Planning and running successful educational visits can sometimes be an unwelcome additional burden for teachers, with paperwork, risk assessments, health and safety checks, itinerary planning, and ensuring that learning objectives are established and met.
However, the rewards of such visits for participants can be immensely rich and varied, from increased knowledge and understanding to gaining important social skills and self-confidence amongst a wide range of learning objectives that can be effectively achieved.
Use our practical guidance and free templates to help make your own excursions outside the classroom as easy to plan as possible. Guidance is based on the varied insights and experiences we have gained from running the TPYF Commemorative Visits Programme, but many good practice principles are also taken from the Department for Education and Skills (England) publication Good Practice Guide for Health and Safety of Pupils on Educational Visits (HASPEV). The DfES HASPEV guidelines are also approved by the relevant education authorities in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. A full version of the HASPEV good practice guide is available from the Teachernet website.
