Planning a school day trip: the Berlin rules

In Berlin school law a Wandertag is a format of its own with its own rules, and so are the three formats that sit next to it. Telling them apart answers half the questions that come up in the staff room.

Four formats, four sets of rules

The regulation on school events distinguishes, among others, the project day, the excursion, the Wandertag and the outing. For a Wandertag attendance is compulsory; the principles for timing, duration and organisation are decided by the school conference on a proposal from the staff conference, while the school management handles the organisational side. Wandertage are foreseen up to year 10.

For an excursion the school management decides on the teacher's application, again with compulsory attendance. For a project day the school conference also sets the principles and the school management carries responsibility for planning and delivery. The outing is the one format with voluntary attendance, led by a social education professional.

Who leads, and how many accompany

Leadership and supervision rest with a teacher, and that leadership cannot be delegated. Further teachers or educational staff may be brought in to supervise. The regulation names no fixed number of accompanying adults — the most common misconception. How many are needed depends on the group, the route and the activity, and is settled with the school management on the basis of the supervision regulation.

Costs

Costs are borne by the parents or guardians, and schools are required to point to the education and participation benefit. How that works in practice is in our article on the Bildungspaket: the teacher files the application, and capping the amount is not permitted.

What belongs in the plan

Three to four weeks of lead time covers most destinations. The letter to parents needs the meeting point and times, food, weather-proof clothing and what the children should bring. For the day itself, a list of who walks in which small group helps, along with emergency numbers carried by every accompanying adult.

Walk the route once beforehand: where are the places to pause, where are the toilets, where does it get tight along a road? With mixed ability levels it pays to fix the small groups in advance and give each group a clear role. And accessibility deserves a straight answer — what works on this route and what does not is better discussed beforehand than on site.

As a ready-made destination: Localnauts is a GPS scavenger hunt for children aged 8 to 12 through the Bohemian Village in Rixdorf. The class splits into small teams, one device per team, and everyone starts in parallel. The facilitator guide with schedule, roles and timing variants is included. The route runs over cobblestones and is not suitable for wheelchairs.