Playbook · Volunteers and schools
Plan a school trip
From approval to the bus home: the school's approvals, consent and chaperones, and the travel booked as one group.
Grade 8 history trip (example)
- For
- Trip leaders, school business officers
- Lead time
- We suggest 4–6 months for overnight trips
- Group travel
- Group travel from 10 attendees
- Owner
- Trip leader
Before you start
Decide these first
Decisions to make
- The trip's purpose and how it fits the curriculum
- Approval route: principal, district, board
- Chaperone ratio and requirements (from your school or district policy)
- Who pays: school budget, families, fundraising, grants
People to involve
- Trip leader
- Principal or head
- School business officer
- Families
- Nurse or health lead
The plan
A workable timeline
Our suggested lead times. Adjust them to your organization; shorter is possible, but costs and stress go up.
4–6 months before
Approve
- Get the trip approved through your school's route
- Set the budget and how families pay, if they do
3 months before
Book the group
- Ideally 8 weeks before the event: send the group to the travel team
- Book rail, flights and hotels as one group
2 months before
Consent and forms
- Collect permission and medical forms (kept by the school)
- Confirm chaperones have completed your school's checks
2 weeks before
Brief
- Brief students and families: itinerary, rules, contacts
- Share the itinerary and the urgent help number with chaperones
During
Travel
- Head counts at every transfer
- Chaperones call the travel team for travel changes; local emergency services first in an emergency
After
Close out
- Reconcile costs to the trip code
- Debrief: what to keep and change
Who does what
Your part, and ours
| Task | Your organization | silentVIP |
|---|---|---|
| Approvals, consent, medical forms | The school owns them | — |
| Chaperones and their checks | The school arranges | — |
| Charter buses | The school books them | — |
| Rail, flights, hotels | Sends the group | Books as a group; reconfirms hotels |
| Airport or station transfers | Says what is needed | Pre-books ground transportation for groups |
| Travel problems on the day | Chaperones call | Rebooks; urgent help 24 hours a day, 7 days a week |
Checklists
Copy these into your plan
Print this page or copy the lists into your own template.
What to send the travel team
- Group size: students and chaperones
- Dates and destinations
- Names as on ID (for flights) when you have them
- Accessibility needs that affect travel
- The trip code
Chaperone pack
- Itinerary and booking references
- Student roster and emergency contacts (from the school)
- Urgent travel help number
- Local emergency number
- School contact on call
Common mistakes
What usually goes wrong
Booking before approval
Approval first, then booking; cancelled group bookings can cost money.
Sharing more than needed
The travel team needs names and travel needs, not medical forms. Keep those with the school.
No head-count rule
Agree when chaperones count students: every transfer, every departure.
Questions
Common questions
Does silentVIP handle permission slips or chaperone checks?
No. Approvals, consent, medical forms and chaperone checks stay with the school. silentVIP books and supports the travel.
Related
Tools and guides
More in Playbooks
Bring your travel program under one roof
Tell us about your organization and how you travel. A person reads every enquiry and replies.