Going on a field trip can be a rewarding adventure that breaks up the monotony of a daily routine.
Plus, children love field trips: it gets them out of their chairs and into the wonderful world beyond. You can take them somewhere educational like a museum or fun like a chocolate factory. Wherever you go, having a plan in place can make the trip more enjoyable. If you’d like your outing to be a success, our step-by-step field trip preparation guide and cloud software solution can help.
Keep Track of All Permission Slips
As an administrator, you know that much work goes into planning a field trip. To begin, your staff needs to communicate with the parents and relay important information like the date of the trip and the estimated time of arrival/departure. You’ll also need to provide information about the venue and whether parents must pay for admission fees.
Finally, you’ll need to obtain permission from your children’s parents/guardians before you embark on a trip. Traditionally, this involves communicating with students that they’ll need to get permission slips signed. On the day of the trip, you’ll need to keep track of permission slips to confirm that parents are on board with their children leaving the center for another location.
The Prime Child Care platform has a Parent Access Portal and mobile app. You can use the portal to upload documents the parents can access and sign. This helps streamline your communications with the pertinent parties. Essentially, you can use the portal to alert parents about upcoming trips, get their signatures, and verify their approvals within the platform itself.
Verify Emergency Contact Information Before You Leave
Make Sure All Fees are Paid in Advance
Are you going to a museum or aquarium? If so, you’ll need to account for admission fees. You can either pay the fees yourself or ask parents/ guardians to pay prior to the trip. That said, making such requests can be a challenge if you don’t have a tool to facilitate timely communication across the board. However, there’s a solution to make this process as seamless as possible. The Prime Child Care platform’s electronic payment processing capability provides parents multiple secure payment options for any expenses that may arise as a result of the trip. They can make traditional credit card payments as well as mobile wallet and NFC payments (via Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay) on the platform.
Load up the Bus
Stay Aware of Dietary Requirements
When you leave your facility for the day, your children may end up eating lunch at a restaurant. And, even if your students bring packed lunches, you’ll still need to maintain awareness of everyone’s dietary requirements. Essentially, you’ll need to have food allergy information ready at a moment’s notice. After all, you don’t want to pack or order an item a child may be allergic to.
By using Prime Child Care’s platform, you can safely store all vital dietary information — including allergies as well as medication information. That way, you’ll be able to review everyone’s data to ensure that adequate care is taken when packing lunches or ordering meals.