Q. How do you know how safe an outdoor activity centre is?
A. Look for a centre with an AALA licence, trained and experienced staff, risk assessments available for inspection
Q. What activities can a group expect to do on a visit to an outdoor activity centre?
A. What do you want to do? Many centres can tailor your visit to meet curriculum needs, particular needs of your group, fit in with classroom sessions and prepare you for follow up work on your return to school
Q. How much will a visit to an outdoor activity centre cost?
A. Depends on what you want. Many centres have accommodation at various levels, programmes of activities at various prices. If you go to a centre in the South West your travel costs will be much reduced. Some centres will even pick you up from the nearest train station.
Q. Can I undertake an inspection visit before I travel?
A. The majority of centres do allow inspection visits but you will need to check with each individual centre as there are some that don’t.
Q. How many free teacher places am I entitled to?
A. Each centre varies and you will need to ring up individual centres to see what their policies on teacher places are. There are a few centres that are aware that some LEAs insist on a higher ratio of staff to students and so are happy to quote you for the number of free teacher places you require.
Q. Can we stay in more than one accommodation centre?
A. This may vary for each centre depending on the size of your group and availability. You will need to find out from individual centres.
Q. Where can I find out about health and safety issues for educational visits?
A. www.teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/healthandsafety/visits/ gives a list of useful documents you can download and look over including the standards for LEAs in overseeing educational visits and a handbook for group leaders.
Q. What should I know about the activity centre before I book?
A. www.rospa.com gives a list of questions you should ask activity centres before traveling, as listed below. Try and get as many details as possible confirmed in writing.
- Does the centre operate a policy for staff recruitment, training and assessment which ensures that all staff with any responsibility for the safety and welfare of participants are competent?
- Does the centre carry out criminal record checks as part of its recruitment procedures?
- Does the centre have a clear chain of responsibility set out in writing?
- Does the centre have written local operating procedures for each programme or activity offered?
- Does the centre guarantee that there is at least one responsible person with First Aid qualifications on site?
- Is the equipment used at the centre safe, appropriate, correctly sized and correct for the intended purpose?
- Is the equipment frequently checked and the results recorded (internal audit)?
- Has the centre produced a written document on accident and emergency procedures, including fire safety, and is this available?
- Does the centre provide insurance cover?
Q. How many adults do I need to take on my school trip?
A. This can vary per trip with many different factors to take into consideration. One group leader should manage the whole visit, then for individual activities within a visit it is better for groups to be smaller, each with their own supervisor. Some LEAs set their own levels of supervision for off-site visits, a general guide is; 1 adult for every 6 pupils in school years 1 to 3 (under 5s reception classes should have a higher ratio); 1 adult for every 10-15 pupils in school years 4 to 6; 1 adult for every 15-20 pupils in school year 7 onwards. www.rospa.com.
Factors to take into consideration include;
- sex, age and ability of group;
- pupils with special educational or medical needs;
- nature of activities;
- experience of adults in off-site supervision;
- duration and nature of journey;
- type of any accommodation;
- competence of staff, both general and on specific activities;
- requirements of the organisation/location to be visited;
- competence and behaviour of pupils;
- first aid cover.
Q. What happens if my school doesn’t have an Educational Visits Coordinator (EVC)?
A. Responsibilities automatically fall to the head teacher. Having an EVC means the head teacher can delegate tasks involved in overseeing school trips.
Q. Where can the Educational Visits Coordinator (EVC) seek advice from?
A. The EVC can seek advice from the LEA’s outdoor educational adviser or an appropriately qualified technical adviser as necessary (contactable through the outdoor educational advisor).
Q. What does it mean if a facility is licensed?
A. A license means that the Licensing Authority has inspected the provider and is satisfied with their management of safety of adventure activities. For details of current license holders see the AALA website at http://www.aala.org.uk.
Q. What are the NGB and leader/instructor qualifications?
A.These are listed in the matrices set out in Guidance to the Licensing Authority on the Adventure Activities Licensing Regulations 1996 as follows:
- ABRS Association of British Riding Schools
- BASI British Association of Ski Instructors
- BCU British Canoe Union
- BELA Basic Expedition Leader Award (CCPR)
- BHS British Horse Society
- BMG British Association of Mountain Guides
- CIC Cave Instructor Certificate (NCA)
- CCPR Central Council of Physical Recreation
- ESC English Ski Council
- LCMLA Local Cave and Mine Leader Assessment (NCA)
- MLTB Mountain Leader Training Board
- MIA Mountain Instructor Award (UKMTB)
- MIC Mountain Instructor Certificate (UKMTB)
- ML Mountain Leader Award (UKMTB/SMLTB/WMLTB)
- Or Mountain Walking Leader Award (MLTB)
- NCA National Caving Association
- RYA Royal Yachting Association
- SCOW Ski Council of Wales
- SMLTB Scottish Mountain Leader Training Board
- SNSC Scottish National Ski Council
- SPSA Single Pitch Supervisors Award (MLTB)
- SRA Scottish Rafting Association
- WMLTB Wales Mountain Leader Training Board
- UKMTB United Kingdom Mountain Training Board
- WCA Welsh Canoeing Association
- Some of these may alter over time. For further details about appropriate levels of competence get in touch with the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority on 029 20 755715 or online at http://www.aala.org.uk.
Q. Do I need an OCR Offsite Safety Management Certificate?
A. This qualification is relevant to teachers who plan to lead or supervise curricular visits within their subjects e.g. fieldwork and adventurous activities. It is exam-based and can be combined with practical experience.
Q. What are the categories of activities when considering risk?
A. Information can be found on www.teachernet.gov.uk, as shown below.
Category A
These comprise activities that present no significant risks. They should be supervised by a teacher who has been assessed as competent by the LEA or EVC, as appropriate, to lead this category of educational visit. There is no need for NGB or other accreditation, but the activities should be conducted following the LEA’s or school’s standard visits procedures. Some LEAs classify these as activities needing level 1 supervisory skills. Examples might include:
- walking in parks or on non-remote country paths;
- field studies in environments presenting no technical hazards.
Category B
These comprise some higher-risk or higher profile activities. Safe supervision requires that the leader should, as a minimum, have undergone an additional familiarisation process or induction specific to the activity and/or the location. He or she will be approved as appropriately competent by the LEA, or by the EVC following LEA guidance.
An NGB award such as the Basic Expedition Leadership Award (BELA) or the Activity Leadership NVQ may be relevant as a measure of competence for teachers leading certain activities in category B. Examples of activities might include:
- walking in non-remote country;
- camping;
- cycling on roads or non-remote off-road terrain;
- low level initiative challenges.
Guidance on the activities to be included in category B may be available from the LEA. Where an EVC validates colleagues for leadership of category B activities, he or she should be experienced in leading the activity or should seek the advice of a suitably qualified technical adviser. He or she should also be aware of the responsibilities that are integral to such leadership. The EVC and LEA outdoor education adviser should agree which of these higher risk visits should be approved by the EVC, and which by the LEA. Some LEAs classify these as requiring level 2 supervisory skills. Note: Several of the school-visit incidents in recent years have happened on visits that might be deemed category B or even category A.
Category C
This is the most demanding category. It includes all those activities that, if not school-led, would be in scope of the Adventure Activities Licensing Regulations 1996. It also includes activities that fall outside the scope of licensing, or are less commonly pursued by pupil groups, such as motor sports, whose safe supervision requires that the leader should normally complete some prior test of his or her specific competence. Such testing might include a recognised course of training, the recorded accumulation of relevant experience, or an assessment of competence by an appropriate body.
At the employer’s discretion, category C may also include activities not currently licensable such as high ropes courses, sub-aqua activities or canoeing in placid waters. In these cases a leader’s competence should normally be demonstrated by the possession of the relevant NGB Award or an in-house assessment conducted by an NGB qualified technical adviser. Category C skills are comparable with some LEAs’ level 3 supervisory skills. A Level 3 NVQ in Outdoor Education, Development Training and Recreation, supplemented by one or more NGB Award, would be an appropriate paper qualification .
Environmental Considerations
In assessing the appropriate category in which to place an activity, the EVC and outdoor education adviser should take account of the environment in which the activity will take place. An activity might be rated in a higher category if it takes place:
- in or near water;
- in winter conditions;
- on or near cliffs or steep terrain;
- in an area subject to extremes of weather or environmental change.
For example, field study activities next to open water, such as pond dipping, might rate as category B. Winter camping might rate as category C, as might off-road cycling over steep terrain.
Category C includes any activity in water. See Get Safe for Summer issued by the Amateur Swimming Association July 2002.
Q. How do I do a risk assessment?
A. When writing up a risk assessment you need to think about what could go wrong and how you can avoid or deal with the risks. You will need to modify the school trip until the control measures are satisfactory. On www.teachernet.gov.uk we can find lots of useful information on risk assessments as shown below;
There are three levels of risk assessments;
- generic activity risk assessments , which are likely to apply to the activity wherever and whenever it takes place;
- visit/site specific risk assessments which will differ from place to place and group to group; and
- ongoing risk assessments that take account of, for example, illness of staff or pupils, changes of weather, availability of preferred activity.
Forms of Written Risk Assessments
The LEA’s outdoor education adviser or the school’s EVC may need to consider whether existing written procedures will suffice as a risk assessment. Good practice allows for a wide range of written evidence to be used as part of the risk assessment procedure. This is likely to include:
- the approval form, as completed by the group leader, is so designed as to lead him or her through a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks. See, for example, HASPEV page 45/47 Form One. This can be modified as necessary.
- minimum evidence of risk assessment could comprise: a reference to the generic risks associated with that activity; the corresponding qualifications and experience of the leader (who should be included on the LEA’s register of approved leaders for this activity); a list of site-specific hazards (e.g. accident black spots); and a corresponding list of control measures to be applied which takes account of the age and abilities of the pupil group. See Standards for LEAs in Overseeing Educational Visits.
- for higher risk activities, a comprehensive induction would establish the significant hazards and how these will be met. An appropriately completed induction check-list (measures which each party leader will have adopted prior to being added to the register of approved leaders) would be a useful part of the risk assessment.
It could also include NGB guidelines etc. especially if only NGB staff will be deployed.
The Young Explorers’ Trust has a well-established system of scrutinising the plans of overseas expeditions of young people and offering advice to their leaders. For further information see www.theyet.org.
Acknowledgement of Risk
HASPEV offers advice on what parents and pupils need to know before the visit. It is good practice for a school to share aspects of the risk assessment with parents and pupils. Both should be made aware of the likely risks and their management so that consent can be given or refused on an informed basis. Some visits organisers ask parents to formally acknowledge the risks of a visit. Neither this nor parental consent absolves the LEA or school staff of their responsibilities under health and safety law.
Reviewing Risk Assessments
Assessing risks also means re-assessing them. Re-assessment might be necessitated by objective observation (for example, changing the route of a mountain walk because of adverse changes in the weather) or by reason of subjective feelings (for example, where someone in the group becomes frightened or over-tired).
Equipment
The safety and suitability of equipment is primarily the responsibility of the employer. However, the employer will expect the employee to be vigilant, to address and report defects and to maintain a system of scheduled inspection. A logbook is an effective means by which to note the movement of a piece of equipment. Users can make comments in the log. The logbook can also show when an item was last checked, who checked it, and when it should be checked again.