School trips

Chris Keates, general secretary of NASUWT, said: "I will reiterate NASUWT’s position of strongly advising members not to participate in educational visits but will also take the opportunity to explain the reasons for that advice.

"The union's extensive experience of supporting members who have found themselves the subject of legal action, despite following all available guidance, has led us to conclude that society is increasingly litigious and no longer appears to accept the concept of a genuine accident.

"It also fails to understand that perfect judgement, total attentiveness and faultless foresight are beyond human capacity. In the best ordered of activities things will occasionally go wrong.

"I will seek to emphasise the heightened risks to teachers and pupils of the growing tendency for some schools to organise increasingly adventurous activities and exotic locations to visit.

"The introduction of a system for checking the educational validity of a visit and an examination of what types of activity should be undertaken by schools is long overdue.

"The government has already recognised the legitimacy of NASUWT’s concerns.

"Following the commitment given by the secretary of state, Charles Clarke, at the NASUWT annual conference a considerable amount of work has already been undertaken by the DfES to examine in detail our concerns.

"The oral evidence session will enable us to expand upon the written evidence NASUWT has provided and explain in more detail the work in progress."

Stakeholder Response: National Union of Teachers

Steve Sinnott, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: "All youngsters should be guaranteed an entitlement to the best possible educational experiences both inside and outside school. 

"It is essential, however, that the entitlement of young people to a creative curriculum should be accompanied by the highest possible health and safety standards and levels of support for teachers.

"If there is a full commitment to these standards on the part of all stakeholders and if teachers follow NUT and government guidelines in organising outside visits, all our members will be able to undertake these activities confidentially without fear of litigation.

"I call on the government to convene a meeting of all teacher organisations to agree a joint statement which will reassure all teachers on the issue of outside education."