Florence art trip - teacher needs help
 

I am taking 12 high school students to Florence next summer and want to make the trip as enjoyable as possible for all of us. I need to know the following:
1. Will I have trouble from the authorities if I conduct my own tours in the city(e.g. discussing architecture etc.)I understand that it is not permissable to talk to my group as a whole in galleries because of congestion and also taking work away from Florentine guides. My concern is talking to my students on walking trips around the city.
2. I am having difficulty trying to order more than 5 tickets from Trenitalia to go from Florence to Siena. Anyone experience this?
3. What bus do we need to take from the Siena train station to the historic centre?
Thank you for whatever information you can provide.

1. I don't think so, but you might want to ask the Florence tourism office.
http://www.firenzeturismo.it/content...26/lang,en_EN/

2. You will not be able to buy tickets for the Florence-Siena train online; they are regional trains that cannot be booked ahead.

In any case, it's much faster and easier to go to Siena by bus. Buses leave from near the train station and take you to the center of Siena.
http://www.sitabus.it/sita-toscana/Firenze-Siena07.pdf

3. See 2.

Hi Zerlina:
Thanks for your reply and web links. I thought we should go by train since a bus involves a connection/change at Poggibonsi. Thought the train would be more direct. I know that the bus is less hassle however since when you get there they drop you off in the main centre.
Re the train tickets: they are listing a Eurostar direct trip on the timetable but when I try to order for 12 they won't let me enter more than 5.

The bus to Siena does not require a change. It is an express bus that just goes between Siena and Florence.

Where are you seeing a direct ES from Florence to Siena?

It does *not* exist!

Seconding what Ellenm said...

Student groups are booked through galleries and museums as student groups...I am not sure what tickets you have made arrangements for in advance but when you do you will be advised of arrangements and restrictions.

I am assuming you have some Italian language skills or someone along who does? this will make it much easier.

You don't need to order bus/train tickets in advance: these can be purchased at the time of travel or at most one day ahead.

My students' favourite place in Florence was actually outside. Take the bus to Fiesole and visit the Etruscan Museum and ruins. Also, there is a wonderful small cathedral gallery there IF it is open (often NOT in summer).

Have a wonderful trip and enjy the prep.

As for the SITA buses, there are express buses that make no stops; there are others that stop in Poggibonsi, but you don't have to change there.

Train tickets can't be purchased from Trenitalia more than 60 days in advance or at least that was the rules in the past.There appears to be a new ESLINK train for 10E per person.

After I looked at the ESLINK, I discovered it's a bus/train link not an ES train.

Thanks to Zerlina, Ellenem and LJ. You have taken time out of your day to respond to my questions and I appreciate it. I am encouraged that LJ has done this trip with students. I have been to Florence 7 times with various people but never as a school trip planned by me. My students are very excited about this proposal but sometimes I find the prospect daunting. I'm sure everything will work out and whatever is challenging will serve to fine tune the next trip. Thanks again.

Hi L,

>I am taking 12 high school students to Florence next summer ...

How many other adults will be on this trip with you?

((I))

Ira asks a good question. At the residential school I was at, we found that a tour of Florence (or Venice or Rome or...) needed 1 adult for every 4-12 students based on maturity.

"Our" kids ranged in age from 14-20, came from 5 different countries (mostly USA and Canada) and ranked from the totally manageable ("I am SO lucky to be here") to the chronically irksome ("Why I am here, so far from MacDonalds.my boyfriend, good TV?")

If they WANT to be where you are taking them, the ratio of adults to youth can be successfully lowered.

I LOVE communicating on this forum. This is the first time I've done it and I appreciate the generosity of people who will take the time to respond to a complete stranger. In answer to your question re chaperones,my husband and I are taking the students. The group will be staying in 3 apartments on the same floor. To save money and hassle we will be eating most of our meals in the biggest apartment and they will be prepared by my husband. The trip is basically centered around Florence with bus trips to Siena, San Gimignano and Fiesole. We'll have one day in Rome at the end in order to catch the plane the next day. I've had several adults ask if they can join the trip but I fear that they will be potentially more trouble than the kids. However the decision isn't final yet.In my experience, adults can be way more fussy than the students. These students REALLY want to go on this trip. I'd appreciate any other teachers out there responding with any advice about school trips. Thanks.

If this is an official school trip, your school will almost certainly tell you how many adult chaperones will need to accompany the students, based on school and liability requirements. As a teacher, I would say that you need at least three responsible adults, preferably not parents. If a student is ill and needs to stay behind at the apartment or seek medical care, one adult will have to stay, too. That would leave only 1 adult for the other 11 students. And if you have 3 apartments, you should have an adult in each apartment, unless you have some very liberal parents who don't care how well supervised their kids are. If you and your husband do not speak Italian, you might want to consider an Italian teacher. You are right that parents could well be more trouble than the kids. Certainly, you have no "authority" over parents if they feel like going off on their own when you need them to chaperone. Since you have such a long time to prepare for the trip, you could perhaps get in touch with high school foreign language teachers who are very experienced at taking students overseas, and who could offer some guidance.

Hi L,

A few things to consider.

Have you looked into legal issues: what to do if a student gets sick or injured, what to do if a student behaves improperly, what to do if a student is arrested.

Will the students make their own arrangements for travel by air?

Will they pay for everything in advance?

((I))

Hi Ira:
You have posed some excellent questions. As far as getting sick or injured, the school board will cover the insurance for the students even though it is in the summer. I have it in writing. I will also purchase travel insurance to cover medical expenses. They will have to supply proof that they are covered under a parent work plan too. This is a package deal (my own) that includes airfare, hotel, field trips, ground travel,all food,insurance, and school supplies. They only need to provide souvenir and snack money. I haven't considered that they might get arrested. That one would be a challenge. Any suggestions?

Hi L,

>As far as getting sick or injured, the school board will cover the insurance for the students even though it is in the summer.<

You also need a power of attorney (a letter from the parents) authorizing you to act on their behalf if a child is ill or runs into problems with the authorities.

Make sure that you get the money up front and that there is a nonrefundable deposit. You don't want to get stuck paying for a no-show's hotel or travel.

Except for the kids, this looks like a fun trip. :)

PS,

You also have to have a signed agreement that if the kid has to be sent home, the parents will pay for it, along with authorization to charge their credit card.

Why would you send a kid home? Sex Drugs and Rock and Roll. (not necessarily in that order). :)

((I))

You mention the school board, so you must be from a public school. If so, most public school boards have very strict guidelines for school sponsored or endorsed trips. They should tell you, in writing, how many adults need to chaperone, including how many teachers. They should have a complete copy of your plans, in writing, and sign off on them in advance. Your principal will need to present this to the board. As a teacher you are PERSONALLY liable if anything happens to a student. The school district insurance may cover your students, but will it cover your liability? It will almost certainly NOT cover your husband's liability. In this day and age, liability is something you do not want to mess around with. Check with your teachers' union to see what protection they provide for you. If need be, add a million dollars or more liability upgrade to your homeowners plan to cover you and your husband. You will need emergency medical information on every student, and clearances from the parents to obtain medical care if needed. There are so many administrative issues to consider, above and beyond the sight-seeing issues, that I urge you to find other teachers who have led student groups to Europe and find out how they addressed the many details. I assure you that even the "best" kids from the "best" school districts can get lost, in trouble, drunk, lose their passport or other key documents, lose their prescription medicine, wind up in the wrong room at night, accidentally try to carry something illegal on the plane, etc. Parents of these "best" students will give you emergency contact phone numbers that don't work, or where no one answers because the parents decided to go away themselves. Four day trip to Disney World, we had 2 "top students" get drunk and use drugs despite virtually constant supervision. One parent was unreachable at any emergency contact number. This meant that one of our adult chaperones had to spend the entire rest of the trip personally enforcing "house arrest" on this child. (The other child was flown home early.) We had a medical issue related to a student's diabetes, and we had adult issues where some of the parents and teachers who were supposed to be chaperoning thought that they were on their own personal vacations and vanished for long periods of time. It was the most stressful 4 days imaginable! One suggestion for you is to buy/rent several cell phones. Divide your students into small groups and equip each group with a cell phone so you can all stay in touch if you get separated or have a problem. Require that everyone check in periodically during times when everyone is not all together. If you plan for every possible problem, you will probably have none! And by the way, non-refundable pre-payment for the trip is essential, as ira suggested. As for spending money, you may want to collect a set amount from each student and put it into a bank account for which you and your husband hold the ATM cards. You can issue fixed amounts to each student periodically. If kids carry their own money or ATM cards, that adds a whole other set of possible problems (loss, theft, cards that don't work, one kid with $500 to spend while another has $10 to spend, etc.) The good news is that you have plenty of time to plan!

Hi lesliec1
Thank you so much for your response. You are a devil's advocate for this trip. A lot of what you have suggested is required for our board but I appreciated the suggestion regarding additional insurance for my husband and myself. Also I will contact the union to see what they say about liability. Sounds like your trip to Disney World was a real challenge. Thanks again.