KEY TOUR INFORMATION
This booklet has been put together to help you to prepare for your tour. Please read the information thoroughly.
Should you have any further questions, please contact us:
Continuous Professional Development (CPD), Legacy 110 Commemorative Project and Education:
Please call UCL Institute of Education on 020 7331 5156 or email: [email protected]
Battlefield Tours:
Please call Equity on 01273 810770 or email [email protected]
INTRODUCTION
A unique tour experience
Unlike conventional battlefield tours, the itineraries will include sites that are currently rarely visited by schools but that provide
additional perspectives and insights into the history of the Western Front.
Onsite expertise will be provided by the Guild of Battlefield Guides, UCL IOE educators and teacher ambassadors.
Uniquely, all tour groups will spend their first night of the tour at Grosvenor Hall in Kent where they will take part in an
education and social programme designed to help teachers and pupils to bond together and finalise their preparations for their
visit to the Western Front.
The 1:2 teacher/pupil ratio is also unique and presents a real opportunity for some intensive and focused learning to take
place on the battlefield sites both for the pupils and their teachers. Teachers will be expected to play an active role in
supporting the learning of their students.
The British Army have pledged support to the programme and will send a serving soldier to accompanying each tour. The
soldier will be available for pupils and teachers to ask questions throughout the tour and will provide a contrast to serving as a
soldier 100 years.
Tour funding and eligibility
The tour is fully funded by the Department for Education (DfE) and Department for Communities and Local Government
(DCLG) and covers coach travel, accommodation, meals and educational visit costs in Ypres/Somme for 1 teacher and 2
pupils. The CPD course is also fully funded. However, travel insurance is not included and will be a cost that will need to be
covered by your school (see below). If soul occupancy rooms are required (subject to availability) this will be at an additional
supplement, at a cost to the school. There is availability for 2 pupils from every state funded secondary school in England to
take part in this programme over the Centenary period 2014-2019. It is not possible to accommodate additional pupils on the
tours, although Equity does offer a range of discounted tours for schools who wish to take larger groups – please call 01273
648248 for details.
PREPARATION BEFORE THE TOUR
Continuous Professional Development (CPD)
In order for both teachers and students to get the most out of the tour, the member of teaching staff attending the tour will be
required to take part in our Continuous Professional Development (CPD) programme. The CPD programme can either be
undertaken face-to-face or via online modules. The face-to-face sessions are delivered by educational experts from UCL
Institute of Education and keynote speakers with extensive knowledge of the First World War. To ensure your school gets the
most out of the government funded programme, we recommend teachers rather than other non-teaching staff participate in the
CPD sessions and tour. It is a pre-requisite of attending the tour that CPD is undertaken as tour experience is significantly
diminished without engaging in some form of CPD. Online modules are completed by logging on to
www.centenarybattlefieldtours.org You are required to bring your CPD notes with you on the tour as they will be used at the
CPD session we run on the first day of the tour at the Kingswood Centre - Grosvenor Hall in Ashford, Kent.
Preparation
We strongly recommend you log on to www.centenarybattlefieldtours.org at regular intervals to check out the latest classroom
material uploads and chat with other teachers on the forum to share teaching ideas. This website also details how some
schools have utilised our programme to create a lasting legacy for their school and local community. You will see examples
of students who have undertaken local soldier research in advance of travel and then located the graves of these soldiers
during the tour. This study has served as the focal point of a commemorative post tour legacy project which has
been delivered within their local community (see ‘Legacy 110’ Post Tour Project section).
We will be in contact closer to your departure date with ideas on what pre-tour research could be undertaken. You may also
want to consider undertaking the research CPD module, available online from spring 2015.
Selecting pupils
The selection of students is at the discretion of your school. The funding allows for any 2 pupils from your school aged
between 11 and 18 to attend. The majority of pupils who attend are 13-14 years old.
Once you have accepted a place on the tour, we will ask you to select your students and obtain consent from their parents so
that you may complete our online booking form. We normally allow at least a 4 week period for you to complete the booking
form after accepting your place. Further details, FAQs and parent consent form can be found on our Useful Documentation
webpage.
Legacy 110: Post Tour Project
‘Legacy 110’ is an initiative intended to encourage participating students to devise and undertake a post-tour project that creates
a legacy from their battlefields tour. By participating in ‘Legacy 110’ students will be supported in delivering a post-tour community
project which deepens local knowledge and understanding of the First World War.
‘Legacy 110’ is a carefully chosen title with a very specific aim. If all 8,800 participating students deliver projects in their local
community to 110 people, then we will have communicated with at least 888,246 people – the same number of British and
Commonwealth soldiers who gave their lives in the First World War.
In partnership with Britannica Digital Learning, students who present their project to at least 110 people outside of their school
will be recognised with a certificate and a unique commemorative ‘Legacy 110’ pin badge.
‘Legacy 110’ is a student-led, teacher-supported project. Students may select any area to focus upon, such as local soldiers,
football and the First World War, the role of Commonwealth soldiers, the important part played by women, the impact on our
local town etc. There will be supporting materials available via www.centenarybattlefieldtours.org and Britannica Digital Learning
to assist students with their projects.
Teachers and students may need to undertake specific pre-tour preparation to ensure that they collect the right information
during their battlefields tour to support the delivery of their ‘Legacy 110’ project.
HEALTH & SAFETY
Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Badge
Equity has Learning Outside the Classroom (LOtC) accreditation. The Outdoor Education Advisory Panel (OEAP) endorses
the LOtC Quality Badge and requests Local Authority Members to recommend the use of LOtC Quality Badge Providers to its
schools. It further requests LEA members not to require information from LOtC Badged Providers that duplicates details
provided by the LOtC Quality Badge Criteria.
Risk Assessment
The tour has been fully risk assessed and audited by our team of trained professionals. A Risk Assessment covering all
aspects of the tour is made available to you on our Useful Documentation webpage.
First aid
First aid provisions during your stay at the Kingswood Centre -Grosvenor Hall in Ashford will be provided by the fully trained
Kingswood Centre staff. When you travel overseas, your Battlefield Guide will be the designated qualified First Aider. Please
note that, whilst there will be a first aid kit available on the coach, there will be no designated First Aider from the coach
collection point to arrival at Kingswood Grosvenor Hall and on the same return leg of the UK journey.
Travel Insurance
Each participant school will be required to have adequate group travel insurance cover; this is not included as part of the
package. If your school has its own travel insurance policy this is fine and we will ask you to provide details of the insurer and
policy number at the time of completing the booking form. Alternatively you can purchase cover at a cost of £4.47 per adult
and £2.59 per child. Details of the cover are provided here: http://www.equityschooltravel.co.uk/health-safety#insurance
Teachers’ Collective Supervisory Responsibilities
a) Emergency supervision arrangements in the event of loss or incapacity of a supervisory teacher
It is the responsibility of the participant school to ensure that sufficient provisions are in place to cover the loss or incapacity
of a supervisory adult during a school trip. As the First World War Centenary Battlefield Tours have a fixed student to teacher
ratio of 2:1, the Collective Supervision Agreement seeks to assist participant schools by organising emergency supervision
arrangements. Each participant teacher will be required to consent to the full terms of the agreement as set out in the booking
form. The agreement states that in the event of the loss or incapacity of a teacher, the pupils they are responsible for
supervising will be assigned to another teacher who will then ensure their safety and address matters of welfare up to the point
of return to the regional meeting point. We recommend that teachers bring these arrangements to the attention of the
parents/guardians of the pupils taking part, and to the attention of the school’s senior leadership team.
b) Teachers travelling with students of the opposite gender
On our tours it is common for teachers to travel with pupils of the opposite gender. There will always be a mix of male and
female teachers travelling. If during the tour there is a requirement for your pupil to seek the support of a teacher of the same
gender, our Equity Representative can facilitate this. If this is a concern, we also recommend that you organise a 24/7
telephone contact of the same gender.
c) Evening Supervisory responsibilities
During the day, the pupils will be under the direct supervision of their accompanying teacher. In the evenings it is expected
that teachers will collectively supervise and monitor students whilst in the accommodation. Many groups have done this on an
informal rota basis in the evenings so that students are supervised at all times, thus taking collective responsibility and
meaning that all staff are not expected to be patrolling the corridors at all times. Teachers are encouraged to socialise with
each other in the evenings, however, all teachers are expected to participate in the group supervisory duties. To aid this, we
recommend that all students are in their rooms by 10pm and that all teachers vacate communal areas of the hotel by midnight.
d) Teacher alcohol consumption
The school’s policies will dictate whether consumption of alcohol on residential tours is permissible and remains the
responsibility of the school to enforce their policy. Whilst we do not seek to influence this, we strongly recommend that
teachers take a responsible approach to alcohol consumption on tour and should remember that they must at all times be able
to respond to any needs of their students in their capacity of ‘loco parentis’.
THE TOUR
The itinerary
When you are invited to attend a tour, you will receive a provisional tour itinerary, this will include the allocated regional pickup town/area. The final itinerary will be sent to you at least 4 weeks prior to departure with the precise details of the regional
meeting point. We are not able to arrange pick-ups from your school.
Meals
You will be provided with breakfast, packed lunch and dinner. Your first meal will be dinner on arrival at Grosvenor Hall. Your
last meal will be a packed lunch on the last day. We will ask you to advise us if you or your students have any special
dietary requirements. You may wish to inform your students to brink some snacks if they not used to eating different cuisine.
Rooming arrangements
Pupils will be expected to share a room with other pupils of the same gender. Where possible pupils of the same gender
travelling from the same school will be kept together. Regarding rooming, students will be in shared rooms of either 4 or 6,
therefore sharing with students from other schools.
All teachers will be expected to share a twin room with a teacher from another school of the same sex. If a single room is
required and available there will be an additional supplement, at a cost to the school.
The accommodation does not allow for staff to have a room next to their own students. In fact, in some cases, it does not allow
for some staff to be placed in the same corridors as their own students but there are always staff from the tour group on every
corridor. Therefore, while we cannot guarantee you will be located in the immediate vicinity of your students, some of the tour
teachers will be – and thus we use the collective supervision approach to manage this. Again, we recommend that teachers
bring these collective supervision arrangements to the attention of the parents/guardians of the pupils taking part and to the
attention of your school’s Senior Leadership Team.
The first afternoon and evening at the Kingswood Centre – Grosvenor Hall – in Ashford
The purpose of the night in Grosvenor Hall in is to give pupils and teachers the chance to get to know those from other
schools. The students will participate in getting-to-know-each-other activities run by the Kingswood Centre staff. Please note
that the activities undertaken may include climbing activities for which the centre holds the relevant British Activity Providers
Association (BAPA) license. Teachers take part in a session led by UCL IOE's First World War education team. This session
will introduce you to the programme and also look at how teachers can utilise enquiry-based learning while on battlefield tours.
Please see the Kingswood website for further details: http://www.kingswood.co.uk/centres/grosvenor-hall
Tour Representatives
Once you reach Grosvenor Hall, an Equity Representative and a Battlefield Guide will travel with the group for the full duration
of the tour. There will also be a representative from UCL IOE.
Kit list
A suggested packing list can be found within the FAQs provided for Parents and Guardians on our Useful Documentation
webpage. In addition to this list, please note the following points:
It is vital that teachers and pupils bring suitable warm clothing, footwear and a waterproof jacket for the tour as the Battlefields
can be extremely cold and exposed, particularly during autumn and winter months.
When attending the Ceremony of the Last Post at the Menin Gate, some pupils may prefer to wear school uniform, particularly
if they would like to be part of the wreath laying commemoration activity.
All teachers and pupils require a full, valid passport and EHIC.
It is recommended that teachers also bring equipment (tablets, cameras, mobile ‘phone with camera and/or video functionality,
laptop computers etc.) in order to film and document the experiences of their students.
SPECIAL EDUCATINONAL NEEDS
You need to make us aware at the time of confirming your places of any special needs of your students. We are on hand to
discuss the details of the itinerary with you and you will need to advise us of any concerns you may have with the itinerary or
supervisory ratio. We aim to ensure that the resources available are adapted and that those with physical difficulties are given
an equal opportunity to participate. Please contact us to discuss your needs further.