School trips and educational visits: governors' role

Be clear on your role when it comes to school visits, so you know what your school leaders should have in place.

Last reviewed on 28 November 2023
School types: AllSchool phases: AllRef: 4503
Contents
  1. Your role remains strategic
  2. Have a policy in place for off-site activities
  3. Make sure there's an acceptable code of conduct for both trip leaders and young people
  4. Governors can attend educational visits

Our thanks to our associate education expert, Karen Mitchell, for helping us to write this article.

Your role remains strategic

You won’t write policies or carry out any risk assessments yourself – that’s your school leaders' operational job.

Your school has an effective policy in place for off-site activities (find out more below) Your school has an acceptable code of conduct for both leaders and young people (more on this below) Your school's procedures for visits comply with safeguarding and health and safety policies This is part of your existing health and safety responsibilities as a governing board Your school leaders carry out risk assessments to make sure appropriate safety measures are in place While you don’t need to 'approve' health and safety documents or specific plans (this is usually delegated to the headteacher as they're highly operational), it’s a good idea for the headteacher to give you a completed risk