Blue Stamp Travel

Blue Stamp Travel are a family owned business, run by ex-teachers and school leaders with an extensive knowledge of school trips and what it takes to make a school trip successful. We care about the students who travel with us and recognise the value of school trips and the life-changing experiences that they can bring, when delivered in the right way. We also understand the importance of working with parents/carers and with students directly where necessary. 

Our team is made up of talented linguists who always have the students’ interests at the heart of their work. Their personal relationships with employers and language school partners is what makes the Blue Stamp Experience a special one – both in the office for the team, and for students who travel with us. 

Formed in 2018, Blue Stamp Travel operated within well renowned schools tour operator, Halsbury Travel. Developing on an already well established relationship, and working alongside the experienced team, we inherited and grew the diverse range of work placements and language school partnerships.

In 2020, Blue Stamp became independent of Halsbury having seen a resurgence over 2019 in interest in travelling abroad to study languages. We look forward to continuing to offer school trips and language experiences for students.

Our relationship with Halsbury remains strong and we enjoy working with one of the leading school education travel providers in the UK.

Our Values

Personal Service

From before you book until you have returned home, and beyond, we offer personal service from our dedicated team. This includes a 24/7 contact for during your trip to support if you need it.

Education

Coming from an education background, we know the importance of educational trips. Our trips are designed to deliver educational outcomes. As well as developing language skills, we aim to promote independence, confidence, workplace specific skills, communication and other key-skills that are so sought after in employment.

Removing the burden of organising trips for schools and teachers

We know that teaching is a full-time job without the extra burden of arranging trips. We provide trips for schools with minimum administration for teachers – we take care of everything through our online portal and keep teachers informed throughout.

For schools who cannot offer trips of their own, we provide the opportunity for students to travel independently of their schools on our mixed group school trips.

Equality

We welcome students from all backgrounds to travel with Blue Stamp. We pride ourselves on providing a friendly, accessible service for all students. Equality is more than a Equality Policy document at Blue Stamp Travel.

Safety and Wellbeing

Our first priority in planning any trip is the safety and wellbeing of our students and staff. This in turn leads to enjoyable experiences. This starts with ensuring our Safety Management System reflects the latest best practice and that it is applied by all our staff.

Good Value

Travelling abroad may not be always be cheap, but because we have done the hard work, we know that we can provide you with an experience that will be well worth the investment. Whether it is a work placement, language course or staying with a host family, we know that it will be an enjoyable and unforgettable experience that will benefit your language skills well into the future.

Management Team

Steve Manderson

Managing Director

Originally from Hampshire, Steve attended the University of Nottingham then qualified as a teacher in 1998 from Loughborough University before teaching in Nottingham for 21 years including 8 years as Assistant Headteacher at a high achieving (OFSTED Outstanding) 11-19 secondary school. Having travelled or lead 50 weeks of Outward Bound, skiing trips, international tours, music excursions, Duke of Edinburgh and history trips, it seemed a natural progression to venture into the travel industry bringing with him a wealth of knowledge of the world of education. With a passion for learning outside the classroom and providing opportunities for young people, Steve is able to advise teachers and parents about the benefits, and challenges of organising trips as well as the way to make the most of your experiences.

Having supported work experience and careers in the UK, moving to work experience abroad was both enjoyable and rewarding. Working with over 500 students in the first year alone.

Steve, holds an enhanced DBS and is trained in Child Protection as well as GDPR.

Vicky Manderson

Director of Operations

Vicky attended Ripon and York St John University before returning to Nottingham where she grew up. Teaching in Nottingham across primary and secondary phases for 22 years, Vicky taught music to A Level working with individuals new to music and those on the world stage.  She has led individuals and groups performing across the country and abroad. Vicky has a wealth of experience in orchestrating and logistics in order to bring together large teams of people to deliver outstanding results.

Committed to fostering talent and providing enrichment for young people, Vicky Joined Blue Stamp Travel in 2019.

Vicky, holds an enhanced DBS and is trained in Child Protection as well as GDPR.

Placement Team

Our experienced, well-travelled and dedicated Placement Team work with employers across France, Germany and Spain to maintain our network of opportunities for students. By referring to student applications and a detailed knowledge of employers and work placements they provide matches for students that allow them to make the most of their time abroad, whether it is a week or 3 months. 

Katie Cirulis

Spain Placement Coordinator

Group Leaders

Blue Stamp Group Leaders travel with Work Experience trips. They are our hands on experts in the destination cities in which we work. They are skilled-linguists, experienced-travellers and are used to working with young people. Our Group Leaders are DBS cleared or have the international equivalent. 

Digital and Marketing Team

An essential part of any succesful, modern business, and a fundamental  part of the Blue Stamp operations, our IT developers and marketing colleagues are responsible for a lot of what students see before they choose to travel with us and during their preparations for their trip.  

Digital and Socials Coordinator

Our Accreditations

 European Regional Development Fund

Through the support of D2N2 Growth Hub 2.0, Blue Stamp Travel are proud to acknowledge the financial support in August 2020 from the ERDF Business Investment Fund Grant Programme in delivering our project developing our new website and further technology developments. This programme offers funded grants for Digital Technology, Specialist Consultancy and Equipment, which is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund.