School-trips confined to school grounds due to fears of legal action

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Thousands of children are being forced to take 'trips' within their own school grounds because teachers are so scared of being sued, a government-backed study has revealed.

They are increasingly failing to get beyond the school gates on outdoor education jaunts amid fears of litigation should anything go wrong and spiralling red tape.

Instead, a class going to visit the school vegetable patch or looking for wildlife on the playing fields would be counted as an outdoor trip.

The findings threaten to derail the government's campaign to encourage more outdoor education trips, as teaching unions yesterday continued to express concern about bureaucracy and potential legal action.

Education Secretary Alan Johnson announced new Department for Education and Skills' commissioned research, claiming that outdoor education activity is 'stable and increasing'.

Unveiling a Learning Outside the Classroom manifesto which is designed to boost numbers of visits, he said: 'Many schools make sure their pupils get out and about.'

However, the National Foundation for Education Research study found that increasingly activities which are counted as school trips are actually taking place on school grounds.

There has been a decline in off-site day visits and residential experiences in the UK and abroad due to health and safety and risk assessment issues along with transport costs.

This means that visits to field studies, environmental, outdoor pursuit and adventure centres are now 'relatively rare' for secondary school pupils.

Researchers surveyed 3,500 headteachers and teachers in primary, secondary and special schools across England. More than 1,000 local authority advisors were also quizzed.

The report says: 'There was a general perception, across all types of respondent, that the extent of education outside the classroom provision had either increased over the last five years, or remained the same.

'Increases in provision were most commonly reported for school-site activities, particularly in primary schools.'

About a quarter of school staff surveyed said off-site day visits had decreased. Some blamed 'the requirement for teachers to take responsibility for pupil safety' for the decline.

A head of design and technology at a secondary school said: 'I have reduced my level of commitment in this area due to the increase in the 'blame and claim' culture in this country and the out of proportion risk to my job'.

Most staff expected to increase outdoor learning by next year but this was still expected to be mainly 'school site activities' in primaries. Up to five per cent of secondary school staff expected to slash trips.

One of the main challenges for future provision remained fear of litigation.

Meanwhile other features of the government campaign include the creation of an independent council to promote out-of-school activities and more training for teachers on how to run trips.

Mr Johnson also launched a consultation on new 'no-nonsense' guidance for schools to help tackle concerns about litigation.

The Association of School and College Leaders welcomed the drive but claimed the government must do more to reduce bureaucracy associated with risk assessment and to protect schools from threats of litigation.

John Dunford, general secretary of the ASCL, said: 'The government and the new board must address the problem of court judgements that have given a new meaning to the word 'accident', placing on teachers often unreasonable expectations of foresight.

'Risk assessment represents a massive bureaucratic burden for even the smallest of visits outside the school. This paperwork must be reduced.'

Mick Brookes, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said school trips 'bring meaning to a curriculum that has had the joy knocked out of it by the excessive regime of examination and testing'.

He added: 'However, it is crucial that the Secretary of State addresses both the excessive bureaucracy and the culture of litigation which have resulted in a dramatic reduction in out-of-school trips and activities over the years.'

 

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