DOROTHY GOODMAN SCHOOL: POLICY DOCUMENT
OUTINGS from SCHOOL

• To enrich the experiences of pupils and open up to them a wider range of activities
• To share activities with friends – from Dorothy Goodman and from other establishments – and to learn from these activities
• To promote pupils’ Personal & Social Education, in liaison with parents
• To give first-hand experience of relevant aspects of the curriculum
• To generalise learning opportunities
• To promote integration and inclusion opportunities

INCLUSION STATEMENT

Dorothy Goodman School offers a wide range of activities which cater for the differing needs and ages of our students. Pupils will be included in school activities relevant to them, provided that:

• A Risk Assessment has shown that a particular activity is safe and appropriate for the child concerned
• The child concerned will benefit from the activity

Risk assessments will be carried out for each activity and recorded in the school file; assessments for individual students / activities will be generalised to other situations where appropriate. (N.B. staff will follow Leicestershire LEA’s guidelines for the risk assessment of school visits, but the governing body appreciates that it will take some time before all assessments can be completed; the governing body recognises that the work has begun and will be on-going).

Where students are not able to participate in activities (using the two criteria listed above) alternative activities appropriate to their needs will be provided by the school.

Where necessary parents will be consulted, following a discussion at Annual Review.

RISK ASSESSMENTS

Risk Assessments will examine the suitability of particular activities for individual pupils. They will take account of factors such as:

• Physical needs (e.g. medical issues, hoisting, lifting & handling, accessibility to buildings, surfaces in the locality etc.)
• The staff available for the activity (e.g. Rectal Diazepam and other medications, staff able to use hoists / tail lifts etc., key workers)
• Pupils’ safety (e.g. the security of the premises, safety rails, level of traffic, public access etc.)
• The manageability of the students given the location of the Visit
• The level of staffing available and the experience of staff available
• The safety of staff (following an assessment of possible problems arising)

Consideration will be given to the likelihood of problems arising, and the severity of the problem should it occur.

At all times the person in charge of the group should be happy that the visit taking place from school is happening under reasonable circumstances and with a reasonable level of staffing. If any member of staff feels that this is not the case, then the matter must be reported to their line manager. Where the situation is not clear, then the matter should be discussed further either with the relevant Team Leader or with the Head Teacher.

SELECTION of PLACES to be VISITED

In the normal course of events places to be visited will be chosen for one of four reasons:

• curricular; these are places visited because they will help pupils’ learning in a particular area of the curriculum. This applies especially to non-core areas such as History and Geography.
• personal & social development; this would include visits connected with social activities such as shopping, visits to local amenities and events, trips to larger scale events which involve more than one school. On these trips pupils learn many valuable skills, such as taking turns, behaving appropriately when out in public, handling money etc.
• PE events: trips to take part in inter-school sports events. These visits are attended by the pupils chosen to take part in a specific event.
• Integration / Inclusion links. pupils visit a variety of other schools for the purpose of linked activities. See separate Inclusion Policy for further information.

PRIOR to the VISIT

Before taking children on a visit outside school, the following should be considered:

1. It is good practice for a member of staff to carry out a pre-visit. This should be done wherever possible to check on matters such as disabled access, toilets, facilities available, first aid, eating arrangements etc.
2. A risk assessment must be completed, unless a whole school one has already been devised.
3. Suitable transport needs to be arranged via the Office (at least 2 weeks in advance)
4. Planning for staffing ratios etc. needs to be clear, and it should be clear who is supervising which pupils at all times, and exactly what role each member of staff will assume
5. If badges are being worn, they should display the name and phone number of the school, not the names of individual pupils
6. Consideration needs to be given to the pattern of visits across the school term / year and to the cumulative cost; also to repeated visits for pupils who have not moved class in the new academic year
7. The visit must be recorded in the School Diary in the Office so that the Head Teacher is aware
8. A Mobile Phone needs to be taken unless arranged otherwise
9. Teachers need to have read the reply slips from parents (where necessary), and need to have shared the information as appropriate.

DURING the VISIT

Pupils must be supervised by school staff at all times, and staff should promote and display good standards of behaviour. Pupils and staff should be dressed appropriately for the activity concerned.

It is permissible for NNNEBs and Learning Support Assistants to take pupils out of school by themselves provided that the class teacher has authorised the visit and remains in overall control of the visit. Where there is doubt about staffing a particular trip, then it should be reported either to the relevant Team Leader or to the Head Teacher for a ruling to be made.

The governing body will arrange for basic First Aid training for all staff. Once that has occurred, no-one will be able to take a pupil out of school unless they have had recent First Aid training (i.e. within the last three years).

If volunteers are present they must not become responsible for pupils without being supervised at all times by a member of the school staff. If the parent of an individual pupil is present during a school trip, the class teacher remains in charge of the pupil.

EVALUATION of VISIT

Evaluations of a visit should made at staff meetings and where there is a strong view, either positive or negative, of the visit, then this should be recorded in the Minutes and the information made known to relevant staff.

RESIDENTIALS

Residentials are organised at various stages of pupils’ school lives. When places are offered then it should be on a fair basis, i.e. in terms of age / class / department, except where the following factors apply:

• A Risk Assessment has shown that a particular activity is not safe and / or appropriate for the child concerned
• The child concerned will not benefit from the activity

In these instances the place on the Residential will be offered to another pupil.

Staff participation in residentials is always on a voluntary basis. It must be pointed out to staff that for the duration of the residential they will be exceeding the European Working Hours regulations, and there must be clear staff agreement to this happening.

REVIEW

This policy will be reviewed by the Health & Safety Sub-Committee every two years.