Holidays and School Trips in the UK

SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER

This procedure applies to holidays and school/organisational trips within the UK for all children in care.

AMENDMENT

In March 2021, this guidance was reviewed and updated.

1. Holidays in the UK

Where there is a proposal for a Looked After Child to go on holiday in the UK, the child's social worker must obtain full information about the holiday, and seek the views of the child and parent as soon as possible.

If the parents consent, this consent must be obtained in writing.

Where the social worker, parent and staff/carer agree to the proposed holiday, the holiday can be approved and should be included in the child's Placement Plan.

For children who are in a long term placement and there is agreement with the Children's Services that the carers have Delegated Authority (see Delegation of Authority to Foster Carers and Residential Workers Procedure), depending upon the nature of the delegation agreed it may be the case that the carers are able to make decisions relating to holidays themselves. However, good practice should ensure that decisions by the carers are shared in a timely way with the Supporting Foster Care Social Worker and / or child's allocated practitioner.

Children must not be taken on holiday during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances and the holiday has been approved by the Head of the children's School and the Social Worker's Manager for the child.

If parents are opposed to the holiday, the social worker and their manager should seek legal advice.

Written confirmation of the manager's decision, together with the reasons, should be provided to the parent.

Where the holiday will involve additional costs, the social worker should obtain approval for the costs from the relevant manager before the holiday can be agreed.

Where there are SMBC carers, the following policy must be referred to:
(excerpt from SMBC Financial Policy for Foster Carers - Holiday Allowance).
This is payable to all foster carers and is the equivalent of 2 weeks of the age related child allowance.

It is expected this would be used to cover the costs of school holidays and the additional costs to a foster family of a family holiday for the child/children in placement.

Up to twice in a child's school career, and with the agreement of the child's social worker, the local authority can contribute to meeting reasonable holiday costs (family or school) where this is clearly in the interests of the child and where the costs exceed £500.

Where the child is placed with an IFA carer or residential provider, advice from External Placement Management team must be sought as to what holiday costs are reasonable for provider to meet.

If approved, the holiday should be included in the child's Placement Plan.

Where the holiday will interrupt contact arrangements between the child and parents, consideration should also be given to arranging additional contacts before and after the holiday.

2. School / Organisational Trips of up to 4 days Away

The social worker should ensure risk assessments have been conducted.

The child's participation in school/organisational trips should be considered at the time of the placement, and the consultation required before they can be agreed should be included in the Placement Plan/Placement Information Record.

Where a child is placed with the parents, the Placement Plan/Placement Information Record will usually provide that a school trip of up to 4 days can be agreed by the social worker in consultation with the school and the parent.

Where a child is placed in foster care or residential care, the Placement Plan/Placement Information Record will usually authorise the staff/carer to agree, under delegated authority arrangements, to the child going on school or other organisational trips of up to 4 days away without prior consultation with the social worker or the parent - see Social Visits (Including Overnight Stays) Procedure. If the staff/carer have not been so authorised, the child's social worker and parents must be consulted before agreement can be given.

Where parental consent is not given, the social worker should consult their team manager and obtain legal advice as necessary. Where the team manager agrees to the child going on the trip despite parental opposition, the reasons must be recorded and explained to the parent.

3. School / Organisational Trips of More than 4 days

Where the child expresses a wish to go on a school/organisational trip that is for more than 4 days, the following procedure should be followed.

To obtain approval for the trip, the social worker must first obtain full details of the arrangements for the trip including how many staff will be present, and whether all the adults on the trip including volunteers have had the necessary checks.

Social workers should ensure the appropriate procedure has been followed for risk assessments.

The child's social worker must seek the views of the parent, staff/carer and school as soon as possible and decide whether it is appropriate to recommend that the child be allowed to go.

If the social worker considers that it would be appropriate for the child to go on the trip, the social worker must seek the consent of his/her team manager.

The written request for such approval should explain the purpose and length of the trip; the wishes of the child; the views of the parent; the views of the staff/carer (unless the child is placed at home), the views of the school; arrangements for adult supervision on the trip, whether the adults are well known to the child and vice versa and the likely cost and how it is to be funded. Where the child is fostered, the financial support policy for Solihull Foster Carers should be applied as follows:

Holiday Allowance

This is payable to all foster carers and is the equivalent of 2 weeks of the age related child allowance.

It is expected this would be used to cover the costs of school holidays and the additional costs to a foster family of a family holiday for the child/children in placement.

Up to twice in a child's school career, and with the agreement of the child's social worker, the local authority can contribute to meeting reasonable holiday costs (family or school) where this is clearly in the interests of the child and where the costs exceed £500. (See SMBC Financial Support Policy for Foster Carers).

The request for approval may be accompanied by a request for financial support in line with this policy.

Where parental consent is not given, the social worker should obtain legal advice and the request to the social worker's team manager should refer to the legal advice given. Where the team manager agrees to the child going on the trip despite parental opposition, the reasons must be recorded and a written explanation should be provided to the parent.