School's out

There are two sides to every school trip, says Jane Stewart, a veteran of outdoor learning. The first is seeing the curriculum coming alive, so pupils get to touch and smell the ecology they learn about in the classroom. The second runs just as deep. "It's about the children's confidence, their self-esteem — the whole child," she says. "They come back different children."

Saint Andrew's Church of England Primary in Preston, where Jane teaches, has been going to Castle Head Field Studies Council centre at Lindale near Grange-over-Sands in Cumbria for nearly 25 years. Every year, a group of 60 Year 5 and 6 pupils decamp for five days of orienteering, watersports, ecology walks and environmental talks. After dinner, with no TV to watch, the pupils discover whole new hours to their day. They do extra classroom work or write letters home. There's never more than a 15-minute gap between activities, meaning that, come bedtime, the pupils are exhausted.

Ian Jenkins teaches at Bruce Grove Primary School in London's Tottenham. The kids are from disadvantaged backgrounds — many of them asylum seekers and refugees. Bruce Grove takes its Year 6 to a centre provided by its local authority, Haringey, once a year.

"For me it's to experience other aspects of life with the children. Normally you're stuck in a classroom doing the ABCs and 123s, but to see them outdoors and diving headfirst into water is just wonderful," says Ian, adding: "Most of the time they complain it's too cold, but at the end of it they just want to do it all again." 

Jane and Ian are part of an army of teachers, classroom assistants, headteachers and local authorities who make it possible for hundreds of thousands of pupils to get the kind of experience every year Jane enthuses about. But NASUWT has said some of its members had concerns. For example, what happens on the rare occasions when a pupil is injured and the school employer faces a compensation claim?

Ted Wragg, emeritus professor of education at Exeter University, says there's some justification in this, but that: "In reality, relatively few will face any problems." He says that things like virtual museums are no substitute for the real thing.

Risk assessment

So what can teachers do to make sure a trip has educational benefits with risk reduced to an acceptable level and as little extra workload as possible? First, it's a good idea to make as much use as possible of colleagues, at school and local authority level, with designated roles and expertise in the area. Most local authorities have an outdoor education adviser, who can advise on insurance, an emergency helpline for the duration of a trip and for providing any additional training.

Each school should also have an educational visits co-ordinator, who is on top of the legal requirements and can help make sure a risk assessment has been carried out.

The risk assessment process works as a legal backup for schools — and is required by the insurance companies. But it also helps to plan the trip. Potential problems are mapped out, and 'plan Bs' formulated, as well as staffing levels established. As a basic DfES guide, there should be one adult — a teacher, classroom assistant or parent — for every six pupils in school Years 1 to 3 on a trip, and one adult for every 10-15 pupils in school Years 4 to 6. A member of school staff should be in charge of the visit. Mixed groups should have at least one male and one female member of staff, unless the children are of a very young primary age.

Jane at Saint Andrew's school has found that by sticking with one organisation, risk assessments and gaining parents and colleagues' confidence is far easier. It's worth the paperwork, says Jane. "But it's hard work and so different to being in a classroom. You get by on about four hours' sleep. But the adrenalin kicks in, you're having such a good time, the children are so responsive."

Top tips

• Be prepared — risk assessment and making sure you have everything covered is essential
• Inform and seek advice from the local authority outdoor visits adviser
• Give your school co-ordinator as much notice as possible of your plans
• Delegate. Under the workload agreement, classroom assistants are responsible for form and money collecting
• Ensure that the staff at the centre you are visiting are competent and qualified to instruct pupils in any activities they are participating in
• If the trip is abroad, or involves any risky activities, such as trekking, do a dry-run
• If the trip is to an EU country, ensure that pupils have completed a new E111 form. These are available from post offices, and can entitle UK residents to free or reduced-cost healthcare
• Establish an emergency phone number, if only for late arrival back at school
• Have in your mind backup plans for what to do if you unexpectedly lose a member of staff/volunteer to illness
• Leave a detailed plan of the trip with the school office and a colleague in your department

FOR MORE INFO

• DfES has published detailed guidelines on school trips safety. These guidelines include basic model forms for risk assessment and parental consent and information, visit: www.teachernet.gov.uk/visits
• www.teachernet.gov.uk/emergencies/planning/
  educationalvisits
• Health & Safety Executive Five Steps to Risk Assessment: www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg163.pdf
• DfES is to publish, this summer, a reminder for employers on how they must treat staff fairly after any injury to a pupil. Look out for it at www.teachernet.gov.uk/publications. DfES is also working, with partners, on a manifesto for out-of-classroom learning, to appear later this year

Words: Polly Curtis  Illustration: Adrian Johnson

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This content was published in May 2005 and may not reflect current policy