Young people carry a lot on their shoulders. Exams, friendships, social media, family pressures and money worries all sit on top of normal growing-up stress. You see that in your classrooms every day.
That is why school trips matter more than many people realise. When you plan them well, they do more than “bring learning to life.” They give students time to breathe, connect with others and see themselves differently, which all supports mental health.
Below is a shorter, practical guide to how trips for schools can support well-being and how you can build that into your planning.
1. Why time away from the classroom helps
A change of environment often changes how students feel and behave. The same student who shuts down in a classroom can relax, talk and take the lead in a gallery, museum or on a guided walk.
On a good school trip, students:
- Move more and sit less
- Spend time offline and in the moment
- Experience real places rather than pictures on a slide
This shift helps with mood, focus and motivation. It also gives you and your team a different way to understand what each student needs. You see who hangs back, who takes charge, who supports others and who needs extra reassurance.
Check out the official UK guidelines on mental health and behavior in schools for further background on mental health in education. Then, utilize your travels to complement your broader work.
2. Emotional benefits: confidence, calm and a sense of achievement
Many students quietly believe they are “bad at school.” Traditional lessons can reinforce that if they struggle with writing, reading or sitting still. A school trip can give them a different story about themselves.
You can build confidence by:
- Setting small, achievable tasks such as leading part of a trail or presenting one fact to the group
- Giving clear roles so everyone has something to contribute
- Naming successes out loud so students hear what they have done well
That might sound simple, but it lands. A student who manages a busy city centre, asks a question during a guided tour or shares an idea with the group often stands taller afterwards.
Trips also help anxious students, as long as the structure is clear. You can reduce worry by:
- Sharing a simple itinerary in advance
- Talking through travel, timings and meeting points
- Explaining what happens if something goes wrong, so students know there is a plan
Good preparation lowers the emotional load on the day. Students use less energy on worrying and more on enjoying and learning.
If you want a general context for young people’s mental health, charities like Young Minds keep practical information and language you can adapt for families and staff briefings.
3. Social benefits: friendships and stronger relationships
Feeling part of a group is an important aspect of well-being. Even at a bustling school, some of your students arrive feeling alone every morning. Time away from the usual routines can help them find a place.
On trips for schools, students:
- Spend longer stretches of time together
- Work in different groupings from normal lessons
- Share experiences that become easy conversation starters later
You may foster this by designing activities that need collaboration rather than competition. Instead of rushing to complete a worksheet, invite groups to create a short walking route, collaborate on a presentation, or collect shared observations.
Trips also change how students see you. When you walk a route alongside them, eat in the same dining room or laugh together at a shared moment, you build trust. That trust makes later conversations about behaviour, attendance or worries easier.
Relationships with families can benefit too. Clear communication, open discussions about expenses and safety, and thorough post-visit comments demonstrate that you value both learning and well-being. When parents and carers are already concerned about their mental health, this reassurance is especially important.
4. Cognitive and physical benefits that support well-being
Good mental health is tied to how students think and how their bodies feel. Many trips naturally support both.
Mentally, students:
- Connect classroom ideas to real places and stories
- Feel more curious because they see and touch things instead of only reading about them
- Remember content better because it is linked to strong memories
Physically, they often:
- Walk more than they would on a normal school day
- Spend more time outdoors, even on city visits
- Break long periods of sitting with movement and practical tasks
Even a little time spent outside may improve your mood and reduce your stress levels. This may be enhanced by avoiding extremely frantic schedules that exhaust everyone and choosing routes that travel through parks or riverbanks rather than merely crowded streets.
If you are looking for extra ideas, organisations such as the Institute for Outdoor Learning share useful principles you can apply to your own context, even if you stay local.
5. Designing trips that support mental health
You do not need a completely new programme to support well-being. You can adjust what you already do.
Start with one clear question:
“How do we want students to feel during and after this visit?”
Common answers might be:
- More confident in new places
- Closer to their classmates
- More positive about school and learning
Once you know the goal, you can shape the visit.
Practical steps:
- Keep group sizes manageable so staff can notice how students are doing
- Build in regular breaks instead of filling every minute
- Include at least one quiet moment for reflection or simple discussion
- Make sure there are roles for different strengths, not only the loudest voices
Safety and inclusion sit underneath everything. Early detection of accessibility, medical requirements, sensory difficulties, and other safety concerns is essential. Involve your SENDCo in planning and risk assessment, and ask families what helps their kid cope with change.
Equity matters too. Staged payments, realistic pricing and some form of support for families under financial strain can prevent trips from becoming yet another source of stress. Guidance from bodies like the Children’s Commissioner for England can help you keep fairness in view when you plan enrichment activities.
6. Making trips part of your wider well-being strategy
Deep issues cannot be resolved by a single visit, but over time, a regular schedule of carefully thought-out travel may have a significant impact.
You can:
- Link each visit clearly to curriculum goals so students see purpose
- Use trips to practise the social and emotional skills you teach in PSHE
- Follow up in class so students process what they saw and how they felt
- Reflect as a staff team on which parts of the visit most helped well-being
Over time, you build a culture where enrichment is not a reward for the few. It is a normal part of how your school supports learning and health for everyone.
When you see school travels as an extension of your pastoral and mental health work, rather than an additional, you provide your children more opportunities to feel capable, connected, and hopeful. That is worth the time and effort required to design them properly.