Preparing New Teachers to Lead Educational Visits
This week, our general manager Emma Wiid delivered a session on educational visits to new trainee teachers as part of the Teach First development programme. Emma led an hour-long introduction to educational visits, and more than 90 people attended.
The session gave the teacher trainees an overview of what educational visits can offer, from enriching the curriculum and building pupils’ confidence to opening up experiences that students might not otherwise have.
Sharing the possibilities of educational visits with teachers early in their careers matters. When teachers are introduced to visits from the outset, they are far more likely to feel confident and comfortable planning and leading visits throughout their teaching careers.
Key takeaways from the session
The session introduced Educational Visits and explored why they matter. Key outcomes included:
How do you plan for an Educational Visit
The requirements for reporting and risk assessments
The importance of STAGED, our approach to planning and risk assessment
Important Guidance
Our key tools, including Tools for Schools and STAGED
Thank you to everyone who joined and asked questions about educational visits, they prompted some interesting discussions.
Question highlights
Can visits be used as a mechanism to support attendance?
Emma pointed to an article from East Midlands Academy Trust (EMAT), in The EVC Magazine, which explores how enrichment can be offered to everyone and using this as part of improving attendance. You can read it here: Enrichment for Everyone.
What visits could someone do for Biology with Year 10 and 11?
Suggested ideas included a local botanical garden, local garden centres or Body Worlds. Emma encouraged teachers to start by identifying what students are struggling with, then consider how a visit could help bring them into the subject.
Can other students be used as mini leaders?
It depends on the type of visit. The visit leader always holds overall responsibility. However, if giving students leadership responsibility is part of the visit’s purpose, then yes, in the right setting it can work well.
Drawing on real experience
Before becoming EVOLVE Advice General Manager, Emma was a qualified Secondary Science Teacher. Her degree specialised in Outdoor Management with Education, Training and Development, and she has run over 30 varied Educational Visits for students of all ages. That experience gave her a wealth of expertise to draw from during the session.
You can learn more about Emma’s work on our Meet the Team page.
We were delighted to be part of the Teach First programme and to support new teachers at the start of their journey. If your educational setting would like guidance on educational visits, get in touch with the EVOLVE Advice team.