States' schools told to avoid trips away until further notice

Thursday 25 November 2021

The Committee for Education, Sport & Culture has told States' schools to "hold off from undertaking any educational visits outside the Bailiwick".

The Committee is also asking schools to make no commitments on off-island trips during the next school year - from September 2022 until July 2023 - while the medium-term picture for covid-19 remains so uncertain.

The recent surge in cases locally and in Europe and the number of cases still arising in the UK have prompted the Committee to act rather than run the risk of school trips going ahead and students being stuck in isolation outside the island. 

The policy of no trips will remain in place until the end of the current academic year in July 2022.

Pictured: Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen, President of the Committee for Education, Sport & Culture, which has told schools not to take students off the island for the time being. 

“Education officers will keep this under review, but for the time being we consider this to be a sensible and pragmatic approach, alleviating concerns around educational visits outside of the Bailiwick,” said Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen, President of the Committee for Education, Sport & Culture. 

“The Committee recently considered this issue and concluded that it was sensible for States’ schools and services to hold off from undertaking any educational visits outside the Bailiwick for the remainder of the current academic year.

“The most significant concern we had was related to what we would do if a member of a travelling school group, particularly a child, becomes covid-19 positive whilst they are away.

“In such circumstances, we are all bound by the regulations of the jurisdiction we are visiting and usually that means the individual must self-isolate in that location.

“Clearly, a child could not be left on their own. Therefore, a member of staff would have to stay with them from a safeguarding perspective. This situation would become very challenging for the mental health and wellbeing of the student and their family back in Bailiwick.”