A field trip permission slip is the schoolâs written proof that a parent agreed to this specific trip. It names the destination, date, and times, says how the children will get there and who is supervising, asks for emergency and medical details, and ends with a signature. If you are writing one, the sample below covers the lines that matter. If you are the parent holding one, there is a short list of things worth checking before you sign.
Weâre the OurPost team, and field trip season is when the most paper comes home in one week: the slip, the cost sheet, the âwhat to packâ reminder, sometimes a second slip for the bus. Making the slip is the easy part. The hard part is that one parent signs and the other finds out at 7:40 on the morning of the trip.
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Learn more about OurPostSample wording for a field trip permission slip
This follows the format most schools use: the teacher fills in the top half once, copies it, and the parent completes the bottom half and returns it. Replace the underscores and trim what you donât need.
Field Trip Permission Slip
Dear Parent / Guardian,
Our class will take a field trip to ______________________________ on ______________.
We will leave school at ________ and return by ________. The purpose of the trip is ______________________.
Students will travel by â school bus â charter bus â walking â parent drivers.
The cost is $________ per student, due by ______________. Please send payment in an envelope marked with your childâs name.
Students should bring: â a sack lunch â water bottle â jacket â other: ______________. Students will / will not need money.
Chaperones: ____ adults will accompany the class. If you would like to volunteer, please contact ______________.
Please return the bottom section by ______________. Students without a signed slip will stay at school with an alternate assignment.
Return this section
Student name: ______________________ Teacher: ____________________
â My child has my permission to attend the field trip to ______________ on ______________.
â My child does not have permission to attend.
Allergies / medical conditions / medications the chaperones should know about: ____________________________
Emergency contact: ____________________ Phone: ________________ Second phone: ________________
Parent / guardian signature: ______________________ Date: ____________
Why each line is there
The destination, date, and times come first because they are the three things everyone asks about later. The return time matters more than it looks: it decides who is home or at the bus stop, and it is the line most often missing from a rushed slip. Cost and due date go together so that nobody has to guess whether a missing check means a missing child. The lunch and packing lines save a flurry of messages the night before.
The alternate-assignment sentence is worth keeping. It tells parents plainly what happens if they donât sign, which is a fairer way to put it than leaving a family to wonder. Two phone numbers are there because the first one is usually the parent who is at work. And the medical line should be a prompt to write something specific, not a lump of white space: âpeanut allergy, EpiPen in backpackâ is useful, while a blank gets skimmed past.
Many districts require their own wording for liability and medical authorization, so if your district provides a template, put the trip details into that instead of replacing it. The sample is for teachers writing a first version and for parents who want to know what a complete slip looks like.
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Learn more about OurPostBefore you sign: questions worth asking
- What time does the class get back? If it is later than the usual dismissal, who is picking up, and does after-care need to know?
- Who is supervising, and how many adults per child? This is a normal question and a good teacher will have an answer.
- What does it cost, and is there help? Many schools have a quiet way to cover a trip for a family that needs it. Ask the teacher or the office.
- Does my child need medication or a special lunch on the trip? Medication usually needs the schoolâs own authorization form, not just a line on the slip.
- What if I decide not to sign? The slip should say what your child does instead.
The copy that gets lost
Once the signed slip is in the backpack, you no longer have the details. That is the moment the questions start: which Thursday, was it the museum or the farm, did we send money, who is taking the bus. If you and your partner are both involved with school mornings, it is also the moment one of you realises the other never saw the paper.
Photograph it before it goes back. In OurPost you snap the slip, and if your partner is in the same family, it lands in their inbox too. There is nothing to title or sort when you save. When you have a moment, drop it in a list for that child and tag it, then search later by a word printed on the paper, like the name of the destination. Two things to know: the text search is built for clean printed text, so it wonât read your handwriting, and there are no notifications, so check the inbox when you plan the week or put the date in your own calendar.
What OurPost doesnât do for a field trip
It doesnât let you sign electronically, pay the fee, or send anything back to the school, and it doesnât add the trip to a calendar. Those jobs belong to whatever your school uses. If your school sends slips as PDFs through its own app, you can open the PDF there and use your phoneâs share menu to send it to OurPost, so the paper ones and the digital ones sit in the same place (PDFs up to 20 pages and 20 MB). For a general fill-in form that is not tied to trips, see Permission Slip Template.
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Learn more about OurPostFrequently asked questions
What should a field trip permission slip include?
The destination, date, departure and return times, transportation, cost and due date, what to bring, how many adults will supervise, a place for allergies and medical needs, an emergency contact with two phone numbers, and a parent or guardian signature with the date.
Do I have to sign a field trip permission slip?
Schools generally require a signed slip before a student can go on a trip, so without one a child usually stays behind with an alternate assignment. If you have concerns, ask the teacher about supervision, transportation, and what your child would do instead.
Where should I keep the signed slip?
The school keeps the original. For your own records, take a photo before you hand it back so you still have the date, times, and contacts. In OurPost the photo goes into a shared family inbox, so your partner can see it too.
Can OurPost remind me about the trip?
No. OurPost does not send notifications or reminders and has no calendar connection. It keeps the paper findable. Put the date in your own calendar or reminders app when you sign.