Date Accepted by Governors: Autumn 2021

Review date: Autumn 2024

*Parents = parents/carers

One of the core aims of Ash Grange is:

• Enriched learning experiences that will broaden children’s knowledge and understanding of the world.

Trips, visits and visitors are a core part of this as it brings learning to life and develops children’s understanding of interests and the wider world.   Such experiences enable the children to make real life connections with their classroom learning, the world around them and understand their place, responsibility and place in it.

AIMS

• To ensure visits are well planned, with risks, costs and practicalities thoroughly considered.
• To enhance children’s understanding of the curriculum and the world.
• To provide a wide range of enjoyable and memorable experiences for the children.
• To develop social education and citizenship.
• To provide cultural capital experiences that overcome barriers and widen children’s experiences

PRACTICE

• Each Classteacher, in liaison with the admin team member responsibility for this area, organise a termly trip/visitor.
• Parents are given at least 2 weeks notice of a trip, if costs are involved at least one month to allow parents to plan for financial contributions.
• Parents sign a consent for local trips when their child joins the school so that staff can make the most of local opportunities as they present themselves.
• Parental permission is sought for a trip involving a coach/public transport that is further afield.
• There are two residential trips in KS2, one in year 3 or 4 and one in year 5 or 6.  There is a two-year cycle with one taking place each year.
• Year 3 and 4 have an overnight stay at the school and enjoy a variety of outdoor education activities. 
• Year 5 and 6 have a residential to an outdoor education centre. Parents are informed of the costs for the Year 5 and 6 trip in the Autumn term of the year so payment plans can be put in place to stagger the costs.
• All staff must complete a risk assessment prior to a trip which is reviewed and approved by Mrs Curtis the Educational Visits Coordinator (EVC).
• Visitors may be bought in to provide experiences in place of trips or in addition to trips.
• Risk assessments for the residential trips are viewed by the Chair of Governors on behalf of the Governing Body, after review by the EVC.

FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS

Principle

Education in a maintained school is free as are the vast majority of exciting day to day learning experiences for children.  We want to provide additional opportunities for children to enrich and extend their learning, which have additional costs which we ask parents to make a voluntary contribution towards, without these contributions optional extras will not take place. In addition to this there may be experiences that parents want us to provide for children where specific costs are involved; parents are expected to meet the cost of these activities.  Any cost is calculated to the exact cost of the activity; no profit will be made on any activity.

Charges

The Governing Body reserves the right to make a charge for:

1. Residential visits to cover the cost of transportation, food, lodging, insurance and non-national curriculum activities.
2. Trips - Costs for travel, insurance, entrance or non-national curriculum activity.
3. Visiting Groups - From time-to-time various theatre groups, musicians or speakers are invited into school, with related costs; there may be the need to ask parents for a contribution to offset costs.

Remissions

Where parents are in receipt of income support or family credit or suffer any other financial hardship, the school will make every effort to offer partial financial support. Information on how to access funds from local and school charities and other sources of funding will be shared so that parents know how to access these funds. It is the intention of the Governing Body that no child should be prevented from taking part in a school organised educational visit on financial grounds.

Voluntary contributions

Voluntary contributions are sought for additional activities within school hours that enhance the curriculum, which are important for the teaching and learning.  The terms of any request for contributions must make it clear:

a) that there is no obligation to contribute; and
b) that registered pupils at a school will not be treated differently according to whether or not their parents have made any contribution in response to the request.

There is no limit to the level of voluntary contributions which parents or others can make to school activities, nor is there any restriction placed on the use which can be made of such contributions, provided they are used for the purpose specified in the request for them.

Parents are asked to indicate their willingness to make a voluntary contribution for a given activity.  If such contributions are sufficient to enable a firm booking to be made, then the activity goes ahead; otherwise it may need to be cancelled.

The school is careful to avoid making constant demands for money but the parental contribution is vital to the event taking place.

Valuables

Children are not allowed to take money on visits without specific instructions.

Sweets are not permitted on visits.

Electrical toys/phones/devices are not permitted on trips

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

Visits and visitors are open to all children of the school regardless of gender, race, age, ability and financial state.

Support for trips

Adult support for trips and visits is vital to enable them to take place.  To ensure all adults are DBS checked, only members of staff, governors or PTA members will support trips and visits.