Safe student trip tips for Leaders.

Safe Africa Student Trip Tips for Leaders- How to arrange safe student trips to Uganda- Africa

Free Uganda trips to Group Leaders: (Our free trip to Uganda is for a tour organizer bringing together 10 or more other people.  In other words, the tour organizer is the 11th person after 10 paid travellers. The Uganda tour organizer benefiting from the free trip must be accompanying the organized group they have brought together. The tour provided for free is the land tour cost only. The individual is still responsible for any airfare or other costs associated with joining the trip that has been organized.)

Safety: The words ‘health and safety often fill teachers and leaders of trips to Africa with dread. The reams of paperwork, in-depth risk assessments, and lengthy reports for every scratch and scrape (which they think must be completed in order to not be in breach of health and safety law), are not necessarily the reality.

Organising a student trip to Uganda or Africa shouldn’t be overshadowed by concerns about health and safety. In fact, the Health and Safety Executive makes it clear that schools simply need to take “sensible and proportionate steps” to ensure students are as safe as possible. So, if you’ve organised an educational school trip to Uganda or Africa for your students, here are some tips on how to keep young people safe while they’re in your care.

General health and safety tips

A school trip to Uganda would naturally carry an element of risk. This could be as simple and unavoidable as a student tripping over a broken piece of pavement on the way to a crafts market, or as serious as the failure of a piece of equipment during an excursion or on Safari. It is up to you to work with Msafiri Tours to create an environment that is as safe as possible for your students by putting basic health and safety components in place, such as:

• Carry out a risk assessment: Before you take young people on a student trip, you need to identify, specifically for your group: any significant hazards, who may be harmed, and the likelihood of these hazards occurring. Make a note of this and review it before the Uganda student trip, in case anything has changed (e.g. more people have signed up, the mode of transport has changed or the school has decided to do a different activity).
• Collect details of any health conditions or medication: Being aware of your student’s health needs, and making sure any medication they may require is readily available, will ensure you can respond quickly and efficiently in a medical emergency.
• Make sure you have met all the supervisors, irrespective of DBS clearance: You wouldn’t dream of leaving your students with a group of strangers, so it is advisable to meet any parent volunteers, Msafiri Tours staff before the trip or as soon as you arrive in Uganda to ensure you’re happy for them to supervise.
• Ensure there’s a first-aider in the team: It is often a requirement that at least one person with current paediatric first aid training is available. Even if you’re taking a group of 18-year-olds, you may find it reassuring to have a first-aider on the team. You should always have a basic first aid kit available anyway, regardless of the age group.

Make sure students know what’s expected of them

When you’re in charge of a big group of students in Uganda, it is important that they know what they are supposed to be doing, as this minimises the risk of anyone getting lost or left behind. Make sure everyone on the Africa trip has the details of where they need to be at certain times, as well as contact Msafiri Tours details that they can use in an emergency.

Have a plan in place for emergencies

If an emergency does occur during your Africa student trip, then it’s important to have a thorough plan in place so that everyone knows what to do. This could involve anything from a child breaking their leg to the group being involved in a near-fatal accident. The school will need to know how to deal with the immediate incident at hand (e.g. calling the emergency services and getting the other students to safety), as well as handling the process that follows – for example, releasing a statement about the incident and talking to any parents whose children are affected.

Prepare supervisors properly

You should provide parent volunteers and non-teacher group leaders with everything they need to supervise the student trip confidently and competently. Msafiri Tours will work with you to provide information which includes details about times, destinations and activities, as well as information about any medical support in Uganda. Your trip-leading team should also have access to the risk assessment for the trip, the student’s health and safety policy, and key contact details in case of an emergency. It is important to remember that, while Msafiri Tours staff in Uganda can support teachers in the supervision of a student trip, the main responsibility for ensuring health and safety ultimately lies with the teachers and group leaders.

Let older students show their maturity

You may find that older students misbehave if they are supervised too closely or treated like children. It can sometimes be a good idea to allow older students a degree of independence, while also giving them clear instructions to make sure they are safe while in Africa. This can encourage them to act more maturely when they re-join the group and means that you can focus on group safety rather than dealing with disruptive behaviour.

With careful planning, thorough preparation, and open communication with students and supervisors, keeping young people safe during educational trips and tours to Uganda- Africa is simple and stress-free.

To find out more about organising a fun, educational and safe student trip to Uganda for your student us now. We hope the Safe Africa student trip tips for Leaders are helpful.