New Zealand Educational School Field Trips
Take your education to the next level with Active Adventures inspired school trips
New Zealand is an amazing country to explore for an educational class trip with a wide range of ecosystems, geology, rich Maori culture and unique biodiversity and conservation efforts. Great for sports, geography, biology, history and cultural trips.
Custom itineraries, crafted for you.
We can work with you to customise an educational tour for your school based on the learning outcomes of your curriculum. Our experienced and knowledgeable guides can help alongside your teachers to show the students the amazing flora, fauna, geography, geology and Maori myths and legends that New Zealand has to offer. You can also rest easy knowing your students are in good hands, with extensive health and safety plans and established emergency response programs.
Geography
New Zealand is jam-packed with incredible geographic wonders - from glaciers, fault lines, hot springs, volcanoes, caves, fjords and everything in between.
Learn how New Zealand came to be and how humans have shaped the country.
Conservation
Connecting your students with nature through conservation work is an incredible way to build ownership and leave a lasting effect for years to come. Your students can get involved by planting and caring for native trees, protecting threatened species, and population monitoring.
Sports
New Zealand is an adventurers paradise, and there's no better way to get into a new activity or grow your skills that a sports based school trip.
Whether your students are beginners or experts and whether they're into hiking, biking, kayaking, yoga or another sport - we'll help bring your student's game to the next level.
Community
We work with several conservation partners to help with native tree planting and pest management.
We're more than happy to chat through other 'Give Back' options and see if we can find the perfect fit for you and your students. This option can be added on for a day, or we're happy to arrange a community based trip for your students.
Culture
New Zealand culture is special in that it's influenced by an array of unique environmental and social aspects.
Your students will enjoy learning about the Maori people, how the geographic isolation shaped the culture and how the British colonization helped to bring the culture we see here today. We're also happy to dive into Kaitiakitanga (Maori principle of guardianship), basic Te Reo and Maori history.
History
While New Zealand is a relatively young country, the explorations and settlement of the Maori along with the European settlers is an incredible tale.
On your school trip, you'll see first hand evidence of earlier times and our guides love sharing stories and knowledge of how New Zealand came to be. We'll dive into our fascinating history in an exciting and enriching way.
Bushcraft & Navigation Skills
The only way to gain confidence and knowledge in exploring the backcountry, is to get out there and do it!
Our expert guides can teach fundamental skills - from bushcraft, river crossing, orienteering, camping skills and hazard awareness. We're happy to cater each trip to suit your students' goals and align with your curriculum.
Personal Growth Challenges
Have a goal specific to your students or class? No worries, with heaps of options and experience to go along with it, we can craft our itineraries to suit you.
We can also arrange Expedition or Exploration journeys for students wishing to fulfill their Duke of Edinburgh awards.
Sample Itinerary - South Island Adventure School Trip
This 8- day school field trip takes students around the South Island of New Zealand. Starting in Christchurch, students will first head up to Kaikoura where they'll learn about earthquakes and see first hand the changes the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake had. From here, they'll head into Nelson Lakes National Park to complete a challenging overnight hike and learn about the ecology of plants and the native flora and fauna of the region.
Also included on this trip is a strong focus on conservation, climate change and wildlife. Learning outcomes have a focus on geography through landscape changes due to earthquakes, glacier movements and retreats, limestone rock formations and coastal erosion.
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How does it work?
All you'll need to do is organise a group of 10 or more students, and we'll take care of all the logistics and planning your field trip. When you get in touch, simply let us know as much information as possible and we'll start creating a school trip that aligns with your curriculum.
- Tell us if you want a quick weekend, a full week or more.
- Let us know what subjects you'd like to be included - geography, conservation, sports, culture, etc., and anything else that's top propriety.
- Choose where you'd like your school trip to explore. We can run trips in most regions of New Zealand and you'll have the option to base yourself out of one accommodation or travel between multiple accommodations.
- Tell us about your students, are you looking for a primary school trip, secondary school trip or a field trip for kids.
Once we have the information needed, you'll work with a travel expert to create a trip that suits your group's goals. While on your trip, we'll make sure everything is taken care of (if you'd like it to be!), from all accommodations and meals to experienced adventure guides to making sure your students are well taken care of while in the wilderness.
Let's start planning your school trip!
Active Adventures Assurance
We realise plans can change at any time and even the best insurance policies don’t cover every single possibility. Plus, with travel restrictions still floating around, it can be nerve-wracking for you to lock in future travel dates.
We want you to feel confident that your money is in good hands so we've introduced Active Adventures Assurance, which includes:
- Deposits good for life
- Transferable deposits between trips
- Transferable travellers
- Refund outside of 30-days
- For Kiwis: if you can't travel due to Covid-19 level restrictions and your trip is less than 30 days away, we will re-book you onto an alternative departure date or will offer you a future trip credit valid on any Active Adventures departure in New Zealand or overseas until 31 December 2022.
Why travel with us
Experience adventures the way you want them
It's all about getting there under your own steam – on foot, in a sea kayak, or by bike. What better way is there to experience mind blowing scenery? If it's your first time, no worries – our expert guides have got you covered
Crafting Award-winning
trips for decades - the Kiwi way
Above all, we aim to be amazing hosts. We're proud of our kiwi roots, and our professional, warm and relaxed style of running trips around the world is unforgettable.
Every detail covered, to maximise your time
As soon as you join us, we've got all the details of your retreat covered – top notch meals, comfortable transport & accommodation, amazing guides and INCREDIBLE service.
Make life-long friends during your adventures
Even if you already know your travel companions, you'll get to know each other even better and gain a better appreciation for what makes your team tick. Plus, you'll have the flexibility and freedom to challenge yourself as much (or as little!) as you like.
Explore hidden gems through our expert local guides
We're VERY picky about who we select to work in our team, and we have people from all over the world lining up to guide our trips. So we get to hire the absolute BEST in the business.
4.54 out of 5 from 18194 reviews. That’s pretty solid.
While we could hang around all day telling you how wonderful our trips are, the best people to listen to are our travellers themselves.