Local School Trips - Sporting Fixtures Supervision and Driving

You may be aware of the recent press coverage concerning the supervision of students on trips for sporting activities. I wish to clarify the position.

Can I first of all apologise if you were one of the Headteachers confused by a recent handout provided on one of the Education Visits Co-ordinator training days. The course leader shared this in good faith but had not realised that the discussion paper had been withdrawn from circulation and was not being used as part of our guidance.

The issue surrounds a section in the County Council's guidance on best practice in Educational Visits and Journeys which, although it has been around for two years in draft form, was finalised over the summer months.

I am aware that some PE staff have queried the meaning of certain words in section 3.6.4, Supervision on Transport, of our document. The section states;-

The level of supervision necessary should form part of the risk assessment for the journey. The visit leader is responsible for the party at all times, including maintaining good discipline. The head of establishment and EVC must be confident that the approved visit leader is competent to achieve this.

The driver may not be considered in any supervisory ratios.

Driver supervision may be considered only in the following scenario - where a small number of older children are being taken on a short journey, for example, sports fixture. Again, the head of establishment and EVC must be confident of the competence of the driver to maintain concentration and discipline.

(This guidance has been in existence since 1998 in the DfES document Health and Safety of Pupils On Educational Visits pp 23 sections 123 to 142).

The recent confusion arose because my colleagues tried to respond to requests to clarify what "short journey" means and an attempt was made to define this in terms of journey time. This cannot be done in a way which covers the variety of individual school locations. The onus must be on each school to define this and to do so in the spirit of the guidance we have given. This needs to be made explicit in the school and we will fully support schools in this process if required. I attach a briefing note (appendix one) which I hope helps you in devising your school's policy for these trips.

Our aim in issuing guidance at this point has been to draw together the large amount of existing regulation and guidance into a single place. The purpose is to support you in making it possible for as many young people as possible to benefit from the excellent experience that school journeys and sports competition can provide. This needs however to be in the context of maximising the safety and well being of the young people and staff.

We want to get this right and we will do so best within a spirit of openness and good communication. With your help we will keep our best practice advice up-to-date and relevant, and I anticipate that helpful updates will be circulated on a termly basis from now onwards. If you have any suggestions as to how we can improve the guidance please contact Tom Hanrahan or communicate directly with Fred Corbett or myself.

APPENDIX ONE -

Local school trips - sporting fixtures

Supervision and Driving:

Best practice would dictate that wherever possible drivers of minibuses do not act as supervisors as well. A driver should be free to concentrate on the task of driving and not managing the behaviour of a group.

A school team may, however, be playing regular local opposition. In such cases the school should agree a list of such schools which it deems appropriate to allow one adult to take responsibility for driving and supervising - thus defining for their school the term "local".

Therefore the headteacher, relevant staff and the EVC of the school should decide upon a list of schools to which their own staff could operate on a lone basis. The head should ensure that there is a clear (preferably documented) procedure in place, known by all concerned. It is advisable to take account of circumstances where, if required, someone can get to the fixture quickly to supervise the team in event of an accident or injury occurring to a player. This person would be the nominated emergency point of contact for that fixture. This staff member would be aware of this, and able to respond appropriately - either from home or school dependent on timings.

Headteachers should also satisfy themselves that adequate attention has been paid to the behaviour and discipline of the group concerned and the organisational skills of the visit leader.

This would then become a set of 'normal operating procedures' set down by the school for driving to, and supervision of, sporting fixtures - including emergency action. These can be referred to directly in the PE departmental handbook and in their risk assessments. Any fixtures, competitions, festivals outside of the agreed list would therefore require an additional adult to supervise or drive as appropriate.

I would expect that Headteachers would find it very valuable to promote a discussion of how these matters impact on their school, and how they are being dealt with, within the school Governing Body.

Fred Corbett
November 2004

For advice or further information please contact Martin Radmore or Tom Hanrahan at the Norwich Professional Development Centre - Telephone 01603 433276