School Trip Champion finalists 2024: “you can’t dream something if you don’t know it exists”

The School Trip Champion Award is presented as part of the School Travel Awards and comes with a £2,000 prize for the winner’s school to spend on a future trip.

Its aim is simple: to recognise teachers and EVCs who go above and beyond to create fantastic learning opportunies through visits and residentials. But more than that… it’s about people who truly believe in the power of going beyond the school gates to help educate children and young people, and help promote those benefits within their school or academy.

Voting has closed and the winner will be announced at the awards lunch and ceremony on Friday 29th November at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, London.

Meet the 2024 finalists…

Matt O’Grady
Educational visits coordinator and headteacher
West Horndon Primary School, Brentwood

Having led school trips as the EVC for 24 years, Matt certainly knows a thing or two about a successful visit. He is passionate about the experiences children have to explore the world and has built school trips into the wider curriculum instead of being seen as a ‘bolt-on’. 

He told us: “Life’s too short and the world is too exciting not to learn beyond the classroom. Educational visits are great for developing personal and social skills, helping to connect a schema/pattern and also helping to bring equity to life experiences for our pupils.

“We aim to raise aspiration and you can’t dream something if you don’t know it exists. I want our offer of educational visits to be like an all you can eat buffet where you get to try all sorts of things. You might just try something new and find you love it!”

Matt is very keen on the bespoke planning of visits, as well as clarity on the intended outcome of each school trip with an emphasis on how that learning can be embedded once back at school rather than being seen as ‘one offs’. 

Matt said: “We do an annual residential visit to Ironbridge in Shropshire. It’s a bespoke jam-packed five days which gives our pupils memories they can cherish forever. Over the years we’ve built up great relationships with the museum, youth hostel staff and even the local residents – all who help make our bespoke visits unique and successful. It’s totally bespoke each time and adapted to meet the needs of different cohorts.” 

Some of the visits Matt has been involved in include: a tour of the Houses of Parliament, Shakespeare’s Globe, Billericay Town FC, the Essex Agricultural Society Food and Farming Day, as well as a visit to a Sikh temple in Gravesend.

Glynis Pattison
School visits coordinator
Conyers School, Stockton-on-Tees

Glynis’ role is all encompassing. She supports staff every step of the way with organising trips and provides assistance to parents and students, being their single point of contact. Her responsibilities include ensuring all paperwork is correct, seeking approval from the headteacher, making sure risk assessments are in place, as well as ensuring that finances are covered. 

She also provides lead teachers with comprehensive packs for each trip and accompanies the visits to handle logistics so that the teachers can focus on the students. She said: “I’ve had the privilege of joining trips to Paris, Iceland, Berlin, Italy and New York!”

This year 450 students will participate in a residential trip, and there are more than 2,000 places for day trips. Glynis, who has worked at the school for 18 years and in the role of trip coordinator for the last ten, told us: “We strive to make our trips accessible to all of our students, tracking to see who has attended trips and offering financial assistance where possible.

“We try to make sure that we overcome all barriers, be that financial or health related so that we can offer valuable life experiences that equip our students with lifelong skills beneficial into adulthood.

“A parent once remarked, ‘if you want life experiences for your child – send them to Conyers’, a sentiment that fills me with immense pride.”

Some of the visits Glynis has been involved in include: bushcraft camping, language trips to Paris and Switzerland, Berlin, Italy, watersports trips to the Azores, theatre visits to London, Manchester, ski trips and New York. 

Viki Thexton
School travel champion
St Benedict’s Catholic Primary School, Kent

As the school’s attendance officer and school travel champion, Viki sees learning outside the classroom experiences as key to ensuring children see the benefit of their education. She believes school trips are vital because they “bring children’s learning to life, enable some children to experience opportunities that wouldn’t otherwise be accessible to them, and also develops their social skills, increases confidence, resilience and encourages personal development”. 

To ensure trips are inclusive, Viki contacts Pupil Premium families and offers financial assistance where possible. In her eight years at the school she has organised a huge array of day trips and residentials which are closely linked to the curriculum such as a Year 1 and 2 visit to Godstone Farm linked to scientific learning about life cycles and a Year 4 trip to the Tower of London tied in with crime and punishment learning. 

She organises an annual Year 6 residential as well as a tour and workshop at the Houses of Parliament, finishing off the year with a West End theatre trip, something she says many of the children in Medway wouldn’t experience if it wasn’t for an organised school trip. 

Viki told us: “The role involves a lot of paperwork, risk assessments and liaising with families to support children being able to attend these events. Although it is time consuming, it is a hugely fulfilling role when you see the children blossom and grow in confidence in their learning and outlook in life.”

Some of the visits Viki has been involved in include: the Science Museum, Canterbury Museum, the Royal Mews, residential trips, theatre visits, the Rare Breed Centre, Herne Bay Museum, Go Ape, Leeds Castle, as well as pantomime trips and music festivals and performances. 

Tim Waites
Deputy headteacher and school senior EVC 
Baxter College, Kidderminster

Tim is committed to enhancing the educational experiences of the school’s 850 pupils. As well as being deputy headteacher and the school’s EVC for more than 15 years he teaches geography and has been involved in the Duke of Edinburgh expeditions for more than 25 years. 

He said: “My aim is to ensure every pupil experiences at least one activity away from the school site each year, regardless of barriers. This holistic approach to education is crucial, focusing on personal development alongside academic outcomes.

“As curriculum lead, cover manager and the person who creates the timetable, I am uniquely positioned to facilitate numerous outside-the-classroom experiences, fostering a culture where such opportunities are readily available.”

To achieve this aim, all teachers are visit leader trained, ensuring they are equipped with the necessary skills and confidence. When a request is made to take a visit, Tim said the approach is always the same: how can we make this work?

He added: “It is important to me that if a member of staff has made the effort to find and plan an experience for our pupils, every effort is made to allow it to happen. I have also supported seven staff members in becoming EVCs, making our programme sustainable and capable of continuous growth.”

The range of visits at Baxter College is diverse with everything from exploring the history of Kidderminster to overseas trips to the likes of Madagascar, Iceland, Paris, Venice and Lake Garda. Tim recalls the first trip that he organised - to Northern Spain for a watersports experience for more than 30 pupils. He explained: “We slept in canvas tents and spent our days on the water. We travelled by bus, an experience which has stayed with me ever since.”

Some of the visits Tim has been involved in have included: residential trips to Whitby and Scarborough as well as the Peak District, day trips in the Wyre Forest and Carding Mill Valley as well as city excursions in Birmingham and Worcester, Blackpool Pleasure Beach, West Midlands Safari Park, Drayton Manor, Westminster Abbey, Natural History Museum, theatre visits, Iceland and Paris.