Visits, advice and guidance

Supporting information to help your school plan off-site visits.

Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) endorses the value of educational visits and other learning outside the classroom activities, which can offer the following benefits:

  • Improved health and psychological well-being for students and staff
  • Increased learning and attainment
  • Cognitive, personal, emotional and social development
  • Physical activity and well-being
  • Increased creativity, attention and focus
  • Increased engagement through applying learning in the ‘real world’
  • Increased awareness through connections with the natural world 

OCC has a duty of care towards its employees and students. To safeguard both children and staff, OCC aims to provide clear guidance for educational visits and other learning outside the classroom activities. 

The full OCC Educational Visits policy (docx format, 86 KB) applies to OCC Community, Voluntary-Controlled, and Voluntary-Aided schools and other Children’s Services establishments.

Outdoor Education Adviser Panel (OEAP) national guidelines

OCC has has adopted the OEAP National Guidance as an operating guidance for the management of visits and Learning Outside the Classroom activities. This guidance has received widespread endorsement from professional associations and organisations, including from the HSE and DfE. 

Key validations

  • The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) provides generic and specific guidance for schools.
  • The Learning Outside the Classroom (LOtC) website provides a range of supporting materials and information for visit leaders. It also provides the LOtC Badge scheme, which is an important provider validation.
  • The Adventurous Activities Licensing Authority (AALA) licences adventurous activity providers whose activities fall into the remit set out by the licensing regulations.
  • OEAP Provider Statements - If the provider is leading activities and does not hold an LOTC Quality Badge or AALA Licence the school will normally need to ask them to complete an OEAP NG 8.1q Provider Statement

School-based support

Visits audit

Aimed at providing support for the Educational Visit Coordinator (EVC) with monitoring visits programmes. It is primarily a desk top partnership exercise and will focus on reviewing your systems and providing any recommendations as necessary. The audit visit will take place in the school/setting and takes approximately two hours. To arrange an audit for your school email the Off Site Visits Officer.

Approval and Notification of Activities and Visits

Category A visits

These visits are close to the school, done on a regular basis involving environments known to the staff. It would include normal daily life activities. Examples include walks and exploring the area near to the school site, visits to the local church, library, school sporting fixtures and other regular non-complex activity.

Category B visits

These visits are to areas beyond the local area involving more complex environments and activity, and will typically be a one off or irregular activity in the school year. The leaders will be approved to lead the visit by the EVC. There may be some specialist training attached to some activities in this area. Examples include visits further afield, farm visits, local parks, museum visits, swimming lessons in offsite pools, zoo visits, sporting festivals and larger tournaments and some basic outdoor education activity.

Category C visits

These visits include residential visits, overseas visits, adventure activities and activities involving water. Examples of activities would include Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) expeditions, outdoor adventure activities including hills and mountains, motor sports, adventures on water or field studies involving water.  A more comprehensive list can be found here: https://oeapng.info/downloads/download-info/8-1f-activities-requiring-employer-approval/

OCC delegates the responsibility for formal approval of category A and B visits to the Heads and Managers of Community, Voluntary Controlled and Voluntary Aided schools and other 
Children’s Services establishments. It is a requirement of this policy that Heads and Managers carry out this function in accordance with OEAP National Guidance.

Category C visits must also be endorsed by OCC’s Off Site Visits Officer (see approval processes below)

  1. All Category A, B and C Educational visits requiring OCC insurance should be compiled on the Termly Insurance Declaration form at the start of term, before visits take place, and submitted to insurance@oxfordshire.gov.uk. The form can be accessed at https://schools.oxfordshire.gov.uk/insurance/school-journey-and-personal-accident-insurance
  2. All Category C visit plans should be prepared on the eVisit 2.0 visit planning portal, approved through school processes and submitted to the Off-Site Visits Officer for review four weeks prior to the visit. 

Risk management

OCC has a duty to ensure suitable, sufficient and proportional risk management processes are in place for employees. This is delegated to schools/settings that must ensure it applies to all those leading, helping or participating in outdoor learning, off-site visits and LOtC activity.

Risk management should follow the principles of an identified risk benefit process as outlined in the OEAP National Guidance. Recording risk management plans is important, but equally, the correct and appropriate actions create safe practice. Heads / Managers should ensure that written policies are accurate and the actual delivery of the visit reflects the policies.

Insurance

For details of insurance for off-site visits please consult the OCC insurance LINK

Common issues

Useful links to the OEAP guidance which is regularly updated: