Educational Visits Policy - Aurora Academies Trust.pdf

Educational visits enhance the curriculum through direct experience. Thorough planning and risk assessments are essential. The guidelines follow publications from East Sussex County Council, the Health and Safety Executive, and the DfES.

The Regional Director, or a delegated senior leader, arranges Trust educational trips, nominating a Visit Leader responsible for managing the visit and minimizing risks. The Trust provides administrative support to the Visit Leader. The Visit Leader sends trip information to each school's Headteacher and collates required information from each school, serving as the point of contact.

For school educational visits, the Head Teacher ensures that visit management meets regulations from the local authority and DfE, informs the Local Academy Board, and ensures inclusivity and resolution of issues from exploratory visits. Approval from the Head Teacher is required for all off-site activities and educational visits.

The Head and Senior Leadership Team ensure a suitable Visit Leader is appointed, each trip has a break-even budget, all required actions are completed, risk assessment templates are authorized, and visit details are entered onto the relevant local authority offsite visit risk management portal. They also ensure training requirements are met, a Visit Leader is assigned, the Visit Leader has experience with the age groups, supervisors have appropriate vetting clearance, the Trust board has approved the visit if necessary, parental consent forms are completed, arrangements are made for medical and special educational needs, the mode of travel is safe and risk assessed, travel times are known, there is adequate insurance cover, full details of the visit venue are retained, and there is a register of all participants with contact details.

Residential, hazardous, or overseas activities need Local Academy Board approval.