How many of your students have visited the countryside in the past 12 months?

For many students who live in or near the countryside, going for a walk, playing with friends and generally spending a good proportion of their time outdoors in a forest, park, field, etc. is not a big deal.

However, according to a two-year study by Natural England (link below), some students don’t have much opportunity to get out into the country, with 12% of students reporting that they haven’t visited the countryside at all in the past 12 months.

These students aren’t only missing out on the enormous benefits that the countryside has to offer in terms of its potential to improve both physical and mental health, but also on the positive effect that learning outside in the natural environment can have on academic attainment.

The good thing, however, is that schools that are located in towns and cities can often organise trips to the countryside with relative ease – not least because such a visit is free.

Unfortunately, the travel to and from the countryside isn’t free, and travel expenses can be a barrier to providing students with any such LOtC experiences. Fortunately, however, some schools have found leasing a school minibus to be a way of making these expenses manageable.

With a leased minibus there is no need for a large upfront capital payment. The cost of leasing the minibus is spread over the life of the minibus with fixed monthly costs. The PTA, should it wish, can still contribute by raising money towards these monthly payments.

What’s more, where trips are paid for by contributions from parents and the PTA, it is possible to allocate a part of those payments towards the cost of the minibus. In other cases, the minibus can be funded through a small monthly deduction from the school’s income.

Benchmark Leasing specialises in the supply and maintenance of school minibuses and because of this we are able to offer very competitive prices.

For more information about leasing a minibus with Benchmark Leasing you can go to our website, call us on 01753 859944 or email minibus@benchmarkleasing.co.uk.

Link to study: http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/Large-number-children-8211-poor-backgrounds/story-28723279-detail/story.html