Briefing session for Junior High School field trip

Earlier I wrote about how I wasn't particularly impressed by the information session for students entering my local Junior High School in April. I attended that meeting for my third child on Wednesday. And I was back in the same school on Thursday for a school trip briefing session for my second child! Thankfully, that was a much nicer experience. Moreover, it was shorter. I was only captive in the school for one hour as opposed to two and a half the previous day!

Each year, students in second year of Junior High School go on an overnight school trip. The date, destination, duration, cost and system vary greatly by school. In our local (public) junior high school the field trip was in November or December for years. This is the first year ever it will be in February. The reason for the change has been attributed to over-tourism at the destination.

The destination of our local school's annual school trip is Kyoto and Nara. Both of which are exceptionally busy, particularly in recent years, at the end of November and early December as thousands flock to see the stunning autumn colors. My son went last year and he did say that they had to queue for absolutely everything. Moreover, they were forbidden from using public transport, due to the crowds, and had to take taxis to move around. But there was also a wait for taxis too.

The briefing session on Thursday went through this information as well as several other points. Including what to prepare and the various rules the students are expected to uphold. Most of the information is also in the briefing materials, so the teachers skimmed over everything that was in print. Other than that, the students talked about various points that weren't in our briefing materials. It was far more interesting and engaging than the meeting I had attended the previous day.