School Groups on the Tube

I'm often the trip leader for the school groups I take away (from a museum visit to a ten-day choir tour of South Africa), so I've got some experience Firstly if you want to know something specific I'm quite happy to talk to you by email if you PM me your email address.

Tube staff are generally great and as soon as they see you will shepherd you through the gateline. I often line them up on the public side of the gateline, run to speak to a CSA and then bring the group with me. Twos in general work better than ones, except for escalators. Children don't know to stand on the right!

Walk along platforms closest to the wall and wait by the headwall. Often drivers will pop out but if not feel free to approach the cab and they'll open up. Tell them which station you're going to and they'll wait until you give them the thumbs up at your departure station before they head off with Jeremy's teddy bear or Susan's pencil case.

Some CSAs have offered to accompany me onto the train before now and have someone at the other end but I've never found it necessary.

Occasionally I've had to let several trains go so as to get a reasonably empty one and I always put everyone in one carriage, even if there's forty or so of them. As soon as a space becomes available I tell them to sit down. The general public often find them amusing Sometimes at busy stations (I normally go from Pimlico northbound) it's more advantageous to go southbound to a terminal station where they can then all sit down before the train heads northbound again (seriously).

Anything else just give me a shout.

And don't, if you happen to be passing through Bank in the rush hour, get them to line up in pairs on the stairs down to the Northern Line platforms while you make sure you have everyone as one school party did the other day (causing chaos as the stairs aren't wide enough for just the commuters that want to use them). Indeed, it wouldn't be a bad idea to scout out the stations in advance if you can to work out where you stand to get everybody regrouped while causing the least disruption.

Great advice guys - thanks very much. I'll get the 'stand on the right' drilled in at an early age.

I always make sure I get on and off last, and stand in the doorway just in case the doors shut before everyone is on or off, which has happened a couple of times. If the doors shut on me, I know with confidence that the train won't be leaving without any of the children.