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Hi All,
You may have heard on the news that the government intends to take a more sensible approach to health and safety in schools and on school trips.
“The Government is determined to reduce burdens on schools. We want to simplify health and safety requirements and explain them better. Teachers should be confident that they know best how to look after pupils and keep them safe.”
This is something for which we have been asking for some time. Hopefully, the introduction of a “one-off” consent form will encourage more and better school trips.
Download the advice – it’s just eight pages, so it doesn’t take long to read! Follow the link below to the announcement and the new guidance:
The relevant paragraphs on page eight are:
“Parental consent to off-site activities
Written consent from parents is not required for pupils to take part in the majority of off-site activities organised by a school (with the exception of nursery age children) as most of these activities take place during school hours and are a normal part of a child’s education at school. However, parents should be told where their child will be at all times and of any extra safety measures required.
Written consent is usually only requested for activities that need a higher level of risk management or those that take place outside school hours. The Department has prepared a “one-off” consent form which schools can ask parents to sign when a child enrols at the school. This will cover a child’s participation in any of these types of activities throughout their time at the school. These include adventure activities, off-site sporting fixtures outside the school day, residential visits and all off-site activities for nursery schools which take place at any time (including during school holidays or at the weekend). The form is available at http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/adminandfinance/healthandsafety. Parents must be told in advance of each activity and must be given the opportunity to withdraw their child from any particular school trip or activity covered by the form.”
There may now be some re-writing of visit guidance within heritage organisations!
John
Dr John Stevenson
Director
GEM, 54 Balmoral Road, Gillingham, Kent, ME7 4PG, UK
Tel/Fax: +44 (0) 1634 853424
Mob: +44 (0) 7917 565 342
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