re - horrendous school trip!

Pollycat

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

It's possible that was down to the coach driver: you said there were two run by the same company in the area. Even if someone had done a recce and given the right details to the coach company, drivers sometimes head off in completely the wrong direction, and even a very alert teacher may not have been able to re-direct them fast enough.

But surely whoever did the recce would know they were at the wrong place as soon as they drove into the car park and instead of everybody getting off the bus and going into the wrong place, that person would have redirected the driver to the right place.

cmace2 wrote: »

What a small world! I work in the shop you walked through to get to the garden centre. I did wonder why three coach loads of adults and kids turned up. Apparently you were at the wrong garden centre as the company has two garden centres in the area. There were a lot of you!!! I can imagine it was quite stressful!!

pollypenny

As I said in reply to your first thread, those teachers need a rocket.

I was always on pins during any school trip and this was with seniors.

warehouse

So this was three classes of 5 year olds, on a beach, mainly unsupervised? D*mn right you complain.

Pollycat

I meant to say in my post above that I agree that a complaint is warranted.

It sounds a totally disorganised mess of a trip.

I assume your DIL & son are in agreement with you.

Let us know how things go.

Savvy_Sue

Pollycat wrote: »

But surely whoever did the recce would know they were at the wrong place as soon as they drove into the car park and instead of everybody getting off the bus and going into the wrong place, that person would have redirected the driver to the right place.

Again, maybe ... one garden centre can look very much like another if they're all the same brand! I suspect this will be passed off as 'coach driver error', and "there wasn't time then to go to the right place".

IME of adults on a coach trip, it's not easy to give a coach driver instructions once they've decided what they're supposed to be doing, even if it's not what's been agreed with the company beforehand!!!

So this is not the area I'd concentrate on, anyway.

marisco_2

meritaten wrote: »

I think I have to raise concerns - I think a letter to the head in the first instance - but I will copy it to the chair of the governers - as I have no confidence in them knowing about it. and I think they should.
my grandson was right - so was my SIL - the trip was a shambles and I WOULDNT trust my grandson in their care on future trips. Parents should feel their kids are safe on school trips.

I absolutely agree with you. Your gs school trip was a total shambles. At the school where I teach we always go out and do a risk assessment of the places we plan to take the children out to. It is planned and organised with precision. Once this has been done it is passed to the headteacher for approval. This is standard practice. If your gs school had done this they wouldn't have turned up at the wrong garden centre. Also they would have known exactly who would be there to greet them and show you all around.

We work out how many adults we have within the school staff, that will accompany the trip. Then we arrange for extra help if required from parents/grandparents. If we dont have enough people offer to help teaching assistants and/or the school senco have been known to come along so as there is the correct ratio of adults to children. Before leaving for the day each adult is given a list of children who will be in their care and is introduced to them. They are expected to supervise and care for them all day.

It is really unproffesional that this basic requirement was not adhered to by the teaching staff at your gs school. I hope when you address this with the headteacher that you will get a satisfactory response, and that he will review procedures and put measures in place so as this does not happen again. Those children were let down.

jellyhead

Dunroamin wrote: »

A bit OT but I was thinking, when parents/grandparents go on a school trip, do they have to have a CRB first? I'm not familiar with school trips when parents go so I just wondered.

No. I asked about that this year. I've got a CRB for the surestart centre but that's not valid for school anyhow. The teacher told me that as they're all staying together in a group it wasn't necessary, and the more eyes the better when there are long crocodiles of children crossing roads, etc.

However, at a beach I'd say it would be possible for the group to split up to such an extent that adults might be unsupervised with other people's children, in a toilet for example. I'm absolutely certain that at my youngest's primary school the staff would be taking the unaccompanied children to the toilet though, and helping with sun cream, ensuring they had enough to drink etc. and generally running around looking after the children - nothing like what Meri describes!

marisco_2

jellyhead wrote: »

However, at a beach I'd say it would be possible for the group to split up to such an extent that adults might be unsupervised with other people's children, in a toilet for example. I'm absolutely certain that at my youngest's primary school the staff would be taking the unaccompanied children to the toilet though, and helping with sun cream, ensuring they had enough to drink etc. and generally running around looking after the children - nothing like what Meri describes!

When children need to go to the toilet on a school trip at least two adults who are caring for them should be present. If there are any problems one adult can assist the child, and the other can witness exactly what happens. At no time should the children be allowed to go into a toilet block by themselves, or have only one accompanying adult with them. This safeguards everyone.

amus

I feel sorry for the unaccompanied kids parents. If they knew what had happened I'm sure they would be absolutely horrified! I know I would.

A complaint is most definitely needed!

Dunroamin

jellyhead wrote: »

No. I asked about that this year. I've got a CRB for the surestart centre but that's not valid for school anyhow. The teacher told me that as they're all staying together in a group it wasn't necessary, and the more eyes the better when there are long crocodiles of children crossing roads, etc.

However, at a beach I'd say it would be possible for the group to split up to such an extent that adults might be unsupervised with other people's children, in a toilet for example. I'm absolutely certain that at my youngest's primary school the staff would be taking the unaccompanied children to the toilet though, and helping with sun cream, ensuring they had enough to drink etc. and generally running around looking after the children - nothing like what Meri describes!

Considering that maintenance people have to have a CRB to go into school to mend a socket, I'm really surprised at this. It's as if schools believe that none of their children's relatives could possibly be a threat to any of the others.