Educational visits to London and other major cities guidance - December 2019

Well planned visits to London and other major cities can support a wide range of educational aims and outcomes.

The terror threat level in the UK is at substantial. Information on Threat Levels can be found on the MI5 website

Please see the Advice for Schools presentation (PDF, 818.0 KB) for an overview of the events from last Friday and suggestions as to how schools may wish to discuss this with students. There are also contacts for staff should they feel they require further support. For further information and guidance, visit the Prevent within Schools page.

The DfE has also issued advice for schools (PDF, 510.9 KB).

The terrorist incident in London on the 29 November 2019 has been contained and is now concluded. No further specific advice regarding school travel into London has been issued.

Therefore KCC is not issuing any restrictions on school or youth group travel.

There may be increased security on the transport system as well as at venues (e.g. bag searches, etc.) which may cause delays. Schools should speak to their travel operators, their chosen venues or public transport operators e.g. Transport for London (TfL) for further information and ensure that arrangements are made for accommodating delays and informing parents of late arrivals if delays occur. Schools and groups may wish to consider travel by coach rather than using public transport.

Parents may wish to withdraw their children from visits; their wishes should try to be accommodated and common sense used regarding refunds of payments.

Schools should also ensure that school staff accompanying visits are fully briefed on the schools critical emergency response plans and procedures, and have up to date communications information (i.e. 24/7 mobile contacts for senior staff on call). Schools should also consider the effects of delays and communication issues on groups out on visits, and ensure that any issues such as medical, special and behaviour needs of pupils can be accommodated if groups are unavoidably delayed.

Parents of pupils may be anxious and have questions regarding any plans for visits to London and other major cities, which schools should seek to address.

For schools buying an ‘Educational Visits Service and Support Package’, we ask that all visit plans are logged on EVOLVE system (and updated if plans change - including cancellations and rescheduling of visits) to enable KCC to support schools effectively. Schools who have not purchased a support package should have detailed visit information and records to hand at school, and with a designated ‘on call’ contact person (if visit take place outside of school hours), to aid emergency support and response.

If any school is directly involved in a serious incident, accident or emergency, the KCC Emergency Protocol is to call their Area Education Officer (AEO) who will coordinate KCC support in dealing with the incident.

The KCC Outdoor Education Unit will continue to closely monitor the security situation and will take its lead from the Government and its agencies regarding advice and guidance for Kent schools on educational visits.

Further information can be found on the ACT Campaign website and the Counter Terrorism Policing website