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Health and Safety on Educational Excursions
Chapter 5 Communicating with parents
Information to parents
105. The question of communication with parents arises for participants under the age of 16 and for those between 16 and 18 participating in full time education. Parents should be informed in writing of any off-site activity or excursion unless it is a regular part of the school curriculum which parents have already been informed about through the school handbook or a letter. Seeking annual consent for such routine excursions may be appropriate.
106. Before residential visits, or when the participants are to travel abroad or engage in adventure activities, parents should be encouraged to attend a briefing meeting where written details of the proposed excursion should also be provided. The information given should be sufficiently detailed to ensure that parents can make an informed choice about participation, bearing in mind that many activities have a high level of perceived risk, but a low level of real risk. There should be alternative arrangements for parents who cannot attend or for whom English is not their first language.
107. Parents need to be aware that the leaders and other adult supervisors on the visit will be exercising the same care that a prudent parent would. The following information on matters that might affect participant health and safety should be given to parents:
- dates of the excursion;
- the excursion's objectives;
- times of departure and return - parents must have agreed to meet their child on return;
- the location where the participants will be collected and returned;
- mode(s) and duration of travel including the name of any travel company;
- the size of the group and the level of supervision including any times when remote supervision may take place;
- details of accommodation with security and supervisory arrangements on site;
- details of provision for additional support or medical needs;
- procedures for participants who become ill;
- names of leader, of other staff and of other accompanying adults;
- details of the activities planned and of how the assessed risks will be managed;
- standards of behaviour expected in respect of, for example, alcohol, sexual behaviour, smoking and general group discipline including prohibited items. This information may take the form of a code of conduct which parents should sign;
- what participants should not take on the visit or bring back;
- details of insurance taken out for the group as a whole in respect of luggage, accident, cancellation, medical cover, any exceptions in the policy and whether parents need to arrange additional cover;
- clothing and equipment to be taken;
- money to be taken and arrangements for safekeeping and issue of pocket money;
- the information to be given by parents and what they will be asked to consent to;
- on exchange visits, the details of the host families. For example, whether they have hosted any of the establishment's pupils before;
- the establishment's policy on the use of phones, both mobile and land-line, during excursions;
- details on the cost of the visit. See Financial planning paragraphs 51 - 53.
Parental consent
108. Heads of establishments or group leaders should seek written consent for:
- non-routine visits;
- adventure activities;
- hazardous environments;
- excursions abroad;
- other residential visits;
- remote supervision.
109. If parents withhold consent absolutely the participant should not be taken on the excursion but the curricular aims of the visit should be delivered to the participant in some other way wherever possible. If the parents give a conditional consent the head of establishment will need to consider whether the participant may be taken on the visit or not.
110. A parental consent form should be completed for each participant in the group. Besides conveying the parents' consent it could also form the basis for obtaining details required. If a tour operator is used it may be sensible to ask them what information to obtain. General issues to consider include:
- any allergies/phobias the participant may have;
- any medication the participant is taking (if so what the dosage is and who is to administer it);
- whether the participant administers their own medication;
- any contagious or infectious diseases suffered within the family during the preceding 4 weeks, and any other recent illnesses suffered by the participant;
- the name, address and phone number of the participant's GP;
- any special/medical dietary requirements;
- whether the participant suffers from travel sickness;
- information on any toileting difficulties;
- whether the participant has any night time tendencies such as sleepwalking (for residential visits);
- the participant's ability to swim in the pool or sea and their level of safety awareness;
- any other information which the parent thinks should be known;
- the parental home and daytime phone numbers and addresses;
- an alternative contact, with their phone number and address.
111. The contents of a consent form for a parent to sign will vary according to the type of excursion. See Model form 7 Parental consent for a school or similar excursion and Model form 11 Consent for swimming activities in Chapter 11.
Medical consent
112. This should form part of the parental consent form. Parents should be asked to agree to the participant receiving emergency treatment, including anaesthetic or blood transfusion, as considered necessary by the medical authorities. If parents do not agree to this, heads of establishments may decide to withdraw the child from the excursion - given the additional responsibility this would entail for the group leader.
113. Doctors can be expected to carry out necessary emergency treatment without parental consent but it is possible that a surgeon in another country might be reluctant to operate on a participant unless assured that the group leader had parental authorisation to agree to such treatment. It is sensible to include a translation of the medical consent, as signed by the parent, in the relevant foreign language.
Other consent
114. Parental consent should be obtained specifically for the transporting of participants in the private vehicle of a non-teacher adult or another participant on the excursion. Heads of establishments should consider whether consent should be obtained before participants can be carried in a teacher's private vehicle. All vehicles and drivers used for the transportation of participants should be appropriately insured.
Early return
115. The group leader should tell parents if they will be expected to fund the early return of a participant whose conduct gives cause for concern on an excursion. A written agreement may be necessary.
Contact with parents during the visit
116. Heads of establishments should ensure that parents can contact their child via the home base contact and the group leader in the event of a home emergency, and that they have a number to ring for information in the event of an incident during the visit or a late arrival home. Parents should therefore:
- know the destination details;
- be aware of the emergency contact arrangements at home (particularly important during holiday periods when the school may be closed) and at all the venues the group will visit;
- provide contact numbers for day and night use in an emergency.
117. This is best done by means of the consent form.
Participants' contact with parents
118. Group leaders should arrange for parents to be told by the establishment of the group's safe arrival. One way of doing this is by a 'telephone tree' whereby one parent contacts an agreed group of parents who then contact a further group. But participants may wish to speak to their parents individually. Such arrangements should be agreed with parents and participants before the visit takes place, and should take account of the establishment's policy on the use of phones, both mobile and land-line, during excursions. Parents concerned after a phone call should contact the home base contact.
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