Remember going on school trips as a kid? Weren’t they just the best thing ever! Here is my list of the top 5 awesome things that made them so bloody fantastic!
So writing about parent’s volunteering for school trips yesterday got me thinking.
Thinking about all the school trips I went on as a kid. It was always the highlight of my school year, I remember visiting some awesome places, Eureka, sea life, the beach, the railway museum, Dalby forest. I remember getting so so excited about every aspect of the trip. So obviously now as an adult I know school trips were all educational and work related but as a kid they were magic, they were a day off, a skive, a complete free for all.
⦁ Non uniform
Okay so this wasn’t always the case, because sometimes (if they trusted us enough) the school liked you to be in your uniform because ‘your setting an example to your school blah blah blah’ Though most of the time the school would be happy not to have us hooligans setting the example of what their school can produce and would rather pretend we were from a neighbouring school. In these cases we would receive a letter the week before letting us know what suitable clothing would be for the activity ahead. No-one, I repeat no-one listens too what would be ‘suitable’, not when you’ve got your brand new Christmas clothes brimming in your wardrobe that no one has had a chance to set eyes on yet. So out come the brand new trainers, the best branded jumper and jeans that would make Beyonce jealous. School trips were a fashion show, end of!
⦁ Pack lunches
I was hot dinners for school, we tried pack lunches but it just wasn’t ever going to be a thing that worked for my family, sardine sandwiches so no one would sit near me, malt loaf, wrapped in kitchen roll and then having to peel bits of tissue from the butter, tupperware filled with raisins and grated carrots?! I mean really?! But I got excited when I could be pack lunches on a school trip, because it meant it could be special, I could have those things other kids had every day and I had always dreamt of, Sunny D, penguins, crisps, dairy lea dunkers, baby bels! And for these special pack lunches my mum really did go all out, it was a very exciting time. Though this was also my dad’s highlight, prime time for embarrassing us! One school trip we had a big picnic at Dalby forest, I opened my pack lunch up and there in my ham sandwich were little flies wrapped amongst the thousand layers of tinfoil. Plastic flies they turned out too be, my dads idea of funny. I wasn’t the worse off that day, my brother opened up his pack lunch and was faced with a giant dog turd! (again plastic.) but non the less we were laughed at for the rest of the school term for our ‘interesting contents.’
⦁ The coach
Another best bit about school trips was the coach ride, everyone always got wild withe excitement, chanting and cheering as though we were a hen party on our way to Magaluf. The coach ride was prime time to be opening up your pack lunch and having a snack and swapping with your mate your penguin for their twix (not in my case people didn’t really like to associate themselves with my pack lunch box, you never know what is lurking inside). If you were really luckily (or just a cool kid – again not me) you would have the row of 5 seats at the back and this was kind of the place to be. From here you could direct and dictate what would happen on the bus and the rest of the trip, if you were in that middle seat, well you were kinda god! But no worries if you didn’t make it on to the back seat, the highlight of your trip would be the little pull out tables from the chair in front that you could rest your head on and have a little nap, though for some reason they always smelt of gone of banana and I worried who may have been sick on them. Talking of sick, there would always be that one poor kid sat at the front next to the teacher with their head in the bin (yes the actual bin that I might need to sharpen my pencil in next week). However long the coach ride it was always sure to be filled with excitement, laughter and most importantly singing at the top of your voices “why are we waittttttting” at every single set of traffic lights.
⦁ Gift shop
Finally the bit I always loved the most was the gift shop! Wherever we went the gift shop visit always took at least 60% of the trip. When letters were handed out they always instructed to bring some change for the gift shop. So with lots of extra good behaviour and a few chores thrown in I bagged myself a nice crisp five pound note to spend till my heart was content. I got some brilliant tack from school trip gift shops. Nothing that would ever relate to the actual trip I had been on.
⦁ A pink plastic glitter bracelet filled with water so the glitter moves around. I bought this from Eureka and for some reason it was my by far best item of jewellery I had ever owned.
⦁ A water snake, though things you squeeze and the jump out of your hand, no looking back at these as an adult they defiantly don’t look like something a child should be handling!
⦁ A hairband (obviously) with my name written on in fancy gel paint, which I would then sit and pick at for the reminder or the coach ride.
⦁ Gel pens, the smelly ones, so I could then write about my school trip experience and the teacher would have the joy of smelling cola as the marked it, or if they weren’t so lucky banana as they try and squint to read it.
Tinc “Pastelicious” Fruit-Scented pastel gel Pen – Pastel Neon (Pack of 8)
The gift shops were always so over priced and filled with crap but we would all leave beaming from ear to ear with our hands full of plastic tack in paper bags that were close to breaking point after we tried ramming in our McKenzie jacket in because 23 degrees was a bit warm for a jacket, like the letter had probably recommend.
The DIY Nappy Wielding Bride 