The Visit Emergency Support Network
An emergency on a school visit can happen at any time and school leaders need access to swift and timely advice.
To get this advice and support from your Outdoor Education adviser is essential and this is the service to which VESN members are all committed.
When the phone call comes in to the school from a member of staff explaining that there has been an incident or an accident involving a group of pupils and staff from the school, it is the phone call that all head teachers dread.
Emergencies on school visits are thankfully extremely rare events. But when it does happen it creates pressure on the school, focusing attention on the head and SLT and additional pressures on all staff.
In this new digital age, all involved, both inside the school and externally to the school demand information and full details, therefore decisions often need to be made swiftly. Equally the group in trouble needing ongoing support from the school, often at significant distance from the school.
The service
VESN is a new free service to schools as part of the existing service that Five Outdoor Education Advisers deliver to their schools. The membership of VESN is focused and works in a geographical area.
This ensures that VESN members support school leaders by giving advice and support to Heads and SLT members to enable them to make the best possible decisions when under pressure of an emerging emergency.
This support can be over the phone, or with the adviser arriving at the school site offering direct advice and support to the school. All advisers are close enough to schools to make “on site support” a reality and not just a promise.