EVOLVE Advice Digest - educational visits news

20 September 2023

Welcome/Croeso to the EVOLVE Advice Digest!

In this issue, we look at:

National Guidance updates
Trackers - should they be allowed on trips and visits?
AI and educational visits - a step too far?
Eco-Trip Grants Results
Sepsis Awareness - be prepared
Emergency Pocket Guides - NEW
Advice on your device - the EVOLVE Advice App
National Educational Visits Conference - BOOK NOW
Training updates and links
Dates for your diary

We’d love to hear your ideas for content you’d like to see in the Digest. Email marketing@evolveadvice.co.uk with your feedback.

The EVOLVE Advice Team

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This Evolve Advice Digest is available to all EVCs, Visit Leaders, SLT and anyone else involved in educational visits. If you know someone who would benefit from receiving news and updates from us, please share this link so they can sign up.

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National Guidance Updates

The following documents from OEAP National Guidance have been updated or created recently.

There were four new pieces of guidance over the summer, (see below) and a further 18 were revised in July and August. Other document had minor changes. For a full list, and details of the changes, click the button below.

OEAP NATIONAL GUIDANCE UPDATES

New Guidance

8.2b Visit Planning Mind Map and 8.2c Visit Planning Flowchart accompany the revised Visit Planning Checklist 3.3e (formerly known as Visit Leader Checklist). They cover the points you need to consider when planning a visit.

3.3a-CYM Rhestr Wirio – Cydlynydd Ymweliadau Addysg (CYA) New Welsh translation of 3.3a (EVC Checklist).

3.3e-CYM CYM Rhestr Wirio – Arweinydd Ymweliad New Welsh translation of 3.3e (Visit Planning Checklist).

OEAP has updated the following guidance documents to include references to trackers.

This is an area that EVOLVE Advice has been asking for OEAP guidance to address and it’s great to see the updates published. See our new EVOLVE Advice blog on trackers, below, for more on this topic.

Should tracking devices be allowed on educational visits?

Jake Wiid, of EVOLVE Advice offers advice on the use of tracking devices on educational visits. What do schools and settings need to consider when deciding their policy on tracking devices?

AI and Educational Visits - A Step Too Far?

Read our blog on AI in educational visits. What are the current opportunities and where might AI support schools in taking learning outside the classroom in future?

Eight schools have been awarded Eco-Trip Grants of £250 to help them support and promote sustainability through their educational visits.

CONGRATULATIONS to our winning schools who will be using the grants to fund projects including: equipment to support offsite visits to an allotment; educational visits to environmental centres such as the BiFOR experience at Stafford; using public transport for their educational visits; and widening access to sustainability projects for students with autism and additional learning needs.

Thank you to everyone who applied!

LEARN MORE

screenshot from a video by the sepsis trust on the signs of sepsis.

September is Sepsis Awareness Month

Unfortunately there have been cases of sepsis on educational visits. This Sepsis Awareness month, please read and share the National Guidance document on Sepsis to help spot the signs. https://oeapng.info/downloads/download-info/7-2a-sepsis.

Young people often function normally as an illness develops and then experience a sudden and rapid deterioration so knowing how to identify sepsis can save lives.

The UK Sepsis Trust also have resources specifically aimed at School pupils - free at the following link https://sepsistrust.org/savvy/sepsis-sa ... s-sign-up/.

OEAP National Guidance 7.2a Sepsis was developed with The UK Sepsis Trust. It tells you what to look for if you suspect a member of your visit group might have sepsis, with advice about what to do if you think that they have.

Take emergency advice with you!

Would you know what to do in an emergency on an educational visit?

We’ve produced an Educational Visits Emergency Pocket Guide to support EVCs, Visit Leaders and your wider teams when you're off site. The pocket guide provides clear, on-the-go advice about how to manage an emergency while on a visit.

Based on National Guidance, it covers emergencies, lost child protocol and emergency first aid.

It’s waterproof, durable, reusable and has a handy clip to attach it to your bag or first aid kit so it’s always to hand.

The Educational Visits Emergency Guide can be ordered in sets of 10 pocket guides via the EVOLVE Advice website. Find out more: https://www.evolveadvice.co.uk/emergency-pocketguide

Advice on your device

Download the EVOLVE Advice App for quick access to:

The Educational Visits Community (formerly the EVC Hub);
Free webinars;
Resources/publications;
Educational visits training and events;
Useful links to National Guidance, Kaddi, EVOLVE and more.

Available free on the App store and Google Play. Get push notifications on new resources, guidance updates, promotional discounts and other opportunities to stay up to date.

The pocket guide and app are part of our Tools For Schools ® - resources for EVCs and Visit Leaders to help support you in your role.

BOOK NOW for the National Educational Visits Conference

Be Informed. Be Connected. Be Inspired

Join EVCs and school leaders for the National Educational Visits Conference 2024! The theme is Be Inspired and we’re sure you will end the day with amazing ideas and a renewed passion for educational visits.

We’re excited to announce that our keynote speaker will be Rhys Jones. Rhys is an expedition guide and world record breaking mountaineer. He reached the summit of Mount Everest on his 20th birthday, having climbed the highest mountain on every continent; known as the Seven Summits Challenge. He has since guided private groups all across the globe, and now runs Campfire Wild Adventures, providing Epic Bushcraft Camps for schools in the U.K.

The day will be packed full of sessions aimed specifically at you and your role in managing educational visits. Our guest speakers will be addressing key challenges for EVCs, Visit Leaders and school leadership: funding, risk management, inclusion and making the case for educational visits.

There’ll be plenty of time to chat with other EVCs as well as to meet with our sponsors and exhibitors – all carefully chosen to be directly relevant to you and your role.

Early bird booking is now open at a reduced rate of £175 + VAT @ 20%. Secure your place (worth 6 CPD points) now.

FIND OUT MORE AND BOOK

The magazine for EVCs and everyone involved in educational visits

Have you seen the latest edition of The EVC Magazine? Copies landed in schools just before the summer break. If you haven’t got your hands on it yet, don’t worry. You can read the digital version while you’re waiting!

This edition is full of advice from other EVCs and experts in learning beyond the classroom. Features include tips for running sustainable educational visits; delivering visit programmes on a budget; and getting the best out of working with tour operators.

Subscribe to receive the magazine for free using the link below. If you have already subscribed, let us know your thoughts at marketing@evolveadvice.co.uk.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE EVC MAGAZINE

Training courses

Why train with EVOLVE Advice?

“An excellent session for someone new to the role of EVC - thank you. Very comprehensive and informative with lots of links and places to look for extra support whilst in the role. 5 STARS!”

Flexible and affordable EVC and Visit Leader training delivered by OEAP Course Directors. Our face to face, blended and e-learning courses are available throughout the year

Our IOL accredited blended online EVC courses run at least twice a week. If you’re already trained, we offer refresher courses to keep you up-to-date on latest guidance and to maintain your CPD.

We also provide Visit Leader training and e-learning; Snowsports Visits Training; and Risk Assessment for Educational Visits. Find out more and book at evolveadvice.co.uk/courses.

FIND COURSES

Dates for your diary

Institute for Outdoor Learning Annual Conference: 14 October 2023. Find out more and book here.

Council for Learning Outside the Classroom is offering a free online ‘Sharing good practice’ session for schools in Wales: Tuesday 26 September. Find out more and book here.