Lockdown: School Trips / Visits Guidance
With England going into lockdown the below should help with School Trips and events. The latest guidance can be found:
- Gov.uk – National Lockdown Guidance
- DfE – Protective measures for holiday and after-school clubs, and other out-of-school settings during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak
- OEAP – National Guidance 4.4k Coronavirus
Lockdown
Government guidance documents (see section Educational Visits) advise against all educational visits during the national lockdown. However, there are good reasons why you should encourage learning outside as much as possible, and some off-site activities may be acceptable – see the section on “Planning and Managing Outdoor Learning” 4.4k coronavirus OEAP National guidance
Post Lockdown
When lockdown is no longer in place and we return to tiers, the below is our suggested guidance (subject to government guidance):
- Tier 2: You can continue with day trips and local area visits but may wish to consider the size of groups if you are going to a public place (park, town, etc.)
- Tier 3: If you are in tier 3 you can continue to run local area visits, however you must not travel to out of area.
- All tiers: You must not travel into a tier 3 area on a school trip.
DfE provider guidance
The Department for Education has guidance for providers stating “Where providers operate in an area that has a ‘very high’ alert level, they should not travel outside this area for the purpose of an education visit. Providers should also not travel into an area with a ‘very high’ alert level for the purpose of educational visits.”
Taking Learning Outside
Resources for taking the learning outside
There are many organisations who can support you with resources for taking learning outside. If you have an idea or want to discuss your learning outside the classroom, the EVC Forum is a great place to start. Alternatively, please drop the Educational Visits team an email here. I have provided some external links to useful sites:
- Supporting Teachers to Take Learning Outside the Classroom (OEAP 2020)
- Taking Learning Outside the Classroom – Adapting Activities (OEAP 2020)
- Learning through Landscapes Outdoor Lesson Ideas
- Resources List (produced by SOLD and East Sussex Outdoors)
EVOLVE Updates
EVOLVEGo
EduFOCUS, the providers of EVOLVE, have updated several features over the past few months. We have picked two to talk about, both of which are free and part of your EVOLVE subscription. EVOLVEGo is the new mobile app to be used with EVOLVE. Including access to:
- Diary
- Registers
- Roll Calls
- School, LA/Trust Contacts
- Parent/Carer Contacts
- Visit Form
- Comms Log
- Notes
- ESPs
- Attachments
- Incident Notification
- Emergency Planning Info
How do I download EVOLVEgo.online onto my phone?
- Go to www.evolvego.online and from the drop-down menu choose ‘Essex Juniper Education’ if Essex school, or ‘Warwickshire Juniper Education’ if Warwickshire school.
- Use the icon at the bottom of your phone to add EVOLVE to the home screen and select ‘add to home screen’ option.
- Tap ‘add’.
- EVOLVEgo is now added to your home screen for quick access.
- To log in, tap the EVOLVEgo icon.
- Choose site as above (Essex or Warwickshire).
- Log in with your usual username and password, or secure face ID if your device offers this option.
- Success! You have logged into EVOLVEgo.
Event specific plan
Event Specific Plan is a simple communication tool that combines the following in a user-friendly format:
- Event Specific Notes
- Comments, rules, decisions made etc.
- Operating Procedures
- Risk Assessment records
- It also serves as a ‘memory aid’ for use when briefing participants, both prior to and during a visit.
Event Specific Plan increases robustness and reduces bureaucracy because the information is added and edited directly within an EVOLVE Visit Form, and all entries are date-stamped.
