Introduction

Out of school visits can offer young people new and exciting challenges.  It is difficult to measure the value that individuals gain from any one visit but if you were to ask them to explain what it has meant to them you would receive many and varied answers.

Visits should have specific and stated objectives but they also offer young people the chance to learn about themselves and others.  At the same time they can learn about assessing and managing risk.

Wakefield schools have been undertaking off-site visits for many years.  Every effort has been made to ensure the Health and Safety of all those taking part and to give pupils new skills and experiences.  Friendships, which are developed, especially on residential visits, are often long-lasting and memories of visits can be lifelong.

To enable these visits to continue successfully and to safeguard both staff and pupils an "Educational Visits - Health and Safety Handbook" has been produced.

During its production, Wakefield Education and Cultural Services have consulted with many different people and organisations.  Locally, regionally and nationally, there has been a desire to produce meaningful and comprehensive guidance which will benefit all those participating in visits.

The document builds upon the good practice set out in "Health and Safety of Pupils on Educational Visits" (HASPEV).  Its main purpose is to enable schools to continue delivering visits safely while still providing exhilarating and rewarding experiences.  Anyone involved in arranging and organising off-site visits must take all reasonable precautions to ensure they can be carried out safely, while still delivering excitement and challenge.

It is set against this background that I commend this Handbook to you.