Trip Safety

How do we keep your child safe on a trip?

When we take students on an off site trip, we are very mindful of the safety of all of our students. From the planning stage to the actual trip we have many procedures put in place to ensure the best and safest experience for students and staff.

Planning a Trip

• We have comprehensive insurance. At Ivanhoe we have a high end insurance policy which covers all off site trips, for all eventualities. In addition all of our residential trips will have insurance provided by the tour provider.
• We choose experienced staff to lead our residential trips, and ensure that staffing levels meet at least minimum legal ratios.
• We ensure comprehensive and realistic risk assessments are written for all trips, this usually includes pre-visits to locations by staff. We ask all venues to provide their risk assessments for educational visits. We also look to National Guidance for advice.
• We meet with students and parents before trips to ensure they know what behaviour is expected to ensure the safety of the group.
• We ensure we have adequate medical and contact forms for all children, and make adjustments to trip procedures or risk assessments if needed based on the individual needs of the students.
• After each trip staff review and reflect on the trip arrangements and make recommnedations for future trips based on this.

On a Trip

• We use approved and insured transport and travel companies that have experience of running school trips. We have contact details for these companies should the need arise, for example broken down buses, to arrange alternative transport etc. Our transport always has seatbelts fitted.
• Each member of staff will have a small 'Travel Group' of students that they will be responsible for. They will carry the student details and forms with them at all times.
• At regular check points and times throughout the day head counts will be taken to ensure no students go missing. Students will have buddies and be expected to keep an eye on each other.
• We ensure students have high expectations for behaviour to keep all students safe.
• We ensure that appropriate safety equipment is available and used should it be needed.
• We are in regular contact with the school so that they know our locations during the trip.
• In an emergency we can contact the 'Emergency Crisis Line' manned by Leicestershire County Council.

Visits and the Threat from Terrorism

Learning outside of the classroom is a vital part of a student’s school experience and statistically these activities are still very safe. There is currently no Government advice against taking school trips.

When we go on any trip we consult National Guidance to ensure we reduce our vulnerability whilst still carrying on as normally as possible.

This includes:

• Keep an eye on the news for any changes.
• Continue to be especially vigilant, and undertake due diligence and dynamic risk assessment.
• Avoid any areas which the Police state to avoid.
• Ensure that we have a ‘Plan B’ in place for the activity/visit, if necessary.

You can see a full list of the advice we look at when planning a trip by clicking here 

You can also see National Guidance by visiting this website. http://oeapng.info

If you have any further questions about your child’s trip, please either contact the assigned trip leader or Mrs Sarah Lane, Assistant Headteacher and Educational Visits Coordinator.