Memorandum submitted by the National Union
of Teachers
INTRODUCTION
1. The National Union of Teachers represents
240,000 teachers in England and Wales. The NUT has members from
all sectors of the education system from nursery to post-16, including
special education.
2. The National Union of Teachers is committed
to a balanced, broadly based curriculum as an entitlement for
all children and young people. Such an education must provide
young people, not just with the ability to gain the qualifications
they need to get a job or go on to the next stage of education,
but with a foundation which they will continue to build upon and
benefit from throughout their adult lives.
3. Educational visits is an area on which
NUT members regularly seek advice from their Union. It is an issue
about which they have many concerns, and rightly so. Any teacher
who undertakes an educational visit takes on a heavy burden of
responsibility. The NUT has its own guidelines on educational
visits which are available from the NUT website at www.teachers.org.uk.
4. The NUT's submission to this inquiry
will examine both the importance of education outside the classroom
as part of the curriculum, as well as important conditions of
service and health and safety issues for teachers. It will cover
the following areas:
— the Educational Value of Fieldwork
and Residential Trips;
— supporting creativity in the Curriculum;
— the "Growing Schools" Initiative;
— NUT policy on school visits;
— staffing and supervision—general;
— staffing and supervision for visits
including pupils with special needs;
— external assessment of provision;
— fear of accidents and possible litigation;
— role of the NUT safety representative;
and
— costs and funding of education outside
the classroom.
FIELDWORK AND
RESIDENTIAL TRIPS
5. The NUT believes that it is important
that young people experience activity-based fieldwork and residential
trips. Nevertheless teachers face, day-to-day, the pressures of
meeting the demands of the National Curriculum. The teaching of
science and geography can be greatly enhanced, however, by undertaking
work in the field. In particular to develop an enquiry-based approach
to the subject. Such fieldwork can also help to reinforce cross-curricular
themes in the National Curriculum, for example, some pupils' social
and cultural development, or education for sustainable development.
6. Her Majesty Inspectors (HMI) and additional
inspectors (AI) from the Office of Standards in Education (Ofsted)
were commissioned by the DfES to undertake an evaluation of the
personal aspects of outdoor education, with specific focus on
the work of outdoor education centres ("Outdoor Education—Aspects
of Good Practice", September 2004). The NUT supports the
findings of the report, which found that students generally made
good progress in outdoor education both at school and at outdoor
centres, because they developed their physical skills in new and
challenging situations as well as exercising important cross-curricular
skills such as teamwork and leadership.
7. The report highlighted the fact that
outdoor activities and residential trips were particularly helpful
for the least able students who had become disaffected due mainly
to an academically bound curriculum:
"By the end of the week, the students
had made considerable progress. For example, their greater confidence
and team spirit had an unexpectedly positive impact at the school".
(Paragraph 36)
8. Members have also expressed a concern
that there is a bureaucratic burden associated with co-ordinating
field trips and outdoor school activities which could be a barrier
to taking such projects forward.
9. The NUT recognises the importance of
outdoor education experiences as giving greater depth to the school
curriculum as well as contributing to the development of students'
personalised social development. NUT members have reported that
students' participation in a range of activities enables them
to develop cross-curricular skills, including the ability to work
independently, to form social relationships, to take on new challenges
and to focus on aspects of personal development and citizenship.
The wider skills that young people acquire when taking part in
schools visits is beneficial to them in all areas of the curriculum.
10. A review, "Research on Outdoor
Education" (March 2004), highlighted the fact that students
taking residential fieldwork developed the wider skills of co-operation,
leadership, perseverance, reliability and self-motivation.
SUPPORTING CREATIVITY
IN THE
CURRICULUM
11. The National Union of Teachers believes
that a creative environment is an essential component of learning—an
environment where schools and teachers feel able to innovate,
to teach creatively, to be creative in seeking solutions which
work, in terms for example, of curriculum design, classroom organisation
or meeting the needs of specific groups of children.
12. One of the main barriers to developing
creativity in the curriculum, however, is an overemphasis on testing
and on over-assessment, which leaves little time for wider creative
activities. This narrows the curriculum by closing down opportunities
for students to experience drama, music, theatre, dance, artists
in residence, etc. Specific resources in terms of time and teachers
therefore need to be invested in order to give students the opportunity
of visiting theatres and art galleries during the school day.
13. The NUT believes that the issue of integrating
academic and vocational elements, such as work experience and
life skills, should be an essential part of the 14-19 curriculum.
Initiatives for work-related learning, involving the co-ordination
of schools, colleges and workplaces should be available to all
students. Such opportunities will provide progression in the 14-19
curriculum.
14. The NUT welcomes the six objectives
set out by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. They are
set out below.
— all public libraries should have
internet access by the end of 2002;
— at least 12 Creative Partnerships
should be introduced by March 2004, targeted at deprived areas,
ensuring that every school child in the Partnership has access
to an innovative programme of cultural and creative opportunities;
— the average time spent on sport and
physical activity by those aged five to 16 should be raised, significantly,
year on year;
— the numbers of children attending
museums and galleries should increase by a third by 2004;
— the number of people experiencing
the arts should be increased by 500,000 in 2004.
15. Creative Partnerships have been developed
to provide a template for schools and cultural organisations,
to enable every pupil to have a chance to work with creative professionals
and organisations to develop creative skills, for example, to:
— dance, sing, learn a musical instrument,
act, paint, sculpt, make crafts, design and create television,
radio and internet content, write scripts, stage manage, choreograph,
direct and produce, put on a performance, visit theatres and galleries,
and develop understanding and critical appreciations through regular
experiences.
16. Creative Partnerships encompass a broad
range of creative and cultural activities that include art galleries,
theatres, museums, cinemas, art centres, libraries, historic buildings,
dance studios, orchestras, and recording studios. The organisations
involved are determined by local consultation and differ in each
partnership area. They give arts and cultural organisations the
opportunity to develop sustainable work with schools in their
local region. In any newly appointed region, creative directors
are responsible for brokering the link between the schools and
artists. Schools are working with architects, web and fashion
designers, filmmakers and DJs as well as musicians, actors and
visual artists.
17. The NUT believes that Creative Partnerships
should be rolled out nationally because they offer children and
teachers a range of enhanced and sustained opportunities customised
to their needs in order that they can work directly with, and
experience the work of artists, and of culture and creative organisations.
These opportunities will build on and enrich the entitlement delivered
by the National Curriculum and out-of-school activities.
18. The NUT welcomes also the acknowledgement
by the Government that museums and galleries can make a valuable
contribution to the social and cultural identity of the nation
through education.
19. In 1999, a £500,000 DCMS/Resource
Museums Education Challenge Fund was launched by the Museums and
Galleries Commission. Channelled through the area Arts Councils,
this spend has contributed to funding of 400 collaborative projects
between schools and museums all over England. One of the key findings
of the evaluation of these projects was that access to collections
could bring history to life and encourage learning in other subject
areas as well as helping children to build confidence and develop
skills. Using museum objects of teaching seems, from the evidence,
to really switch children on to learning.
20. The NUT has recognised consistently
the importance of wider activities other than those which contribute
to formal qualifications. That the 14-19 Working Group is now
proposing to integrate "wider activities" into the 14-19
curriculum is a positive step forward.
21. The NUT supports and endorses the views
of the National Advisory Committee in Creativity and Cultural
Education in February 1998. The Committee, headed by Professor
Ken Robinson of Warwick University, highlighted the need to give
children the chance to express themselves in schools. The report
emphasised that creative and cultural education were not new subjects
in the curriculum, they were general functions of education. Promoting
them effectively, therefore, called for a systematic strategy
that addressed the school curriculum, teaching methods, assessment,
inspection, how schools connect with other people, resourcing
issues and the training and development of teachers and others.
The Committee's recommendations emphasised the importance of creative
and cultural education being explicitly recognised and provided
for in schools' policies on the whole curriculum.
PE AND SCHOOL
SPORT
22. Physical education and school sport
have an important place in this curriculum. The NUT supports a
guaranteed entitlement to all pupils to at least 90 minutes of
physical activity per week within timetabled curriculum time.
This differs with, but is not necessarily in conflict with, the
Government's own aspiration that there should be a minimum of
two hours PE and school sport (PESS) a week, since the Government's
target relates to extra curricular activities also. The NUT believes
that only when physical education and school sport are timetabled
during the normal school day can they be truly defined as an entitlement
for all young people.
23. The NUT was one of the signatories of
the Charter for School Sport published by the Central Council
for Physical Recreation in 2000. Among the recommendations were
that all teachers with a responsibility for teaching PESS should
receive appropriate training (which might include areas such as
conducting appropriate risk assessments as well as subject and
pedagogical expertise), with appropriate funding made available
for professional development.
24. The Charter's recommendations also included
a focus on swimming. Ofsted has identified a small minority of
schools where children in Key Stages 1 and 2 showed "a limited
knowledge of water safety". It is vital that schools are
supported in ensuring that children meet the National Curriculum
requirements in swimming by the age of 11. Currently, they are
hampered by transport costs and pool closures in particular.
25. A further recommendation was the importance
of recognising all the contributions made by teachers to school
sport as professional work.
GROWING SCHOOLS
26. The NUT also welcomes initiatives such
as "Growing Schools" which began in September 2001 to
try and develop young people's understanding of the interdependence
between urban and rural environments, along with learning about
the countryside, wildlife and the people it sustains. Barriers
identified to taking this initiative forward were a lack of funding,
health and safety issues connected with working outside the classroom,
a lack of training and confidence among teachers and little time
to plan to creative outdoor lessons in place of standard classroom
learning. Projects were set up to provide a sample of best practice,
with some schools focusing on horticulture within their school
grounds, enabling pupils to study a community allotment with local
groups or established links with local commercial and city farms.
NUT POLICY ON
SCHOOL VISITS
27. The NUT has always given the highest
priority to the health and safety of teachers and pupils. We also
recognise the enormous value to pupils of education beyond the
classroom. The NUT does not advise members to refuse to be involved
in school visits. Most visits are, however, voluntary and teachers
who are already stressed by a heavy workload would be advised
not to take on the additional burden of organising a school trip.
28. Teachers who are willing to organise
school trips must be given the maximum support from their employer
in terms of up-to-date procedures to follow, training and, of
course, sufficient time to plan the visit.
DFES GUIDELINES
29. In 1998, the DfES published "Educational
Visits: A Good Practice Guide". This was followed in late
2001/early 2002 by three supplementary documents covering specific
aspects of organising and supervising school journeys. The NUT
was consulted on the content of these guidance documents and is
broadly supportive of them. There are, however, a few areas where
we believe the guidance could be improved. One such area is that
of staffing ratios.
STAFFING AND
SUPERVISION—GENERAL
30. The DfES recommends the following staffing
ratios as a general guide for visits to local historical sites
and museums or for local walks:
— one adult for every 6 pupils in school
years 1-3 (under 5s reception classes should have a higher ratio);
— one adult for every 10-15 pupils
in school years 4-6; and
— one adult for every 15-20 pupils
in school year 7 onwards.
31. The DfES recognises that higher ratios
may be appropriate in particular cases, such as for higher risk
activities, for particular groups of pupils or for all trips abroad.
The DfES also prescribes higher ratios for swimming activities.
32. The NUT's advice on this issue goes
further:
— the DfES ratios should be regarded
as the minimum appropriate staffing ratios for school journeys;
— these ratios should preferably be
interpreted as referring to the number of staff needed to supervise
the party. Voluntary helpers may be involved in assisting teachers
with the organisation and supervision of visits but teachers will
retain primary responsibility for supervising the party at all
times;
— a minimum of two teachers should
be involved in every school journey, regardless of how many other
adults are helping. Given the possibility of members of the group
needing to be taken home or back to school or to hospital, at
least two teachers are needed in order that one teacher may remain
in charge where another is called away;
— with a mixed party it is obviously
desirable that there should be teachers of each sex accompanying
the group;
— supervision arrangements for swimming
activities should also include provision for supervision by qualified
lifesavers;
— at least one member of staff should
be a qualified first aider and aware of the special medical needs
of any member of the party;
— newly qualified teachers should not
lead school parties in their first year of teaching.
STAFFING AND
SUPERVISION FOR
VISITS INCLUDING
PUPILS WITH
SPECIAL NEEDS
33. The NUT is concerned that there is insufficient
guidance available for teachers who take pupils with special needs
on educational visits. The tragic death of a pupil at Hay Lane
Special School in the London Borough of Brent served to highlight
this lack of guidance. Following this tragic incident the NUT
recognised that its own guidance needed strengthening. Our guidance
document now includes, at Appendix 1, factors to be considered
when assessing staffing levels for an educational visit. We would
urge the Education and Skills Select Committee to put pressure
on the DfES to extend its own guidelines to cover this area more
fully. The lack of such guidance constitutes, in our view, one
of the "barriers to the expansion and development of out-of-classroom
learning" which the Select Committee wishes to examine.
EXTERNAL ASSESSMENT
OF PROVISION
34. Since the introduction of the Adventure
Activities Licensing Regulations 1996, which the NUT was instrumental
in bringing about through its support of David Jamieson's Private
Members' Bill, the NUT has remained concerned that the regulations
do not cover schools offering activities to their own pupils.
Recent tragedies demonstrate that it is often these activities
which are particularly hazardous. Bringing schools within the
scope of the regulations would ensure that schools only use staff
with the training experience, qualifications and personal qualities
to enable them to assess risks and institute the necessary safety
precautions.
TEACHER WORKLOAD
35. Teachers should also have the benefit
of a reasonable "work/life" balance. If teachers are
already pressured and stressed by a heavy workload the further
pressures of organising and supervising school visits may be the
cause of unacceptable safety lapses. Teachers who do not choose
to take on these burdens are entitled to decline to be involved
in voluntary visits and will be supported by the NUT in doing
so. The NUT will also support teachers who have a responsibility
for curriculum based visits in demands for the highest safety
standards and for acknowledgement of the workload involved.
36. Some teachers have also expressed a
concern that there is a bureaucratic burden associated with co-ordinating
fieldtrips and outdoor school activities which could be a barrier
in taking such projects forward.
FEAR OF
ACCIDENTS AND
POSSIBLE LITIGATION
37. Accidents and litigation are undoubtedly
foremost in teachers' minds when organising school visits.
38. Teachers involved in school visits must
be fully aware of the standards of care demanded of them by the
law. These form an objective standard of what can reasonably be
expected from teachers generally, applying skill and awareness
of children's problems, needs and susceptibilities. The law expects
that a teacher will do that which a parent with care and concern
for the safety and welfare of his or her own child would do, bearing
in mind that being responsible for up to 20 pupils can be very
different from looking after a family. The legal duty of care
expected of an individual teacher is, therefore, that which a
caring teaching profession would in any case expect of itself.
39. This means in practice that a teacher
must:
— ensure supervision of the pupils
throughout the journey or visit according to professional standards
and common sense; and
— take reasonable steps to avoid exposing
pupils to dangers which are foreseeable and beyond those with
which the particular pupils can reasonably be expected to cope.
40. This does not imply constant 24 hour
direct supervision. The need for direct supervision has to be
judged by reference to the risks involved in activities being
undertaken.
41. It is important for teachers to realise
that the mere fact that an accident has taken place does not mean
that they are automatically negligent. It is also important for
society in general to accept the concept of a genuine accident.
42. If teachers are properly supported by
their school and LEA, however, incidents and resulting claims
of negligence are less likely to occur.
ROLE OF
THE UNION
SAFETY REPRESENTATIVES
43. One of the best ways of ensuring high
health and safety standards in schools, including out-of-school
activities, is for employers to support the valuable work of trade
union appointed safety representatives. Such safety representatives
do not only undertake inspections of the premises, they inspect
and comment on policies and procedures, including policies on
educational visits. They also investigate complaints by employees,
make representations to the employer and examine the causes of
accidents and near misses at the workplace.
44. Schools with active union safety representatives,
whose work is supported by management, are likely to have a better
safety culture which will extend into education beyond the classroom.
The NUT would, therefore, urge the Education and Skills Select
Committee to recommend that the Government actively promotes their
valuable contribution to health and safety in schools.
COST AND
FUNDING OF
EDUCATION OUTSIDE
THE CLASSROOM
45. The NUT shares the concern raised by
Ofsted that for many schools and pupils, the opportunities to
participate in activities outside the classroom are perceived
as prohibitively expensive. The report Outdoor Education—Aspects
of Good Practice published in September 2004 states:
Often, the extra-curricular nature
of the activity, its costs or limits on the numbers that can be
taken, lead to a "first come, first served" basis for
selection. This means that even in those schools that do want
to promote outdoor education, many students who would like to
take part are not able to participate. (paragraph 40)
If insurance premiums continue to rise as a
result of the real or perceived fear of litigation, then outdoor
education centres will be less likely to be able to subsidise
the cost of places and schools will be even more reluctant to
participate in activities outside the classroom. Similarly there
is a danger that rising insurance premiums could have a detrimental
impact on work placements, 14-19 vocational education and the
extended use of school buildings. The cost effectiveness of school
visits is likely to be a particular issue for small rural primary
and secondary schools who may also be faced with increased transport
costs.
CONCLUSION
46. The National Union of Teachers has maintained
consistently that young people should have an entitlement to important
experiential areas across a range of "disciplines",
including arts, humanities, languages and technology. Such an
approach would have been more preferable to simply increasing
the numbers of subjects which young people choose not to continue
to study post-14. The National Advisory Committee on Creative
and Cultural Education was emphatic that creative and cultural
education is being poorly served by the National Curriculum:
"Little will change without a new balance
in the structure and hierarchy of the National Curriculum that
gives a genuine parity to English, mathematics, the sciences,
arts and humanities, technological education and physical education".
47. The NUT is equally concerned that the
entitlement of young people to a creative curriculum should be
accompanied by the highest possible health and safety standards
and levels of support for teachers.
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