Writing in the publication Children and Young People Now John Freeman CBE, former Director of Children's Services, raises concerns that schools trips are becoming an “avoidable extra” because of school spending cuts. The full article can be read here.
John Freeman notes that despite research by Ofsted which demonstrates that school trips can contribute significantly to improving education standards and the development of social skills, school are cutting funding for school trips as they are not considered “immediately important”.
He also notes that this will disproportionately impact on pupils from poorer socio-economic backgrounds as schools serving affluent areas will continue to be able to rely on parental contributions. He also criticises Education Secretary Michael Gove for rejecting a call from the Education Select Committee that every child should benefit from at least one school trip per term.
In addition, he highlights the impact the decline in school trips is having on the outdoor education sector, noting that educational destinations are under increasing financial pressure as schools and local authorities cut funding, resulting in the closure of an increased number of field study centres. He claims that Ofsted will be the key agency to reverse this decline, as its assessments create real incentives for schools and local authorities to take action, although he notes that the Ofsted children’s services assessment contains no mention of outdoor education.
John Freeman’s comments are encouraging and align with our submission to the Ofsted review about the need for its school inspection framework to focus on outdoor education.