Take a school trip to New York City

We caught up with Stephen Base, Head of Sixth Form at Verulam School who has long been an advocate of school trips. In February 2022 he blazed a trail as one of our first group leaders to take a trip to New York in 2 years.

Why do you take this trip?

One of the founding fathers of Sociology, C.Wright-Mills said ‘The aim of social science is to make the familiar strange and the strange familiar’. For me ethnographic research is so important for students. The only way they can understand society is to see it, smell it, walk it and that’s what we do in New York.

That said it’s not an essential part of the course, it’s an enhancement but many of the families in our school buy into that ethos for any of the school trips.

Why did you choose New York?

Quite simply, I love New York and knowing it well I’m comfortable taking them there. The students I take are Social Science students and New York has some excellent visits that cover topics for Psychology, Sociology and Criminology, so Ellis Island and the Tenement Museum have great historical and cultural links, focusing on population and migration.

A school trip should be a really big part of everyone’s education.

What were your learning objectives for the trip?

For Social Science the key learning objectives were to cover migration, culture and crime & deviance. New York is a great example to talk about how in the 1980’s they embraced a policy of zero tolerance and today the city is a far safer place to visit as a result of that.

Did you have any other objectives?

As Head of Sixth Form I see the value of educational trips for the relationship building with students and families. I encourage them even to do a day trip. At Verulam School it’s a 7 year journey and they start with a trip to the Lakes in Year 7 and expect to finish with trips in the Sixth Form.

The students are creating life-long memories. When I bump into students in later years, they don’t remember what we taught them in class but they do remember the trips they went on.

From your students perspective what was the best part of the New York trip?

First thing we do is arrive at twilight and go up the Empire State Building. It’s their first time up there and to see the New York skyline – it’s a wow moment!

On the last morning I do a walking tour taking in Battery Park and then walking across Brooklyn Bridge. They aren’t allowed to look back until we are half-way across the bridge when they turn around and look across the whole of Manhattan. Again this is a moment that really stays with them, to take in where they are.

How has your experience been with WST over the years? Would you recommend us to colleagues and friends?

I love working with WST. I don’t want to have a trip off the shelf, I know the city well and want to go off script. Elleanor works with me on a bespoke itinerary for us and could not be more flexible. She is always prepared to run with my crazy ideas!

Do you have any advice for other teachers thinking about taking a trip to New York?

• I recommend you go there first so you have good experience on the ground.
• Do lots of advance planning.
• Share your ideas with colleagues.
• I always work closely with one other person who can provide support on tour should anything that’s unplanned happens.
• Its good to have someone back at base who is helping with admin.

If you'd like to know more about taking a school group to New York then take a look at school & college trips to New York, or call us on 01253 441900, chat to us online or request a quote today.