Rarely Cover and School Trips

What’s the position regarding rarely cover when I’m organising a school trip?

Since the introduction of the ‘rarely cover’ guidance in 2009 there have been reports of teachers finding it more difficult to get approval for their school trip or educational visit.  Since the publication of the initial guidelines, however, there have been clear statements from government to the effect that ‘rarely cover’ was never intended to interfere with the running of educational trips and visits.  The running of such trips is clearly in the educational interests of young people, and supported by various government initiatives including the Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto and Every Child Matters.

Your experience of ‘rarely cover’, however, may vary significantly, depending on your Head’s interpretation of the guidelines.

If you are interested in, or planning to run a school trip but think ‘rarely cover’ guidance may present an issue at your school you may like to consider the following strategies:

• Try to plan your trip early – ‘rarely cover’ is very much an issue of forward planning, so if your trip is on the school calendar early on you are more likely to gain approval
• Make sure you have a good case for the educational value and outcomes of your trip
• If all else fails, look at shortening the duration of your trip – or even travelling over a weekend to minimise the cover required.

School trips and visits are an invaluable part of every young person’s educational experience as well as a positive experience for the staff who are involved. It is generally a worthwhile exercise to make the effort to overcome any potential barriers to running them!