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2 July 2011
Last updated at 05:53 ET
The government is publishing new guidelines for parents and teachers in England which it hopes will mean more children go on school trips.
The Department for Education has told schools and local authorities to ditch "unnecessary paperwork", and has cut its 150 pages of guidelines to eight.
Education Secretary Michael Gove said it would mean a "more common sense approach to health and safety".
But the NASUWT teachers' union said many rules were there for good reason.
"Our concern, as a union, is that the coalition government has been wedded to an agenda of cutting back on red tape and bureaucracy, as it describes it, in a very cavalier fashion - and in this instance, cutting back on bureaucracy which actually is quite beneficial to schools," deputy general secretary Patrick Roach said.
Mr Roach said the original guidelines were developed by teachers for teachers. Cutting them back could reduce parents' confidence and make teachers more nervous about school trips, he said.
The National Union of Teachers has welcomed the move but said proper protection for staff and children should be maintained.
'Creeping culture of risk-aversion' The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said it hoped the new guidelines would dispel legal "myths".
HSE chairman Judith Hackitt told the Daily Telegraph that health and safety was often being used as "scapegoat".
Continue reading the main story “Start Quote
"The creeping culture of risk-aversion and fear of litigation... puts at risk our children's education and preparation for adult life," she said.
"Children today are denied - often on spurious health and safety grounds - many of the formative experiences that shaped my generation.
"Playgrounds have become joyless, for fear of a few cuts and bruises. Science in the classroom is becoming sterile and uninspiring."
Ministers said school trips could broaden children's horizons but fear of prosecution was too often used as an excuse not to organise them.
In the past five years only two cases had been brought against schools for breaches of health and safety law on a visit, they said.
Francis Gilbert, a secondary school teacher for 20 years, agreed permission and insurance paperwork and could often put teachers off organising school trips.
"At the moment people like me, if I was to put hand on heart, haven't taken pupils on school trips because it's such a palaver and you are worried that you'll get sued if something goes wrong, so the pupils miss out."
Change in approach Government minister Chris Grayling said a change in approach was important.
"We're really concerned that school trips are an important part of a young person's education and there is a real sense in our education system at the moment that going on school trips has become a major hassle, that schools are worried about the responsibility to carriers and the truth is that those responsibilities are simpler and much more straightforward than most schools believe," he said.
The new guidelines clarify that written parental consent is not needed for each activity and encourage schools to use a new one-off consent form signed once when a child starts at a school.
Mr Gove said: "Children should be able to go on exciting school trips that broaden their horizons.
"That is why we are cutting unnecessary red tape in schools and putting teachers back in charge.
"This new, slimmer advice means a more common sense approach to health and safety. It will make it easier for schools to make lessons more inspiring and fun."
The Department for Education says the revised guidance:
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The Department for Education has told schools and local authorities to ditch "unnecessary paperwork", and has cut its 150 pages of guidelines to eight.
Education Secretary Michael Gove said it would mean a "more common sense approach to health and safety".
But the NASUWT teachers' union said many rules were there for good reason.
"Our concern, as a union, is that the coalition government has been wedded to an agenda of cutting back on red tape and bureaucracy, as it describes it, in a very cavalier fashion - and in this instance, cutting back on bureaucracy which actually is quite beneficial to schools," deputy general secretary Patrick Roach said.
Mr Roach said the original guidelines were developed by teachers for teachers. Cutting them back could reduce parents' confidence and make teachers more nervous about school trips, he said.
The National Union of Teachers has welcomed the move but said proper protection for staff and children should be maintained.
'Creeping culture of risk-aversion' The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said it hoped the new guidelines would dispel legal "myths".
HSE chairman Judith Hackitt told the Daily Telegraph that health and safety was often being used as "scapegoat".
Continue reading the main story “Start Quote
There is a real sense in our education system at the moment that that going on school trips has become a major hassle”
End Quote
Chris Grayling
Government minister
"The creeping culture of risk-aversion and fear of litigation... puts at risk our children's education and preparation for adult life," she said.
"Children today are denied - often on spurious health and safety grounds - many of the formative experiences that shaped my generation.
"Playgrounds have become joyless, for fear of a few cuts and bruises. Science in the classroom is becoming sterile and uninspiring."
Ministers said school trips could broaden children's horizons but fear of prosecution was too often used as an excuse not to organise them.
In the past five years only two cases had been brought against schools for breaches of health and safety law on a visit, they said.
Francis Gilbert, a secondary school teacher for 20 years, agreed permission and insurance paperwork and could often put teachers off organising school trips.
"At the moment people like me, if I was to put hand on heart, haven't taken pupils on school trips because it's such a palaver and you are worried that you'll get sued if something goes wrong, so the pupils miss out."
Change in approach Government minister Chris Grayling said a change in approach was important.
"We're really concerned that school trips are an important part of a young person's education and there is a real sense in our education system at the moment that going on school trips has become a major hassle, that schools are worried about the responsibility to carriers and the truth is that those responsibilities are simpler and much more straightforward than most schools believe," he said.
The new guidelines clarify that written parental consent is not needed for each activity and encourage schools to use a new one-off consent form signed once when a child starts at a school.
Mr Gove said: "Children should be able to go on exciting school trips that broaden their horizons.
"That is why we are cutting unnecessary red tape in schools and putting teachers back in charge.
"This new, slimmer advice means a more common sense approach to health and safety. It will make it easier for schools to make lessons more inspiring and fun."
The Department for Education says the revised guidance:
- Summarises the legal duties of head teachers, governing bodies and local authorities on health and safety, and covers activities that take place on and off school premises
- Makes clear that a written risk assessment does not need to be carried out every time a school takes pupils on a regular, routine local visit, for example to a swimming pool or museum
- Tackles "myths and teachers' fears about being prosecuted" by making the law clearer
- Clarifies that parental consent is not necessary for pupils to take part in the majority of off-site activities organised by a school, as most of these activities take place during school hours and are a normal part of a child's education.
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