adults are people too!
by: educational visits
(3 min read)
As part of the planning and preparation for all kinds of Educational Visits schools and school staff rightly have a focus on establishing up-to-date information on the children and young people involved in the visit. This draws together medical, educational, pastoral and behavioural needs to enable the visit planning to keep the young people safe and secure across the visit.
This planning forms the cornerstone to establishing the appropriate levels of adult supervision needed for the visit, based on the STAGED principles from the OEAP. Supervising adults may be sourced from a range of backgrounds including classroom staff, school staff, governors and parents, each with advantages and weaknesses.
Are the adults on your visit the weakest link?
Do your plans still function if an adult is “out of action”?
Visit Leaders should be aware that all adults accompanying a visit whether school staff or volunteers are considered by HSE as “employees” and therefore are subject to the same employer duty of care expectations.
By considering all children and adults involved in the visit as integral members of the group it can help to ensure that ALL medical and pastoral needs are considered, rather than just for the student cohort. Doing this enables the whole group to be managed safely, and any weak links to be minimised.
A whole group approach should also lead to planning being shared with the whole group thereby ensuring that plans are understood, parameters adhered to and incidents managed more simply. Everyone in the group needs to know what will be involved in the visit and what the expectations are of them.
Are adults expected to take part in any activities and are they fully aware of this? Have any issues or limits on this been considered or addressed with providers?
Adopting an “all-group” approach to planning your Educational Visits will enable plans to be more resilient under stress and the learning of your young people to be enhanced.
Remember… adults are people too!