Article on Trips - 2019

There is a saying, ‘People don’t take trips, trips take people’. Most of the schools organize school trips. But there is something unique about SMIS trips.      
 
The importance of Educational trips includes giving students the chance to build closer bonds with their classmates, experience new environments and enjoy away from the classroom. When students and teachers are together outside the classroom, new educational environments and experiences are possible. Students may have the opportunity to observe many things that are not available at school, including exotic wildlife, rare plants and maybe even the stars if the Educational trip is to a planetarium. They may be able to connect on more of a personal level without the structure of the normal school day. Students may be able to spend much of the day of the trip in small groups, observing, chatting and learning about each other. Life skills is another objective we wish to achieve so children are ready for various kinds of situations they may face in their life.

SMIS organises trips of mixed grades. This year Grade 1 and 2 visited Sasan Gir. They had built a connection of trip to the major topic of animals and plants, which is always fun when practically experienced. Grade 3 and 4 visited Panchmarhi where there is a huge deciduous forest area along with wide ranges of Satpura mountains. This trip helped to make academic connection with landforms and Indian culture. Another fun filled experience Grades 5 and 6 children had was when they visited ‘Kambre’ in Maharashtra. It was a great learning to spend time in nature while doing activities like tent pitching, cooking, getting to know some wild flora and fauna and so on.  Our eldest group visited ‘Bairagarh’ situated in Uttarakhand which was an adventure trip.

School trips leave a great impact in the mind of the students, where they go without their family, with their friends and mentors, which allow them to rely on themselves and take responsibility and enjoy the activities of the trip.

Such episodic memories created during trips are long lasting and leave a great impact on their mind and heart. 
 
 “Better to see something once than hear about it a thousand times”

By,

Poonam Mehta