4.4.6 Holidays and School Trips Outside the UK |
SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER
This procedure applies to all holidays and school trips outside the UK for all Looked After Children. See School Trips within the UK which applies to holidays and school/organisational trips within the UK.
For organisational trips, it should be read in conjunction with Transporting Children and Activities Procedure.
AMENDMENTS
This chapter was revised in June 2009 to include further guidance on obtaining passports
Contents
1. Holidays or School Trips Abroad
Where there is a proposal for a Looked After Child to go on holiday or a school/organisational trip abroad, the child’s social worker must obtain full information about the holiday/trip, and seek the views of the child and parent as soon as possible.
The social worker should ascertain whether inoculations will be necessary and if so, seek the consent of the child and parents for these at the same time.
If the parents Consent, their consent must be obtained in writing.
The social worker can approve the proposed holiday but in doing so they should be mindful of the impact on other areas of the child’s life. Children and Young People must not go on holiday other than an organised school trip during term time. In truly exceptional circumstances, the approval of the Assistant Director must be obtained if it is proposed that children are to miss school to go on holiday.
Where parental consent is not given, the social worker should obtain legal advice as to whether the holiday/trip can go ahead. Where the legal advice indicates the holiday/trip is possible, the approval of the Designated Manager (Passports) can still be sought. The request for such approval should include the legal advice given.
Written confirmation of the Designated Manager’s decision, together with the reasons, should be provided to the parent.
Once approved, the holiday/trip arrangements should be included in the Placement Plan.
The social worker and the carer should arrange for the child to be inoculated as advised, and adequately insured for the holiday/trip.
Where the child does not hold a valid passport, the social worker should arrange for this - see Section 3, Obtaining a Passport.
Where the holiday will interrupt contact arrangements between the child and parents, consideration should also be given to including in the Placement Plan additional contacts before and after the holiday.
2. When the Court’s Permission is Required
If the child is the subject of a Care Order and the holiday abroad is for more than one month, an application must also be made to the appropriate Court for the Court’s permission to allow the child to go abroad if the parent’s written agreement is not obtained.
Where a Court Order is required, the social worker should contact Legal Services as soon as possible for the necessary application to be made and advise the parents of the intended application.
If the holiday is authorised by the Court, the holiday should be included in the Placement Plan and additional contact arranged as above.
3. Obtaining a Passport
Where there is a proposal for a child to go on a holiday or trip abroad and the child does not currently hold a valid passport, the social worker should make arrangements for the passport application.
The social worker will obtain and complete the necessary application for the child or assist the parent/child to complete the necessary application form.
Where the child is the subject of a Care Order, the passport application must be signed by the Designated Manager (Passports) and accompanied by a letter confirming the child’s legal status and purpose and time-scale of the holiday/trip abroad.
When the child is Accommodated, the parents must sign the application. If the parents do not Consent, legal advice should be sought; the application can only be made in these circumstances if accompanied by a Court Order authorising the issue of a passport without the parents’ consent.
For further Information about passport applications see: Guidance notes for Social Services Departments when applying for passports on behalf of 'looked after children'.
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