with the School Trip Champion Award. The award is designed to acknowledge the hard work of an individual who goes the extra mile when it comes to getting children learning away from the classroom.

Editor of School Travel Organiser magazine, Keeley Rodgers said that everyone at School Travel Organiser was delighted to be involved with such a prestigious occasion: “I’d like to thank everyone who took part, including those who voted or nominated and our fantastic partners, for making it all possible. We are already planning for next year so roll on the next campaign and the ceremony in November 2018. This is a brilliant initiative and we are very proud of it”

The School Travel Awards, organised by School Travel Organiser magazine, recognise how important it is to reward those in the education sector, especially those who go the extra mile to provide exciting and educational trips for Primary and Secondary schools.

The 2017 categories and winners are as follows:

Best Heritage Venue: Warwick Castle

Best Sporting Venue: Snozone

Best Theatre production for Schools: Wicked

Best UK Destination or Attraction: Kidzania, London

Best International Destination and Attraction: CERN, Switzerland

Best Ski Resort: Campiglio ski area, Italy

Best Museum Visit: British Museum, London

Best Food & Learning Experience: Pizza Express

Best Adventure Experience: Go Ape

Best Venue for Science Learning: LEGOLAND Windsor Resort

Best Venue for Maths Learning: Bletchley Park