Heads and union officials are worried about the implications of the new government guidance on school trips.

From this term schools are expected to have an educational visits co-ordinator who will oversee planning and training for trip leaders. In smaller schools this will almost certainly be the head or deputy, but in big secondaries it could be a post in its own right.

The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers has predicted that few people will want to take on what it calls a “poisoned chalice”. Some heads are also concerned about the extra bureaucracy that the new procedures may create.

Ian Park, Buckinghamshire’s physical education adviser, acknowledges that the co-ordinator’s job will not be easy. “This member of staff could find themselves quizzing a senior member of staff about their planning and safety arrangements. He or she is going to need experience as a leader on school trips and enough authority in the school to ensure that the new guidance is followed.”

The Department for Education and Skills has made it clear that the employer, whether that is the governing body or the local education authority, has the final responsibility for visits. Whether it is a visit to the park or a trip halfway across the world, employers have to ensure that trip leaders are suitably trained and prepared.

The co-ordinators’ role in this is crucial as they will be the vital link back to the employers. The national panel of outdoor education advisers is preparing a training programme for co-ordinators and the DfES has made pound;2.3 million, around pound;100 per school, available through the Standards Fund.

Ian Park has been briefing Buckinghamshire heads and governors on the new guidance, which establishes three categories of visit.

Schools that take council training can approve some local visits themselves, without reference to the LEA. “Heads are concerned about added bureaucracy,” says Mr Park. “But our new system of notification is actually a reduction of what schools had to do before.” He welcomes the guidance.

“This is a formalisation of what has always been good practice,” he says. “Heads have got to look at the visit as a curriculum activity; what are the kids gaining from it, what outcomes does the school want?”

Some heads on the Buckinghamshire course were worried by the implications of the new procedures. Nicky Willis from Francis Edmonds combined school, High Wycombe, was concerned about a residential trip later in the year, as the teacher who has acted as leader in the past is no longer in the school. “We will need to go back and discuss that,” she said. “But I wouldn’t want to see trips cancelled because of this.”

Guidance on trips can be found at www.teachernet.gov.uk - follow links to “management”, then “guidance”. Email phil.revell@ukonline.co.uk