School trips: what’s new?

In 2008, Ofsted reported that: “Well-planned out-of-classroom activities, which includes trips, not only enhance pupils’ learning, but can also re-engage those who are hard to motivate.”
    
In a further more recent good practice case study, Ofsted also reported that: “Neston High School secures high attainment and levels of progress through a well-integrated curriculum with a broad programme of learning outside the classroom (LOtC). This includes many residential visits, day trips and activities in the local environment”.
    
Not surprisingly, the evidence from overseas matches: “Outdoor learning improves confidence and self-esteem, positive relationships among students and reduced discipline and behaviour problems.”

Innovative residential experiences
Currently, the Paul Hamlyn Foundation has a special initiative called Learning Away, which is a £2.25m project that aims to support schools in significantly enhancing young people’s learning, achievement and well-being by using innovative residential experiences 
as an integral part of the curriculum.
    
The initiative, which began in 2008, is planned to run for six years. Importantly one of the Foundation’s key objectives is to produce evidence that will conclusively prove the value of residentials.
    
The aims are to build a strong evidence base that will support four key Learning  Away propositions, ie to demonstrate that high-quality residential learning: has a strong, positive impact on academic achievement and a wide range of pupil-level outcomes, including emotional well-being, learner engagement, behaviour and personal, social, employability and life skills; can transform the learning experience of pupils; can help to transform schools; does not need to be expensive. Investment in residential learning is money well spent; and to generate new insights and understanding about how and why residential learning achieves these outcomes.

Corporate governance
With the rapid advance of academies and the consequential demise of the influence and support of the Local Authorities, school management must ensure there is a continued level of corporate governance.
    
Despite the reduction of advice and guidance by the government the regulatory background for health and safety and civil law covering negligence have not changed; employers carry the same responsibilities now as they have for the past years. The difference is now that the individual academies are becoming the employers and will inherit the Local Authorities’ responsibilities.
    
Despite the Health & Safety Executive’s (HSE) well-publicised support of LOtC, we should not consider that when faced with poor practice resulting in death or serious injury they would allow it to preclude an investigation and prosecution.

Following the 2000 tragedy at Stainforth Beck in North Yorkshire, the decision of the HSE to prosecute Leeds Education as the employer rather than the teachers concerned, illustrates the likelihood to prosecute at employer level where good management practice is not in place.

Civil claims
Nor should school management ignore the possibility of civil claims, which could arise even though the HSE are not involved.
    
Clearly it is prudent to continue to ensure sound policies and practices remain at the core of protecting any organisation. Faced with the changing situation, many local authority outdoor education advisors have adapted their practices to continue to advise schools through new contractual relationships.
    
In addition, their representative Outdoor Education Advisers’ Panel (OEAP) has free online National Guidance for school trips and outdoor learning (www.oeapng.info). This is replacing the long-established but now withdrawn government guidelines, Health and Safety of Pupils on Educational Visits, and is in line with advice from the HSE.

Schools should also consider the benefits of enrolling in the LOtC Mark, which is an accreditation for schools recognising and supporting the development of learning outside the classroom across all subject areas.

Financial protection
With a school trip costing in the thousands of pounds and the potential for minor or major disruption of plans, protection of the funds entrusted by the parents to the school and meeting the expectations of all are essential considerations.

Whilst the recent update of the ATOL (Air Tour Operators License) regulations extended protection for package travel, it still does not provide financial protection for tours that are individually organised, including flight tickets booked direct through airlines.
    
Many rights of consumers booking a package tour are enshrined in the Package Travel Directive, which were incorporated into UK law as the Package Travel Regulations (PTR) 1992.
    
On 9 July 2013, the European Commission published proposals for a revised Directive on “Package Holidays and Assisted Travel Arrangements”. However, the current regulations and any improved protection that may arise from the consultation only benefits package travel and will not apply to self-arranged tours, for example, where separate suppliers are booked by a consumer over the internet.

Self-arranged packages
The OEAP National Guidance comments  on self-arranged packages: “It is possible for a visit leader to create a tour by booking 
all the elements individually and combining them into a self-arranged package.
    
“However, a tour operator is legally responsible for the package they put together – the responsibility for a self-arranged package lies with the establishment or their employer”.

The guidance also recognises the value of using a tour operator: “They offer packages building travel arrangements, accommodation and learning content into a co-ordinated programme that removes much of the organisational work from party leaders.”

In 2012, even the PTR were unable to help schools who booked through a company called Skiing Europe. Run by Chris Reynard, who has a history of commercial malpractice, the company failed and whilst insurance arrangements for financial failure were in place, the insurance company refused to honour the policy as there had been material non-disclosures by the company when the insurance was initially taken out.
    
Local authorities, school management and parents were left substantially out of pocket. Actions are still pending following the case, which has even been reported on Channel 5’s Rouge Traders and Radio 4’s Face the Facts. The case highlighted the need to carefully ensure suppliers are reputable.

Trusted accreditation scheme
The School Travel Forum (STF) Assured Member scheme and the LOtC Quality Badge National Guidance recommends use 
of LOtC-Quality Badged organisations, which is a nationwide scheme that provides for the first time a national award combining the essential elements of provision – learning and safety – into one easily recognisable and trusted accreditation scheme for all types of learning outside the classroom provider organisation catering to children and young people throughout the UK.
    
The STF is the Awarding Body for the LOtC Quality Badge Scheme for study, ski and snowsport trips.
    
In 2011, almost 14,000 schools went on school trips organised by STF members, an estimated 85 per cent of tours booked through tour operators. A great part of the popularity is the confidence school management and teachers can have when considering their own management of responsibilities, workload, due diligence and peace of mind.

How does the STF work?
Every year, all STF Assured Members are audited by independent experts to ensure they are complying with the organisation’s safety management systems, financial protection requirements and fair trading policies.
    
This is not a simple tick-box exercise; trained and expert auditors are used and they are entitled to inspect any aspect of a member’s operations. Failure to meet the standards results in loss of Assured Member status and LOtC Quality Badge.

The STF’s standards are informed by health & safety and legal experts, stakeholders in education, including the OEAP, teaching unions and heads’ associations as well as travel industry experts. They cover the various types of tours and all the component parts of the tours (see STF’s standards box on page 67).

STF assured members
These schemes do not increase costs for the consumer, nor do they restrict choices. From just 16 Assured Members in 2003, the STF now has 40, which represents the majority of the UK’s specialist educational tour operators – from the largest to the smallest. New members are actively helped and encouraged to get up to standard.
    
As befits an organisation with a regulatory function, the STF does not involve itself in outright commercial issues and individual members compete for business in the normal way; this ensures choice, value for money 
and high-quality products.
    
Both the STF and the Council for LOtC are not-for-profit organisations and each operates on shared, non-competitive, good practice issues only.

Further information
www.schooltravelforum.com
www.lotc.org.uk