New guidelines on accompanying school trips

[DramaticGene]

I have enjoyed volunteering my time to accompany my children on school trips (primary age) for several years. Today, I accompanied the children on a walk (yr 1) but was told that because of new Health and Safety guidelines I would be unable to be with my child's small group or indeed with her class. The premise being that in an emergency I would instinctively rescue my own child first.

In fact, I and the other helpers found the new arrangement to be far less safe. We didn?t know the children we were with and were instinctively more distracted because we were looking to see if our own child was having a good time. The Deputy Head said that the school has already noted a drop in the number of parents wanting to volunteer to accompany trips because of the new guidelines. This is worrying.

I would like to know what body issued the guidelines, and whether or not the schools interpretation is correct and finally how I can take my concerns further?

Any one got any ideas?

That seems strange. What about teachers who teach their own children? I taught all three of mine at nursery level without any problem at all (and am sure that, in an emergency, I would have reacted as any other teacher would have).

I've not heard this.

I accompanied a walk (y2) about a week ago and walked in a group consisting of my daughter and her close friends.

The teacher felt that this was best because I knew the children well and that they were more likely to behave for me because I know their mums. Also she felt that it would be more fun for us as we were all friends.

I wonder if that's genuinely true - or if they've had a particular problem parent helper giving their own DC too much attention - or a child being too clingy to the helper parent.
I've not heard of it and help with DD's class regularly.

Never heard of this, and I'm off with a trip with my DD's reception class next week. We don't get our own child to supervise (we get 2-3 children each) but we have no problem with going on the class trip.

I'm a teacher and we recently had training on educational visits. This was introduced to us as the new policy by our local authority. We were told parents should not be with their child due to this instinct and that there would be liability issues if an incident occured where a parent reacted to save their own child, leaving another in jeopardy.

I thought it was fairly common not to be with your child's group, but I've never heard of not putting you in with the same class.

The liability thing sounds ridiculous. Surely that's what liability insurance is for? Schools will end up not being able to go on trips at all.

I helped out last week for a year 1 trip and was put with my dd's group. Tbh I wouldn't bother volunteering to help if not as for me part of it is seeing my dd having fun as well as helping the school out.

Much safer to accompany your own child and their friends. For a start, I know the names of all the kids in my DS's class and I know other information about them - allergies, medical conditions etc. They know me as well and they trust me.

Another point: my DS is 4 and I understand 4 year olds - where they are at, what they do etc - but...ask me to help a class of 7 year olds and I won't have any experience of what a 7yo is like/their abilities etc.

Who the hell is paid to draw up these guidelines - what a waste of public money. the head and the teachers should be responsible for considering whether particular adults are appropriate for particular trips.

Agree with the above but it is how the guidelines have changed, so teachers are tied to enforce them. What I tend to do is put two parents with each others child in their group and then put them together or generally I don't take parents on the trip.

On trips, we have parents from our classes but don't put them in a group with their child.
Some children can be a pain if with their parent, for the parent and the teacher. Not in learning mode.

'and were instinctively more distracted because we were looking to see if our own child was having a good time. '
Some parents do focus intently on their own child to the detriment of others in the group.

If you help in class, you can't help in your child's class. if you don't like it, there are no grounds for negotiation within the school unless you are on a trip with your child who has a medical need that you are better suited to meet.

qk, I'd see being the mother of a 4 and helping with 7s as a learning opportunity.

But parents aren't there for their own benefit to have "learning opportunities". They are supposed to be taking responsibility for the safety and wellbeing of the children.

As a teacher I have had parent helpers helping on trips and totally ignoring all other children they have been asked to be with and being exclusively with their children, I have also had some parents request that they don't have their own children in the group because their child plays up and they can't relax and enjoy the day. I would like to think that the parents who kindly volunteer do it because they want to help, not for the sole purpose of checking that their child was having fun.

So clearly the 'guidelines' are being inconsistently applied across the country.

I think the biggest worry is that people will stop volunteering if they aren't going to get to share part of the experience with their own child. Otherwise you might just feel like unpaid help?

With numbers of volunteers falling in every walk of life it seems a shame that a guideline like this is having an immediate and noticeable effect -- as the Deputy Head in my DD's school said to us today.

I'm going on a trip next Friday with our school's reception class - none of my dc is in reception - it doesn't bother me at all - why would I not want to help just because my own dc won't be there? what a selfish attitude!

www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article5371209.ece

up to the school if they follow it as it's guidance not law

I completely agree that it is safer to take children in your own DC's class because you know them and because you are attuned to the type of behaviour of their age group.

It's the teacher's job to assess and ensure the safety and education of the children in the group.

This is not a new rule. It was being enforced 5 years ago at the school I was working at then. The advice comes from the very few trips that have ended up in court as a serious accident has happened. The person planning the trip has to show they have taken reasonable parental responsibility or they could be personally found guilty of manslaughter and end up in prison. Obviously these are extremes but we have to plan for the worst and hope for the best.
If there was an accident involving your child, you would emotionally be taken up with that and unable to be rational and look after other children, i.e. if your child fell in a lake you may jump in to save them leaving the other children vunerable. This has happened if I recall rightly where that river had flooded and a child died, his parent was there and jumped into save him, when the sensible thing may have been to get the rest of the children to safety.
It is only guidance but if you are aware of this guidance then you would be stupid not to follow it.

In my experience, a parent does not accompany their child when they are in a small group, for example when you split up to tour a museum or farm. I first accompanied a school group about 15 years ago, and this was the rule in that school then, and it has been in every school I have been in since. It is not new.

OTOH, if the group is together as a whole, eg in a coach or in a residential place, then the parent should be as close to their own child as possible.

Pinkteddy - With liability insurance (as with any other form of insurance) you are required to act as if uninsured. Your car may be insured against theft but that doesn't mean you should leave the car unlocked with the keys in the ignition. If you do that and your car is stolen, the insurance company won't pay up.

If you breach guidelines and there is then an accident for which you are held liable, the insurance company is entitled to reduce or remove your cover if your breach of guidelines was relevant (i.e. if keeping to the guidelines would have reduced or removed your liability). Also any significant breach of guidelines is prima facie evidence of negligence even if it is not directly relevant to the accident.