The publicity surrounding the incident and the subsequent jailing for manslaughter of the teacher who led the trip has led to a lot of concern about the safe running of school visits. To put that tragedy in context, however, it has been estimated that in England there are 7-10 million pupil visits per year, which involve educational or recreational activity. The overwhelming majority of these visits are carried out safely and responsibly by teachers who take the time and effort to get things right. The benefits to children of these trips is immense.
When a tragedy does occur on an educational visit, it is important that lessons are learned and widely disseminated. This report is written with the following aims:
This report is published to help prevent further tragedies, not to blame.
