The EVC Magazine Summer 2024 - Magazine - Page 7
NEWS & VIEWS ON EDUCATIONAL VISITS
Survey: parents reveal financial concerns over
educational visits
A survey of 1,000 parents and carers highlights the difficulties they
face when paying for educational visits and their experiences of trip
cancellations.
Sam Rowlands MS, Liz Smith MSP and Tim Farron
MP in the Lake District
41 per cent of parents in the study agreed that trips and visits are an
important milestone in a child’s school years and more than one in
three (35%) believe school trips are critical to their child’s education;
however, they are increasingly struggling to afford the cost of visits.
Outdoor Education Legislation
update
On 20 June 2024, Liz Smith CBE MSP
formally introduced the Schools
(Residential Outdoor Educational)
(Scotland) Bill, to the Scottish
Parliament. The Bill aims to give all
young people in Scotland the right
to a residential outdoor education
experience. It will continue its legislative
progress after the summer recess.
Unfortunately, similar Bills introduced
by her colleagues in the UK Parliament,
Tim Farron MP, and in the Sennedd, Sam
Rowlands MS, did not pass into law;
however, they have raised awareness of
the importance of outdoor education and
educational visits among policymakers.
Key findings from the study, which was commissioned by Zurich
insurance and covered in national and regional media, include:
→ More than a quarter of parents (28%) feel guilty that they can’t
afford to send their child on educational visits.
→ 23 per cent say they have had to go without and cut back on
essentials to afford them.
→ One in 10 children have used their pocket money to cover the
costs.
→ 10 per cent of grandparents and 8 per cent of aunts and uncles
have paid for visits.
New Secretary of State for
Education
→ Four in 10 parents polled have seen school trips cancelled.
→ One in six (16%) say there have been times when they were only
Following the General Election, Bridget
Phillipson, Labour MP for Houghton and
Sunderland South, has been appointed
Secretary of State for Education. Ms
Phillipson has been Shadow Secretary of
State for Education since 2021.
partially refunded and one in 20 (5%) didn’t receive any money
back at all.
Zurich’s claims data suggests cancellation or lost deposits are the
most common claims schools make on their school trip insurance
policies (70% of claims).
www.zurich.co.uk/news-and-insight/are-school-trips-becomingtoo-expensive
THE EVC REGISTER: NOW INTEGRATED
WITH EVOLVE!
The EVC Register is now integrated with EVOLVE. This means that you can access
and display your EVC qualification within your EVOLVE profile. You don’t need to
do anything, we’ve worked with eduFOCUS, who run the EVOLVE system to set
this up automatically for all EVCs on www.theevcregister.com.
EVC’s trained by EVOLVE Advice are automatically added but anyone trained by
an OEAP Course Director or SAPOE approved trainer can apply to join. It’s free to
be on the register and to view it. Visit www.evolveadvice.co.uk/evcregister
THE EVC MAGAZINE 3 SUMMER 2024
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