School Trip FAQs for Parents and Carers
Who are PGL?
PGL was founded in 1957 by Peter Gordon Lawrence and has been operating courses for schools and colleges for more than 50 years. During this time more than 3 million children and young people have benefited from a PGL experience. Each year more than 4,000 schools trust their school trip to PGL. To find out more about us click here>
What will my child learn on a PGL Trip?
All our trips are carefully planned to include plenty of learning opportunities and to ensure that your child has fun too. Some courses are linked to specific subjects or the National Curriculum, whilst others are about personal development.
PGL is a signatory of the Manifesto for Learning outside the Classroom and a member of the Real World Learning Campaign
All PGL’s courses reinforce the principles of the Government’s Every Child Matters campaign.
Are your centres and hotels inspected?
Yes, health and safety is our number one priority and all our centres and activities are subject to inspection by the relevant authorities. For details of our affiliations please click here>
Are your staff CRB (Criminal Record Bureau) checked?
Yes, all PGL staff are list 99 checked and cleared by the CRB at Enhanced Disclosure level. Non UK residents are subject to the equivalent checks in their home country.
Are your activity instructors qualified?
Yes, all our instructors are carefully selected and highly trained. To see details of our operating standards, Codes of Practice and risk assessments, then please click here>
What is the accommodation like?
We are proud to offer some of the best standards of accommodation for school groups in the industry.
Accommodation varies from tents to en suite wooden lodges, or dormitories in mansion houses. We also use hotel accommodation which is carefully selected for suitability to school group requirements.
• Our Activity Centres
• PGL Ski Hotels and Resorts
Is my money safe with PGL?
Yes, PGL is a well established company and we are both ABTA and ATOL bonded where appropriate.
Can PGL cater for special diets?
Yes – if we know requirements in advance we can provide for most special diets. We may occasionally ask parents to provide some items that are hard to get hold of locally, particularly overseas.
Can I contact my child whilst they are away?
For many children, part of the learning experience is about being away from home, sometimes for the first time. We would ask parents to allow their children to settle in and enjoy the experience.
In the event of needing to contact your child urgently, we will of course organise this. However please bear in mind that many of our sites are very large and your child may be a long way from the phone when you call.
What do they need to take with them?
For outdoor adventure courses in the UK and Europe a detailed kit list will be provided by your Party Leader, but in general we recommend old clothes so which don’t matter if they get dirty or muddy! For our ski trips, your party leader will make sure that you have a list of everything required,
Can they take valuables?
We strongly recommend that all valuables such as mobile phones, computer games, jewellery etc are left at home.
My child can’t swim; can he/she still take part?
You must inform the party leader of your child’s swimming ability. Water confidence is adequate for some activities or we will make alternative arrangements so that your child does not miss out.
It is my child’s birthday whist they are away, can you organise a cake?
If the party leader is aware of this, we will make every effort to organise a cake and try and ensure that the day is special.
Insurance
We include insurance for UK based schools for all our trips. Please refer to your party leader if you want further information about cover.
Can I call PGL with any further questions?
We hope that this web site answers many of your queries. If you have any questions at all then please refer these to your child’s party leader, who we are sure will be able to answer these for you. If not they will be in touch with us. We regret to advise that we are unable to deal directly with parents and that all correspondence and contact will be though the party leader.