Beyond The Gates

Introduction

Beyond the Gates provides clear, definitive advice – in an easy-to-navigate format – for EVOLVE Advice clients. As Educational Visits Advisers, we have always provided written advice and guidance to our schools. Beyond the Gates formalises this guidance and enables schools and employers to be clear on their expectations. Staff can access the always-up-to-date online version of Beyond the Gates at any time. Our clients (Employers such as Local Authorities, Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs), and independent School Groups, and individual Establishments (schools, colleges and youth services). Schools, colleges and youth services are encouraged to adopt our Policy Statement and Beyond the Gates guidance as the basis of their Educational Visits Policy. Beyond the Gates replaces, and builds on, earlier EVOLVE Advice guidance for clients, including: ‘Guidance for Off-Site Visits and Related Activities with National Guidance & EVOLVE’.

Educational visits are an important part of school life. They offer unique opportunities for learning and personal development that extend and complement activity in schools and other education settings. Taking children and young people out of the classroom presents additional risks and challenges, but these can be managed by careful planning and effective management by competent and experienced staff.

Employers and individual settings should have a clear Educational Visits Policy setting out how visits should be planned, approved, delivered and reviewed. Where relevant, this policy should reflect current guidance in your country, DfE guidance and OEAP National Guidance, and all staff involved in educational visits must follow it, along with associated procedures.

About Beyond the Gates

Beyond the Gates is written by EVOLVE Advice for our clients. It is designed to complement existing guidance and legislation and to support planning. If you are not a client of EVOLVE Advice, you are welcome to use Beyond the Gates with your employer’s agreement and on the understanding that your employer takes responsibility for its use in your setting. Always check with your Educational Visits Adviser first.

How to use Beyond the Gates

Beyond the Gates sets out our guidance on all aspects of educational visits. It should be shared with senior leaders, EVCs and Visit Leaders, and used by everyone involved in educational visits in your setting when planning, approving and overseeing visits.

The guidance is organised into five sections:

These sections are designed to be used alongside each other. The policy and risk management sections set the framework, while visit planning and the type-specific sections help you apply that framework to the visits you are running. We advise you to read all guidance in full. If you have questions about how to apply this guidance to a specific visit, please contact your Educational Visits Adviser.

The STAGED Approach

The STAGED approach is a simple acronym representing the six key areas that you need to consider in your planning and risk management. Throughout this guidance, we refer to STAGED as it underpins all areas of educational visits planning and management.

STAGED stands for Staffing, Travel, Activity, Group, Environmental conditions and Distance from support.

Use the STAGED approach as a basis for discussions with your visit team and as a framework for your risk assessment and approvals. We also recommend consulting key staff such as the DSL and Designated Allergy Lead to ensure you’re drawing on the wider skills, knowledge and expertise around you.

Download a STAGED toolkit from our website at https://www.evolveadvice.co.uk/staged