NQTs: Make Sure Your First School Trip Goes According to Plan with Advice from the ATL

by Association of Teachers and Lecturers

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Even the threat of an Ofsted inspection can pale in comparison to the perils of organising a school trip, especially if you’re an NQT.

What should be a great adventure can soon become a burden of responsibility. But as long as you’ve made the right preparations, things should run smoothly.

So, to help put everything into perspective and avoid any potential mishaps, here’s what you need to know.

What are my responsibilities?

If you are the one organising the trip, this identifies you as the group leader. As such, it’s important that you and/or your school’s educational visits co-ordinator undertake and keep a record of the following:

• Obtain approval from the school and the local authority if applicable
• Undertake or obtain a risk assessment
• Detail staffing, supervision and training needs
• Ensure that the trip is adequately insured
• Plan transport
• Obtain written parental consent for medical treatment and brief parents
• Conduct an exploratory visit
• Prepare contingency and emergency arrangements
• Brief staff in preparation for the trip including responsibilities and emergency arrangements
• Prepare children for the trip discussing arrangements, expectations and safety

What’s the risk?

A risk assessment is an essential element of any school trip – not to mention a legal requirement. It consists of a five-step process that enables teachers to identify hazards and dangers before and during the event.

Don’t worry if you feel that you do not have the expertise to carry this out. You will have a trained colleague in your school for health and safety matters, and each Local Authority has an outdoor education advisor who is there to help and support you.

If you are the group leader, always be prepared to trust your own judgement. If you think that to continue an activity or a trip would compromise the health and safety of the group, you have the authority and responsibility to cancel it. The teacher/group leader is expected to apply the same standard of care as would a ‘reasonable parent’ acting within a range of reasonable responses.

When should I contact parents?

Parents must be informed in writing about the trip before they are asked for their consent, which should include advanced authorisation for any emergency treatment their child may require.

They should be asked and have a duty to provide adequate information about their child regarding allergies, phobias, medication or other individual needs. It can be useful to hold a parents’ meeting before the trip to brief them on the arrangements.

How many supervisors will I need?

There’s no precise formula for the number of supervisors required on a school trip – it’s down to reasonable judgement. You should take into account the nature of the expedition, and the number, age, sex and aptitudes of the children.

Trips which involve hazardous activities require more adults for a group. ATL would advise teachers to consider very carefully all possible risks before agreeing to take a group offsite on their own.

Do I need insurance?

Make sure that you, and other school trip participants, are fully and correctly insured. It is important to study insurance policies carefully – they should include cover for possible personal liability and ‘third party insurance’ for all responsible adults.

Group leaders must ensure that they do nothing to jeopardise their insurance cover.

What if something goes wrong?

When negligence is alleged, the case will nearly always be taken against the employer, who is vicariously liable and carries insurance for third-party liability.

Claims are seldom brought against individuals and, if individual employees are sued, they may bring in their employer as a co-defendant. Some employers provide a specific indemnity which protects staff against any liability if a claim is made against them personally.

ATL also offers its members comprehensive protection against claims for negligence in the course of their professional duties or related voluntary activities.

The courts do not rush to find schools and teachers negligent, they accept that accidents do happen.

However, schools must demonstrate that they have taken reasonable steps to plan trips thoroughly and assess and control risks, and individual teachers must demonstrate that their responses to an incident were within the range of the reasonable responses of a parent.

Find out more

School trips provide many valuable learning opportunities, and school staff put in a lot of hard work to ensure thousands of pupils every year enjoy them and return home safely.

For further advice and information see the ATL website, atl.org.uk.