Field trip permission slip template
A permission slip tells parents exactly where their child is going, how they'll get there and what it costs, and gets back a signature, an emergency number and any allergies the chaperones should know about. This one is written for school and youth-group trips. Read it below, then send it to a whole class list from SignMaster.
Updated November 5, 2026 · 4 min read
The contract
Gray blanks are yours to fill in before you send. Each signer fills in the blanks in their color.
- You, before sending
- Parent or guardian
Field Trip Permission Slip
This permission slip is from School or organization name (the "School") for the trip described below.
Student name: Student name Class or teacher: Class or teacher
1. The trip
- Destination: Destination
- Address: Destination address
- Date: Trip date Leaving at: Departure time Back at: Return time
- Purpose of the trip: Purpose of the trip
2. Transportation
Students will travel by Transportation. Students travel to and from the destination with the group unless the parent arranges otherwise with the School in writing before the trip. A student may leave the trip early only with the parent or an adult the parent names to the School in writing.
3. Cost and what to bring
The cost of the trip is Trip cost, due by Payment due date. Refund policy: Refund policy. Families who need help with the cost may contact the School in confidence.
Students should bring: What to bring
4. Supervision and conduct
Students will be supervised by School staff and approved chaperones, at about one adult for every Students per adult students. Students must follow the School's code of conduct and the directions of staff and chaperones throughout the trip. If a student's behavior puts their own or others' safety at risk, the School may keep the student with a staff member, ask the parent to collect them at the parent's cost, or decide before departure that the student can't go.
5. Health information
The parent tells the School about anything the chaperones should know to keep the student safe on this trip.
- Allergies: Allergies
- Medications to be taken during the trip, with times and doses: Medications during the trip
- Other health needs or conditions: Other health needs
The School will share this information only with the staff and chaperones on the trip and with anyone giving the student medical care.
6. Emergency contact and medical treatment
If the student is hurt or becomes ill, staff will give first aid and try to reach the parent at the numbers below. If no one can be reached quickly, the parent authorizes the School's staff to arrange emergency medical treatment that a doctor considers necessary, including transport to a hospital. The parent is responsible for the cost of that treatment.
Parent phone during the trip: Parent phone
Second emergency contact: Second emergency contact Phone: Second emergency contact phone
7. Risks and release
The parent understands that trips away from school carry risks that careful planning can reduce but not remove, such as travel, crowds, weather and the activities at the destination. To the extent the law allows, the parent releases the School, its staff and the volunteer chaperones from claims for injury, loss or damage arising from the student's participation in the trip, except claims caused by gross negligence or willful misconduct.
8. Photos
Staff may photograph the trip for the School's own newsletter, website and social media. The parent's initials here mean they agree to the student appearing in those photos: Photo permission initials. No initials means no photos of the student will be published, and the student still goes on the trip.
9. Permission
By signing, the parent or guardian gives permission for the student named above to go on this trip, and confirms that the information they have given is correct. Parent email: Parent email
I have read the trip details, the conduct rules in section 4 and the medical consent in section 6.
Parent or guardian
Opens it in SignMaster as a template you can edit and send.
A starting point, not legal advice. Have a lawyer review it for your state and situation.
On this page
Why paper slips go missing
The paper version travels home in a backpack, sits under a lunchbox and comes back the morning of the trip, unsigned. Teachers end up phoning parents from the bus. Sent by email, the slip reaches the parent directly, reminders go out on their own, and you can see who hasn't signed days before departure, not at the curb.
It also keeps the answers that matter in one place. The medication a child needs at noon, a peanut allergy, the number to call if the bus breaks down: chaperones need these on the trip, not in a folder back at school.
What the template covers
- The trip: destination, address, date, departure and return times, and the reason for the visit.
- Transport: school bus, charter coach, public transit or parent drivers, written in a blank you fill in.
- Cost and what to bring: the fee and its due date, your refund policy, lunch, clothing and anything else students need.
- Supervision and conduct: the adult-to-student ratio, and what happens if a student's behavior puts anyone at risk.
- Health: allergies, medications to be taken during the trip, and other needs, written by the parent.
- Emergency treatment: permission for staff to arrange emergency care if no parent can be reached, plus two numbers to try first.
- Photos: a separate opt-in by initials, so saying no to photos never keeps a child off the bus.
Mistakes to avoid
- Sending one slip for the whole year. Parents should see the details of each trip; a blanket form may not count as informed permission when something goes wrong.
- Leaving out pick-up rules. If a student may leave the trip with someone other than the group, say who, and how the school confirms it.
- Asking for a fee without saying what happens if the child can't go. State whether it's refunded, and tell families how to ask for help with the cost.
- Forgetting the second household. When parents live apart, add the other parent as a CC, or as a second signer if your records call for both.
- Printing the medical answers on a sheet everyone can see. Share allergy and medication details only with the staff and chaperones who need them.
Check your district's rules
Many districts have their own permission form, chaperone screening rules or required wording for medical consent. If yours does, cover the clause with White-out from the editor's Markup tools and type the district's wording in a Text box, then save the template. For a longer district form, copy the text from the preview into your own document, add the wording there and upload it as a new template.
How to send it to a class with SignMaster
- 1
Open the template
Choose Use this template above. It opens as a template in your account with one signer role, the parent or guardian, and every blank already placed.
- 2
Fill in the trip once
Type the destination, date, times, transport, cost and supervision ratio into the gray blanks. Leave the student's name and class alone: the parent's blanks, in blue, are filled by the parent or by your spreadsheet.
- 3
Download the blank CSV
On the template's page, choose Bulk send, then Download a blank CSV. Fill one row per student: the parent's name and email, plus Student name and Class or teacher.
- 4
Send the whole class
Upload the file, or paste the rows straight from your class spreadsheet; from Excel, save as CSV UTF-8 first. Each parent gets their own envelope with their child's name already on the slip.
- 5
Let reminders chase
Automatic reminders nudge parents who haven't signed, and a sign-by date the day before the trip switches them to due tomorrow and due today. The signing page and emails can appear in Spanish or any of 6 languages; the slip's own wording stays as you wrote it.
No class list? Use a link
For an after-school club or a trip open to the whole grade, turn the template into a public link and put it in the newsletter. Each parent types their own and their child's details, and every signed slip lands in your account. On a paid plan, the Responses tab then shows every child's allergies and emergency numbers in one table you can export for the chaperones.
Questions? Answers.
Is an e-signed permission slip as good as a paper one?
For a school trip, yes in nearly every case. Federal and state e-signature laws give an electronic signature the same effect as ink, and each slip comes with a certificate showing which email signed it and when.
Can both parents sign the permission slip?
Yes. Add a second parent or guardian role to the template and choose whether they sign one after the other or at the same time.
What if a parent doesn't use email?
Hand them a tablet at pick-up and use Sign in person, or copy their signing link and text it to them from your own phone.
Do parents need a SignMaster account?
No. They open the link on a phone or computer, read the slip, fill in their part and sign. Nothing to install.