4. Planning Visits

A Visit Plan needs to be in place for all off-site visits. The Visit Plan outlines who is to do what, and when. The amount of content and detail in the Visit Plan will be determined by the nature of the trip.

The majority of off-site visits are a normal part of educational and other service provision (e.g. youth clubs) and are referred to within this guidance as ‘Routine and Expected Visits’.

A summary of visit types, with recommendations regarding parental consent and medical information, can be found in the matrix in the Toolkit section.

It is good practice to prepare participants so that they understand the aims and nature of the visit. Risk Education is an important aspect of young people’s development.

The Visit Leader has overall responsibility for supervision during a trip. All adults in a supervisory role have a duty of care for the group at all times. There is no break from this responsibility during the trip.

Remote supervision is the term used when the leader is not directly present with participants. Remote supervision comes in varying degrees and is used in a variety of circumstances.

There may be occasions when young people take part in visits without any accompanying leader for the entire trip.

A Visit Leader needs to be confident that the location and facilities are suitable for their plans.