Critical reflection week 10

School trip

Description
I was asked to go on a Transition year school overnight trip to
Glasgow for a Celtic game. I took this as a great opportunity to gain
experience. I had my own group of students who I was responsible
for the whole trip. The overnight trip went smoothly, and all went to
plan. We drove and took the boat across to the stadium and the
students had an hour begore hand to get food organised, as it would
be late by the time we get back to the hotel. There was a student on
antibiotics who we had to keep checking in with to ensure they were
okay. At night we had to take the students phones to stop them
texting to meet up and the school has a strong no phone policy.
Feeling
I was very glad to be asked on the trip as it was a great opportunity and great experience.
Although I was very nervous having a big group of students myself and not being on a trip
like this before. As the trip went on, I felt more confident as I got to know the students and
their names better, as I don’t have any TY classes and knew few of them. My confidence has
definitely developed, and I would feel more prepared going into another trip away as I have
this experience. I felt like I became more a part of the school community of this trip and
fitted in.
Evaluation
The experience was great as I’ve never had this kind of opportunity before, and it was a nice
group of students on the trip which made it better. It was a long trip travelling and some of
the students had gotten seasick, so we had to keep an eye on them on the bus. Strong
school communities help students develop their social skills this trip definitely brought the
students out of there shell and all mixing as one big group (Montelli, 2023)
Analysis
It was a long trip and tiring; it was a big responsibility overseeing a large group of students
on my own who I wasn’t that familiar with at the start of the trip. The ATU handbook states
that the student teacher is responsible for their students, in their lessons I believe that this
continues when it comes to trips and I was responsible for my group of students (ATU, 2023-
2024)
Action plan
In the future I would love to go on more trips and get involved in school activities as it was a
really great experience to see how trips work especially an overnight trip. I would feel more
confident going on my next trip and would like to go with a group who I knew better than I
did with the TYs as I don’t teach them, I didn’t know many and it took some time getting to
know the starting off.
References
ATU. (2023-2024). Code of Practice for Student Teachers . School Placement Handbook , 11.

Montelli, L. (2023). School Community definition, Programmes and Importance . Retrieved from
Study.com : https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-school-community-definition-
members.html#:~:text=A%20school%20community%20is%20defined,teachers%2C
%20students%2C%20and%20parents.