East Glendalough School

1. Introduction

It is school policy to organise outings for the benefit of students when this is deemed appropriate by the teaching staff, in consultation with the Principal. The school recognises the benefits of school outings to complement normal school work, for educational or sporting purposes.

Some trips are organised as part of the course to be followed in a subject area. Other outings and trips are additional to the curriculum and are not deemed a core activity. Staff organise trips on a voluntary basis.

The lengths of trips may vary from a short local visit, to a day out to a longer trip involving staying away for several days.

School trips, outings and tours are a privilege reserved for students who meet minimum standards of behaviour while at school. Students who do not meet minimum standards of behaviour, as decided by the Principal, may not be permitted to participate in school outings and tours. The Principal reserves the right to disallow a student from participation in a school trip if, in his/her opinion, the health or safety of the student or other students or teachers is at risk.

All school rules and all school policies apply while on school trips.

All students selected for sports teams and who travel as part of a class group represent the school and the highest standards of behaviour and conduct are expected.

2. Procedures

In general, written permission is required from a parent/guardian of a student before they may go on a trip. A sample form (appendix 1) is used for trips involving Transition Year students.

On certain trips, parents may specify where a child may be collected or dropped off. Staff cannot be responsible for the safety of students once they have left the group under these circumstances. Drop off points between Wicklow and Dublin have been considered by the safety committee for their suitability from a traffic safety point of view. A member of staff may agree to allow a student to leave a group at a different place, with parental permission.

Parents/guardians of members of sports teams may be asked to give on-going permission for a student to participate in games away from school, as these trips arise. Similarly other activities, which are organised on a regular basis, may require on-going permission from parents/guardians.

A list of names of students involved in any trip will be left at the school office with an itinerary, list of teachers accompanying students and an indication of the expected time of arrival back at the school. While every effort will be made to adhere to arranged times on trips, in particular the arrival time back at school, the school cannot guarantee such times. Where students rely on the school transport service, it is the responsibility of parents/guardians, to organise alternative transport home if this becomes necessary.

3. Supervision

The number of staff that accompanies a group will be influenced by a number of factors including:
The number of students travellingage of the studentslocation of the tripnature of the tripadditional supervision will be provided at the locationthe group will be dividing into smaller groups, each requiring supervisiontype of transport usedgender balance

Certain trips will facilitate shopping or recreation which may not be directly supervised. This situation will usually arise for senior students and will be indicated on the permission slip or information letter sent to parents/guardians.

The school expects that all students travelling on an extended tour will display a level of maturity commensurate with their age. Students on trips, which involve an overnight stay in Ireland or abroad, will not be supervised on a 24 hour basis and all extended school tours will involve periods of time without direct supervision. Parents who are concerned that such a level of supervision is inappropriate should not permit their son/daughter to take part in such trips.

4. School Tours Abroad/Exchanges/Overnight Trips

The school will follow normal Department of Education and Science regulations for trips abroad. The Department of Education and Science must sanction all such in-term trips.

Students who withdraw from a trip after a deposit, or full monies, has been paid, may not be entitled to a refund. Similarly, a student who is prevented from travelling for disciplinary or safety reasons will not be entitled to a refund.

It is the responsibility of parents/guardians in conjunction with students to ensure that all documents necessary for travel abroad (e.g. passport, identity card) are up to date and in order. The school cannot take responsibility for a student whose personal documentation is not in order and who is prevented from travelling abroad as a result.

Parents/guardians will receive a written overview/itinerary of overnight trips and will be required to give written consent to their son/daughter taking part on the trip.

Students will be informed, prior to going on the trip, that school rules apply on school trips. A student may be sent home, at his or her own expense, if the conduct of the student warrants it. In this event, a parent/guardian will come to collect the student or they will consent to the student travelling home alone.

5. Health and Safety

The health and safety of students and supervisors is a priority when organizing and taking a school trip. Teachers taking any trip will exercise due care and East Glendalough School will rely on the common sense and judgement of such teachers.

Students who have a medical condition, or who are on medication of any kind, should notify the teacher/s in charge of this and the medication being taken.

Staff will endeavour to give priority to bus companies that commit to having seatbelts on coaches. The Parents’ Association will communicate periodically with local bus companies and will communicate the Association’s preferences.

Supervising staff should either take the school mobile phone or their personal mobile phone for use in emergency situations.

In case of an accident, staff may apply basic first aid only.

On return from, or during, any trip staff may bring a student to the local health centre for check-up, or may request a parent/guardian to seek medical advice, should they deem this appropriate.

Where a serious accident occurs, staff will seek medical assistance as a first priority and contact the school or Principal to inform them of events. Parents will be contacted as soon as possible and informed of events, by staff on the outing, or the school office. School personnel will be sent to assist where necessary, especially where additional supervision is required. In some emergency situations, students on the trip may travel back to school unaccompanied by a staff member. If this happens, the consent of the bus driver should be sought.

East Glendalough School encourages all Parents/Guardians to arrange 24-hour insurance cover with Church and General Insurance at the beginning of every academic year. Specific activities are excluded from this policy and Parents/Guardians should familiarise themselves with the details of this policy, (to be found at www.allscoil.com)

Day trips will not normally be covered by any other insurance policy. Additional insurance for longer trips will be organised by the school where considered appropriate.

Considered by staff and amended 7 January 2004
Considered by Parents’ Association 20 January 2004, amended and approved
Approved by the Board with amendments 15th March 2004
Amended 7 March 2006