Education

Free Permission Slip Template for Google Docs (Mail Merge Ready)

A parent/guardian permission slip template for field trips and school events. Keep your class roster in Google Sheets — one row per student — and generate a personalized slip for every family in one run, each pre-filled with the student's name, the parent's name, and their emergency contact.

The template

Everything in {{double braces}} is a merge tag. Each tag matches a column header in your Google Sheet, and Batch Merge fills in the value from each row automatically — one finished permission slip per row.

{{School Name}} FIELD TRIP PERMISSION SLIP Dear {{Parent Name}}, Our class is planning a trip to {{Event Name}} on {{Event Date}}. Students will depart from school at {{Departure Time}} and return by {{Return Time}}. The cost per student is {{Cost}}, which covers transportation and admission. Students should bring a packed lunch and wear comfortable walking shoes. Please complete the section below and return it to {{Teacher}} no later than {{Return By Date}}. Students without a signed slip will remain at school with another class. ──────────────────────────────────────── PARENT/GUARDIAN CONSENT I, {{Parent Name}}, give permission for my child, {{Student Name}} (Grade {{Grade Level}}, {{Teacher}}'s class), to attend {{Event Name}} on {{Event Date}}. Emergency contact: {{Parent Name}} — {{Emergency Phone}} Allergies or medical notes: {{Medical Notes}} I understand that reasonable precautions will be taken to ensure the safety of all students during this activity. Parent/Guardian Signature: _________________________ Date: _________________________

Skip the backpack shuffle: add a {{Parent Email}} column to your roster and, on the Pro plan, Batch Merge emails each family their own pre-filled slip directly — one personalized message per row, PDF attached. No more slips lost at the bottom of a backpack.

Set up your Google Sheet

Create one column per merge tag. Column headers must match the tag names exactly (they're case-sensitive). Each row becomes one permission slip — event details repeat on every row, so type them once and fill down:

Student Name	Grade Level	Parent Name	Parent Email	Emergency Phone	Medical Notes	Event Name	Event Date	Cost
Noah Bennett	4	Rachel Bennett	rbennett84@gmail.com	(555) 214-8890	Peanut allergy — EpiPen in backpack	Denver Museum of Nature & Science	Sep 18, 2026	$12.00
Emma Osei	4	Kwame Osei	k.osei@outlook.com	(555) 730-4412	None	Denver Museum of Nature & Science	Sep 18, 2026	$12.00

Add columns for School Name, Teacher, Departure Time, Return Time, and Return By Date the same way — they're identical for the whole class, so type each value once and drag it down the roster. The per-student columns (name, parent, phone, medical notes) are what make each slip personal.

Generate one slip per student

Copy the template into a Google Doc. Click Copy template above, paste into a new Doc, and style it — school letterhead, your logo, a bold return-by deadline. Tags survive formatting.

Install Batch Merge free from the Google Workspace Marketplace, then open your roster sheet and choose Extensions → Batch Merge → Open Batch Merge.

Pick your template. Select the permission slip Doc with the file picker. Batch Merge scans it and shows every tag as a pill — green when it matches a column header, amber when it doesn't. Fix any amber pills by renaming columns or tags.

Choose PDF output and run. Pick PDF (or DOCX / Google Doc), choose a Drive folder, and click Run. Batch Merge writes a status per row and a Merge Log so you always know which slips were generated.

On the free plan you get 25 merge runs per month — each run can process your whole roster, so one run covers the entire class for each trip. Email delivery (send each slip straight to {{Parent Email}}), scheduling, and Google Slides templates are on Pro.

FAQ

How do parents actually sign the slip?

The template ends with a signature and date line, so the classic flow still works: print the merged PDFs, send them home, collect them signed. If you email slips instead (Pro), parents can print, sign, and return them, or reply with their confirmation if your school accepts email consent — check your school's policy.

The event details are the same for every student — do I really fill every row?

Yes, and it takes two seconds: type the event name, date, times, and cost once, then drag the cell handle down the roster. Headers must match the tags exactly, and every row needs a value for each tag used in the Doc — a blank cell just merges as blank.

Can I track which families have returned their slips?

Add a "Returned?" column to the same sheet and check students off as slips come back. Columns without a matching tag in the Doc are simply ignored by the merge, so your tracking columns never leak into the documents — your roster stays the single source of truth for the trip.

Related templates

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