WIREDGOV

Keeping school trips on the agenda in Scotland is a key priority for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents and the safety charity has launched a new series of bespoke workshops to provide teachers with the skills and knowledge to run safe and exciting trips.

RoSPA Scotland hopes that the workshops, to be run within organisations, will help teachers to overcome their fears about taking children out of school, and give them the confidence to plan and risk assess school trips effectively.

Karen McDonnell, head of RoSPA Scotland, said: “Planning a school trip doesn’t need to involve masses of red tape, and these workshops aim to show teachers just how simple it is to conduct risk assessments.

“We are always disappointed when teachers tell us that they have been put off running school trips because of the perceived dangers and bureaucracy involved. Millions of British children go on school trips each year, and the vast majority of visits happen without serious incident.

“School trips have huge educational and wider social benefits for children; and trips provide ideal opportunities for children to learn about challenges and risks in their lives. We need to promote a culture where things are ‘as safe as necessary’ not ‘as safe as possible’. Restricting children unnecessarily will not help them to cope confidently in later life.”

The workshops are aimed at teachers and others with responsibility for organising and running school trips. They cover:

• Legal obligations and responsibilities in connection with school visits and trips
• How to manage and control the health and safety risks associated with taking pupils out of school
• Factors associated with higher-risk activities including visits to foreign countries.

Workshops begin by looking at schools’ individual school trip policies, ensuring that each session is tailored specifically to delegates’ needs and take a look at what can happen in the unlikely event that something goes wrong on a trip. Sessions also look at the planning of a school trip at home, and abroad, using RoSPA’s guidance as well as that from local authorities.

Simple measures the charity recommends schools take when planning trips include:

• Ensuring teachers have the necessary competence and skills to lead the trip they are planning
• Involving young people in the risk assessment process
• Ensuring parents are fully aware of what is planned so that they are happy their children will want to participate
• Making sure what is done has been planned properly (not making last-minute decisions to introduce new activities which have not been properly thought through)
• Having a plan B and plan C in case circumstances (e.g. weather, travel arrangements) alter while on the trip.

If you would like to organise a workshop for your organisation, please contact Jennifer Fergusson, RoSPA Scotland’s tele-business delivery and administration co-ordinator, on 0131 449 9378 or email jfergusson@rospa.com. Enquiries from around the whole of the UK are welcome.