As we progress along the government’s roadmap out of lockdown, it’s time to start planning ahead.
Your students have missed out on so much over the past year, and so planning a school sports tour abroad will give them something incredible to look forward to. But not sure how to get your 2022 school sports tour approved right now?
Here are our top tips:
Remember to highlight the benefits your tour offers students
Firstly, you’re going to have to highlight the benefits that your sports tour will offer students that can’t be replicated at school.
This includes the opportunity to experience different styles of play, to challenge your students in international competition and to improve teamwork with the bonding experience of a tour.
But it also includes the opportunity to experience another culture through sport. And to interact with other young people from a different country - navigating language barriers to enjoy their shared passion for the sport and learn that despite our differences, we are all human. Your school sports tour will widen your students’ horizons and make them better global citizens.
And your tour could even have a cross-curricular element, with the opportunity for students to practise their language skills or even pick up a new one!
Your school sports tour also offers other benefits for your students’ personal development. It might be the first time that your students have travelled abroad without their parents. This gives them the chance to take greater responsibility for themselves and develop their independence. And this will also boost their self-confidence.
Outline the financial protection your tour operator offers
While things are still uncertain, it’s really important that you book your school sports tour with a fully-accredited tour operator. You should look for a tour operator that is both ABTA and ATOL protected, like Halsbury, as this is your guarantee that the money for your trip is protected.
It’s also worth checking whether your preferred tour operator has any other guarantees in place to cover you in this unprecedented situation. For example, our Covid Guarantee means that you can secure your tour for a reduced deposit and cancel for free if Covid restrictions will affect it.
This means that you can book your tour now and comply with the DfE guidance advising that you don’t enter any new financial or contractual commitments right now.
For more information, including full terms and conditions, please see our Covid Guarantee .
Explain the health and safety procedures and systems in place
Another important element in getting your school sports tour approved right now is providing assurances to parents and SLT that all students and staff attending the tour will be safe.
At Halsbury, the health and safety of our groups has always been our number one priority. That’s why we’ve created a designated health and safety committee who have been working closely with our suppliers to ensure that they comply to all the relevant Covid regulations.
For example, all accommodation providers have to comply with the School Travel Forum’s guidance on Covid-19, which focuses on infection surveillance.
For further information and to see what other health and safety procedures we’ve put in place, please see our Covid Guarantee .
Get students excited about your tour
In order to run your school sports tour, you’re going to need a minimum number of students to sign up for it. We ran a customer survey at the end of last summer and we know that a key concern for teachers was how long it might take parents and students to feel comfortable about signing up for school trips.
However, we’re seeing early signs that demand for school trips is actually higher than ever before. Some of our groups have had to book extra coaches and one has even arranged a second trip to meet demand. So, this is great news if you are planning a 2022 school sports tour – your students are likely to be very keen indeed!
But this does mean that availability is likely to be extremely limited in the most popular destinations at popular times, which is one reason to use our Covid Guarantee to allow you to start planning your 2022 school sports tour now.
Another reason to do so is the likely competition from other trips within the school. You don’t want to launch your tour, only to find that students have already committed to other school trips.
And, when you are ready to launch your school sports tour, remember that we have some great resources to help.
Ask your tour operator for support
Your tour operator is there to support you every step of the way, so please make use of us! If you need any further information, advice, or anything else, please don’t hesitate to contact us .
And if you need us to attend a virtual parents’ evening to help you field the inevitable questions about the tour, financial protection and health and safety, please just ask – we’d be happy to!
Plus, don’t forget that we have some great tour planning resources on our website .
Ready to start planning your 2022 school sports tour?
Please don’t hesitate to contact us for further information or to request a tailor-made quote .