1 Do you involve parents and carers when you are planning trips? If you do ask adults to come with you, it is important they are involved in thinking about the children's learning and ways they can support it.
2 Are there links between the learning opportunities on the trip, and the planned curriculum in your setting?
3 Do you make sure you visit places before you take the children? This helps you to plan ahead for the children's learning, as well as making sure you know where the toilets are!
4 Do you think about each part of the trip? The walk to the bus stop and the bus journey can be rich in learning opportunities, for example.
5 Are parents encouraged to tune into their children's learning and follow their interests? Otherwise, they may feel more like sheepdogs guiding a herd around than active participants in their children's learning.
6 Do you have a policy about educational visits?
7 Do you follow trips with play opportunities so that children can repeat or re-imagine their experiences?
8 Do you give parents the dates of trips well in advance? This enables working parents to book time off so that they can accompany their children.
9 Can you respond to children's interests with a visit on the same, or the next, day? If a child is taking an interest in apple pips during snack time, could you take a small group to the greengrocer the next day to buy a range of fruits and investigate their seeds?
10 Do your displays emphasise the children's learning as well as the fun of going out together?
