Click here to download the Educational Visits Policy

Educational Visits Policy

Storth CE Primary School recognises the positive outcomes associated with Learning Outside the Classroom (LOTC) and believes that every young person should experience this essential part of learning and personal development, regardless of their age, ability, or circumstances. 

LOtC to be governed by these procedures is defined as: “any occasion where young people engage in activities beyond the boundaries of this educational setting”. 

Our rationale is that such learning often makes the most memorable learning experiences and helps young people make sense of the world by linking feelings and learning.  These experiences stay with them into adulthood and affect behaviour, lifestyle, and work.  They influence their values and the decisions they make, and develop an individual’s ability to transfer skills from outside to the classroom and vice versa.

   Aims

When we provide learning outside the classroom, our intended outcomes seek to ensure that our pupils:

  1. Enjoy participating and reflecting in outdoor activities and adopt a positive attitude to challenge and adventure.
  2. Are enhancing their overall well-being by gaining personal confidence and developing character and resilience through taking on challenges, experiencing valuable failures, and achieving success.
  3. Are developing their self-awareness and social skills, and their appreciation of the contributions and achievements of themselves and of others.
  4. Are becoming alive to the natural local and global environment and understand the importance of conservation and sustainable development.
  5. Are acquiring and developing a range of skills in outdoor activities, fieldwork, exploration, journeys, and expeditions.
  6. Are demonstrating increased initiative and innovation, enthusiasm, curiosity, self-reliance, responsibility, perseverance, tenacity, and commitment.
  7. Are developing and extending their key skills of communication, problem-solving, creativity, critical thinking, leadership, and co-operation.
  8. Are learning to appreciate the benefits of physical activity and the lifelong value of participation in healthy leisure activities and reflection.
  9. Are displaying an increased motivation and appetite for self-directed learning that is contributing to raised levels of attainment in other aspects of their development, as well as becoming concerned, responsible, and fulfilled citizens.
  10. Are broadening their horizons and becoming open to a wider range of employment opportunities and life chances.

Giving young people responsibility for achieving these outcomes helps them to learn from their successes and failures.

   Scope

We have formally adopted the Outdoor Education Advisers’ Panel “National Guidance” (NG) available at oeapng.info.  Links to specific guidance documents on the OEAP website will appear throughout these procedures.  These documents are essential to the proper understanding and implementation of our procedures and all employees and volunteers acting on our behalf are expected to refer to them and follow their requirements and recommendations when planning and leading LOtC off site.  For this reason, these procedures are best not printed in hard copy, but reviewed on an internet-enabled device with access to the OEAP website.

Any clarifications of employer expectations which are necessary are outlined in these procedures or can be sought from the EVC/Headteacher.

There are two categories of off-site visit, each with different procedures outlined in section 3.

Category 1 visits are broadly defined as day or evening activities that are relatively simple in the complexity of staffing requirements, timings, activities, group characteristics, environment, and are within easy reach of support.  Category 1 visits and their leaders are vetted internally and require approval from Simon Brabant as a minimum. 

Category 2 visits are broadly defined as those which require enhanced planning with event specific risk management to reflect the increased complexity of staff activity-specific competence requirements, timings, activities, group characteristics, challenging environments, and being more remote from support, and are typically adventurous activities and overnight stays.  We source competent health and safety assistance with this category of visits as necessary from Kym Allan Health and Safety Consultants Ltd. (KAHSC)].

Physical Education, School Sports, and Physical Activities (PESSPA) such as curricular swimming, sporting tournaments etc. are governed by these procedures only in respect of the journey to and from an off-site facility unless it involves an overnight stay.  Conduct of PE activities is otherwise governed by the PE Department’s Code of Practice; activity risk assessments and any current guidance from a relevant sporting National Governing Body or the Association for Physical Education (AfPE).

Work experience activities as defined in the publication ‘Work Experience: a guide for secondary schools’ (DfES 2002) are not governed by these procedures.

To ensure best value and quality assurance in all learning outside the classroom, identifying the benefits and learning outcomes is embedded in the visit planning process.  Targeted learning outcomes are recorded and communicated appropriately to everyone involved including parents in pre-visit information and visits are reviewed and rigorously evaluated within a framework of safety and quality.

Please click the link at the top to download the document