Outdoor educational visits and offsite activities

The information provided on these pages is for anyone with an interest in learning that is planned to take place away from the school site or youth centre.

It is generally agreed by local authorities around the United Kingdom that those who follow this guidance will have acted reasonably to protect the safety of all those who take part. Additional information is provided by documents and links which give more detail and begins to establish quality with safety.

In 2006 the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) published its learning out of the classroom manifesto which makes the case for taking learning outdoors wherever this is the most effective environment. Visit the teachernet website for a copy of the manifesto and newsletters.

This policy and guidance replaces all previous policy and guidance on external visits. It builds on existing guidance by incorporating the supplements to the Health and Safety of Pupils on Educational Visits (HASPEV) along with more recent guidance from the Outdoor Education Advisers' Panel (OEAP) on overseas expeditions and pupil exchange visits.

The information should be easy to access and be a quick reference to find the answers to specific questions. However the full picture around issues can usually only be clear when all background information is read.

Any changes to these pages will be posted on the news page to help readers find the relevant amended information.

Further details on how to use this information can be found in the documents table below.

Summary of guidance

The guidance in the documents table below is provided as a source for quick reference. It is recommended that this summary is read by all new staff and by adult volunteers accompanying significant events.

It is very important that if you are a non Plymouth City Council organisation intending to use this guidance that you read the conditions for non Plymouth City Council users. Please note the specific information on page 3 of the guidance which can be downloaded from the documents table below.

Youth workers have long recognised the value of offsite activities as a tool to develop effective relationships with young people. Historically youth workers were required to develop skills and qualifications to deliver these activities in-house. More recently however, and for a variety of reasons, the service has become reliant on using external providers to deliver the adventure activities whilst they continue to support the young person's development.

National policy development relating to youth services and more recently children’s and young people’s services have also presented a range of challenges (Youth Matters) and opportunities to improve its offer to young people.

Therefore the future of youth work going full circle with the aim of encouraging workers to develop specialisms in a range of youth work curriculum areas such as sport, arts, environmental work, political education.

The need to develop the capacity to deliver offsite activities in Plymouth has been further highlighted by the recent move of the Duke of Edinburgh award back into the Local Authority and more specifically under the management of the youth service.

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