DfE legal advice on school visits

The DFE has published new advice on the Legal duties and Powers for LAs, Head Teachers, Staff and Governing Bodies. The Document will be reviewed in Summer 2012.

The departmental advice on health and safety summarises the existing health and safety law relevant to schools and explains how it affects local authorities, governing bodies, headteachers and other school staff. It covers activities that take place on or off school premises, including school trips.The full text can be found here.

The OEAP has made the follwoiung statement:

This document is concerned with the Legal position, but does not give detailed infomormation about planning visits.

Employers should give staff specific advice and training to enable them to plan and lead the visit. The OEAP have published advice that employers can adopt to enable staff to plan effectively on our seperate OEAP website.

The OEAP supports the HSE view to remove wasteful bureacracy and focus on effective planning of visits ensuring excellent learning outdoors. We support the view to reduce the burden on schools and want more activity to take place outside the classroom.