Educational Visits

Educational visits are an integral part of the extended curriculum at the Simon Langton Grammar Sixth Form with a focus on both student enjoyment and the consolidation of classroom learning. This is reinforced by the statistics; in the academic year 2024-5, fifteen residential trips are approved with eleven open to Key Stage Five students.

This is complemented by a wide variety of day visits to theatres, museums, competitions, lectures, art galleries and universities which offer our students the opportunity to broaden their horizons, boost self-confidence and enliven their learning. Since September 2024, fifteen day trips have been offered to Key Stage Five students across a number of departments with more being approved each term. A particular area of success has been the development of local visits related to the Langton Extended Curriculum with project afternoon visits in the arts, humanities, technology, mathematics and science all extending the student experience.

National residential visits are also firmly established in the Key Stage Five programmes of study with the completion of a geography field trip at an accredited field centre and confirmed opportunities in this academic year for an English study visit to Stratford-upon-Avon and a DT/business studies production line factory tour. Year 12 students also have the chance to participate in Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award and the accompanying expeditions to Wales later in the academic year.

International visits also continue to flourish with a highly successful classics trip to Italy and a physics trip to Cern departing in October 2024 with forthcoming visits to Amsterdam for art students, language study tours to Salamanca and Lyon, alongside a textiles fashion show trip to Paris. We are very fortunate to have such enthusiastic and committed teachers who continue to seek out and establish excellent trip opportunities at local, national and international level for our students.

Safely managed educational visits with distinct outcomes are a vital part of a comprehensive and balanced curriculum. They provide an opportunity to extend the learning of students, including an enhancement of their understanding of themselves, others, and the world around them. They can be a catalyst for improved personal performance, promote a lifetime interest and, in some cases, lead to eventual career choices.

As a school, we use the KCC EVOLVE system to administer school visits and it is therefore our primary means of communicating information to parents and guardians.

There are many advantages of using EVOLVE:

• It enables you to be confident that information about potential visits is received immediately it is sent

• Consent forms can be read, completed and submitted electronically and not lost in school bags

• A copy of the completed consent form will be emailed to you

• It is environmentally friendly

Should your child be invited to participate in a school visit, you will receive a communication from Evolvekentvisits which will include full details on an attachment. This will be a secure encrypted link via the email address you have supplied to the school, and you will be prompted to complete the consent form online. Should you encounter any problems, there is a parent guide on the Evolve website.