Trips

HCS Ski trip 2017

The School places a high value on trips, fieldwork, expeditions and trips abroad. Such trips are of enormous benefit and it is a central part of the ethos of the School to provide the opportunity for educational visits and school excursions. Last academic year, the School ran over 110 trips (day and residential).
 

Pupils’ physical and emotional safety is of paramount concern. The School accepts that trips, visits and outdoor activities cannot be completely without risk but it requires that those staff in charge take all reasonable precautions to protect staff and pupil health, safety and welfare and minimise the risk of untoward or dangerous situations.
 

Mr Craig Howells is the Educational Visits Coordinator. His job is to ensure that staff have adequately prepared for the organisation and running of trips safely. The EVC supports trip leaders by monitoring plans and procedures, assisting with risk assessments and where necessary arranging appropriate training. The EVC advises the Deputy Head and Headmaster in the drawing up of guidelines for staff (for approval by the governing body) and to ensure that activity guidelines are followed.
 

Central to the planning of trips is Evolve – an online service specifically designed to enable schools to facilitate the efficient and robust planning, processing, monitoring, evaluating and reporting of all trips - which is used by over 100 Local Authorities and nearly 20,000 Establishments nationwide. The system ensures the thorough planning and implementation of trips and the School also benefits from the support and back-up of Herefordshire Council’s Resilience Team, including an Outdoor Education Adviser with whom the School is regularly in contact, and who has also provided some bespoke training on leading trips for staff.

As well as making use of Evolve, all trips are subject to detailed internal procedures.