It’s been a while since we’ve looked at a piece of the latest research in education so this week’s blogpost is on something we generally feel makes a students life at school more enjoyable but now has some significant data and analysis behind it: school trips!
Who is behind the research: The University of Oxford runs the OxWell student survey which aims to better understand the mental health and wellbeing of school students by:
Asking about their worries and how they might like to receive support.
Providing schools and services with information about what young people want and supporting positive change by providing insights into young people’s lives and experiences.
(Source: https://oxwell.org/oxwell-2025/)
Summary
You can see a summary of the early findings in the infographic here. What I’d like to focus on is the answers related to creating a community and a feeling of belonging as we know this has impacts on attendance, outcomes and how young people see their future success.
The data shows that school trips rank as the most engaging experience for students across all measured demographics, including students with higher rates of absence (51 per cent), with special educational needs and disabilities (47 per cent), those with symptoms of depression and anxiety (55 per cent), and students who feel lonely (46 per cent).
29 per cent of students said that special events such as sports days or themed days engaged them the most
This sits alongside other reports in the past from the Sutton trust that says the funding cuts related to trips and extra curricular activities has more than doubled.
How does this impact me and my practice?
We know that trips can be difficult to organise and fund but these findings show the value of them to students’ overall wellbeing and sense of belonging to the school. There are the social and informal aspects of trips that allow student friendships to foster and shared experiences to create and strengthen bonds. It’s important to note that the “special events” aspect is also very high and valued amongst students, which can be significantly less difficult to organise and fund. For example at WA we have the Black History Month festival, Iftar evening, Christmas/Easter markets.
What opportunities does your curriculum provide for students to engage with the curriculum outside of the classroom?
What ways can you find to overcome barriers of resources or funding?
If trips are not possible, what could you learn from this research that can support you in creating a sense of community and belonging at WA?
What events are possible? What events do we already organise and what is your level of support for them to be successful?
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