Buckinghamshire Council has a dedicated Outdoor Advisory Team delivering advice, guidance and training around Educational Visits and developing Outdoor Learning.

If you have any queries about educational visits, including Buckinghamshire Council Guidance documents or EVOLVE, the BC educational visits notification website, contact us.

 

Buckinghamshire Council, like many Local Authorities across the country, have adopted the Outdoor Education Advisers Panel (OEAP) National Guidance document for all guidance relating to Educational Visits.

This is a web based information document, continually under review and redraft and can be accessed at the following web address www.oeapng.info

Educational establishments have access to free Local Maths Trails written around some of the major towns in the County.

Maths trails exist for Aylesbury, Amersham, Chesham, Buckingham, High Wycombe, Marlow and Wendover.

Please contact us for your e-copy and planning pack

Virtually all schools and academies in Buckinghamshire u

se the online visit approval system for educational visits EVOLVE.

EVOLVE is an online system for the planning, approval and management of educational visits, sports fixtures and extra-curricular activities.

The Educational Visits Service provides access, updates and training for school Educational Visits Coordinators (EVC’s) and EVC Admin users to the system, plus introductory sessions for new Headteachers and School Governors about how to access and utilise Evolve and Educational Visits.

The Evolve web portal can be accessed here. 

For advice, information or any access issues please contact us for assistance.

Schools are encouraged to develop a Local Learning Area within easy walking distance from the school grounds.

 

Visits/activities within the ‘Local Learning Area’ that are part of the normal curriculum and take place during normal school hours follow the same pre agreed operating procedures.

These visits or activities would:

• Not require parental consent
• Involve substantially less planning/notice to take place
• Not normally need additional risk assessments other than following the operating procedures.

An example of how to start your Local Learning Area Operating procedure

For assistance setting up a Local Learning Area near your school please contact us.

Visits/activities within the ‘School Local Learning Area’ that are part of the normal curriculum and take place during the normal school day follow the Operating Procedure below.

These visits/activities:

• do not require parental consent (state if there are any situations where you would like parents to be informed in advance, e.g. via a slip sent home).
• do not normally need additional risk assessments / notes (other than following the Operating Procedure below).
• you choose to record on EVOLVE e.g. Forest School (amend as necessary).
• do not need to be recorded on EVOLVE if these are ad-hoc activities (amend if you require certain activities to be approved via EVOLVE – you may want to differentiate between planned and ad-hoc activities).

Boundaries

The boundaries of the School Local Learning Area are shown on the attached map (optional). This area includes, but is not limited to, the following frequently used venues: e.g.

• the Park
• the Library
• the Pool and Leisure Centre
• The Shopping Mall
• The Woodland, up to the boundary with main Road

Operating Procedure

(The below is simply a generic risk assessment for routine activities).

The following are potentially significant issues/hazards within our School Local Learning Area:

• Road traffic.
• Other people / members of the public / animals.
• Losing a pupil.
• Uneven surfaces and slips, trips, and falls.
• Weather conditions.
• Activity specific issues when doing environmental fieldwork (nettles, brambles, rubbish, etc.).
• - add anything else specifically relating to your School Learning Area.

These are managed by a combination of the following:

• The Head /  Deputy / EVC (delete as necessary according to your circumstances) must give verbal approval before a group leaves. Not strictly necessary if you have clearly identified competent staff, and are confident in your operating procedure, and the fact that staff will follow it.
• A current list of staff approved to lead in this setting is maintained by the EVC and office.
• The concept and Operating Procedure of the ‘School Local Learning Area’ is explained to all new parents when their child joins the school, and a synopsis is in the School Prospectus.
• There will normally be a minimum of two adults. This statement is probably appropriate for all primary schools, although in benign locations it may be appropriate to relax it for year 6s. Decisions should be based on the area and the age / maturity of the pupils - the key determinant will always be ‘what would the pupils do if the only adult collapsed?’
• Staff are familiar with the area, including any ‘no go areas’, and have practiced appropriate group management techniques.
• Pupils have been trained and have practiced standard techniques for road crossings in a group. For primary schools this is easy to do with some simple road markings in the playground – with a little practice this can become drilled and slick, as everyone knows what is going to happen.
• Where appropriate, pupils are fully briefed on what to do if they become separated from the group. This needs a decision and will depend on the area you are in – return to school, wait where they are, go to x and ask for help, etc.
• All remotely supervised work in the School Learning Area is done in ‘buddy’ pairs as a minimum.
• Pupils’ clothing and footwear is checked for appropriateness prior to leaving school.
• Staff are aware of any relevant pupil medical information and ensure that any required medication is available.
• Staff will deposit in the office a list of all pupils and staff, a proposed route, and an estimated time of return. Consider adopting (or adapting) the ‘Signing-out sheet’ in EVOLVE Resources/Forms.
• A school mobile is taken with each group and the office have a note of the number.
• Appropriate personal protective equipment is taken when needed (e.g. gloves, goggles) If you have a local issue, e.g. with drug needles, etc., in any area, then you can mark that bit as no-go, or add here how you will educate the pupils to deal with it.

 

• PLUS

– Add any specifics relating to your local area – e.g. ‘When crossing Main Street everyone must use the toucan crossing by Baguette the Bakers’.

High Quality Outdoor Learning

The benefits of working in the outdoor environment is outlined in this guidance document which has been written to help you evaluate and then set about improving, or further improving, the quality of outdoor learning.

Ten key outcomes of outdoor learning have been identified with a range of indicators attributed to each one. These indicators can be used to support any improvement work, which will often be enhanced by working closely with partners.

If you would like a copy of the document please contact us.

Quality badge providers

If you are a school looking for a National, independently assessed outdoor provider the Learning Outside the Classroom (LOtC) Quality Badge make the process of finding a safe and vetted provider a simple online procedure.

Go to their website here and simply search for a Quality Badge Holder either by area or by name.

Resources

There are many Free Outdoor Learning resources available online. Some of the best links are given below:

• The Wild Network
• Council for Learning Outside the Classroom
• Learning Through Landscapes
• National Trust

Overview

The following are to be used by visit leaders and used in the event of an emergency during an Educational Visit. There is a flowchart of actions for obtaining help and support and an incident action card . An incident log for recording a log of events should also be kept:

• Response Procedure
• Serious Incident Actions
• Incident Log

Incident Log

Keep a detailed log of actions and conversations as they take place.  Include nature of instructions given, names, addresses, telephone numbers, each person with whom contact is established.

Requirements for the log include:

• Date & time
• Action / conversation

An incident or emergency may include: school flooding / fire / pupils in vehicle crash / outbreak of infectious disease / incident involving emergency services on a school visit / death or serious injury / terrorism / incident likely to attract media attention

1. School  makes  assessment and if escalation required activates its Emergency Plan (If a visit, Visit Leader speaks to School Emergency Contact for advice / support)

2. If Council support required school calls the BC Resilience Team on 07738 501 318

3. Incident management as per School Emergency Plan

Or

1. School alerts BC Duty Resilience Officer by calling 07738 501 318
2. BC Resilience Officer takes details, Alerts LA Officer (from Duty Rota for w/e & school holidays)
   • BC Resilience Officer keeps Director Education /Deputy  informed (Also for a visit, Resilience Officer calls Outdoor Adviser 07890 395028 ) 
3. LA Officer contacts caller and initial support provided (Uses check list) (If Visit Leader made call, LA Officer tells school (Visit info on Evolve)
   • LA support may include: Resilience Team / Social Care / Comms / Media Team / Ed Psychology / SEN / Outdoor Education Adviser / County Insurance / Safeguarding Team / Equalities Lead / Facilities Management / Public Health / Education & Advisory Service / Health & Safety Team / Adult Services / Legal Services / YOS
   • Contacts list held by BC Resilience Officer
4. LA Officer continues as point of contact with school and LA teams to facilitate support  (If further support needed, activation of BC Emergency Plan)
5. BC Emergency Plan activated

On resolution: BC Resilience Officer emails all concerned with any handover/follow up arrangements

Emergency response procedure and serious incident actions

Guidance for incidences that occur on educational visits

This Action Card covers the following incident scenarios:

• ‘Generic’ emergency procedures (coach crash, fire, bomb threats, terrorism);
• Death or serious injury of a pupil/adult while on/at a school journey;
• Outbreak of an infectious disease which will curtail the school journey.
• Incident/emergency on a school trip including overseas;

INITIAL ACTIONS

• Summon emergency services if appropriate;
• Provide first aid / prevent further injury;
• Account for all party members including staff;
• Delegate a responsible adult to take care of uninjured members of the party;
• Instruct no one to talk to media and secure inappropriate use of mobile phones, email and social media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter etc);
• In order that you can be contactable at all times and to enable you to lead and coordinate all necessary actions you should delegate party leadership to the Deputy Leader;

Keep a log using the Incident Record Sheet to note down:

• Full and further details of the incident such as what has happened, the exact location of the emergency, and any casualties;
• all actions taken and conversations held;
• any decisions that have been made;

Contact the Buckinghamshire Council Duty Resilience Officer on 07738 501318 or +447738 501318 if abroad, and provide the following information:

• your name;
• the name of your school /party;
• the nature of the emergency;
• the complete telephone number which we can call you on (including national /area codes etc) and any other contact numbers that can be used.

SUBSEQUENT ACTIONS

• You should not make any public statements about the incident without the prior agreement of the School and the Council.

Depending on the circumstances some or all of the following actions may be required:

• Retain all equipment involved in an accident or incident in an unaltered condition - unless it is required by the police;
• Begin to make appropriate arrangements for those not injured to return home immediately;
• Arrange any support for the staff and injured in the hospital;
• Obtain necessary documentation from the medical authorities e.g. death certificates, medical certificates indicating how the injured may travel home, and case histories including x-rays;
• Retain receipts for all expenditures connected with the incident.

Incident Log (PDF Download)