Before planning the overnight stay
- Confirm who is responsible for the school's visit approval.
- Check the proposed accommodation against the actual group's needs.
- Ask for specific information about rooms, access, shared areas, and overnight support.
- Record unresolved questions and the person responsible for following them up.
- Revisit decisions when the group, property, or itinerary changes.
Start with your school's visit process
The Department for Education's educational-visit guidance applies to England. It distinguishes routine visits from trips needing additional assessment and planning. DfE guidance on educational visits.
Use the process set by your school and employer. Confirm the visit lead, the approval route, and the person who can advise on the assessment. Keep legal requirements, official guidance, school policy, and a provider's booking conditions clearly identified in your records.
An England-based school considering a stay in Paris needs to account for both its own visit responsibilities and the destination arrangements. A destination guide cannot establish whether a particular property is suitable for the group.
Use the European accommodation guides for location planning. Then examine the proposed property with the people responsible for the visit.
Ask the accommodation provider for specific answers
Use this question sheet to collect information before making accommodation decisions. It is an organizer's planning aid, not a certification checklist.
| Area | Question for the property | What to record |
|---|---|---|
| Bedrooms | What room layout, bed arrangements, and occupancy are proposed? | Written room breakdown and unanswered placement requests |
| Adult rooms | Where would the accompanying adults stay in relation to the group? | Proposed arrangement for the school to assess |
| Access | How are room keys, entrances, and access between floors managed? | Property explanation and issues needing follow-up |
| Shared areas | Which areas will other guests use, and at what times? | Relevant spaces and the group's proposed use |
| Bathrooms | Which bathrooms serve the proposed rooms, and who shares them? | Layout and any privacy questions |
| Meals | What arrangements can the property confirm for the group's meal needs? | Named contact and confirmed provisions |
| Arrival | Where will the group gather, unload, and check in? | Meeting point, arrival process, and luggage arrangements |
| Night contact | Who is available if the visit leader needs property assistance overnight? | Contact route and availability |
| Emergency arrangements | What information can the property provide about evacuation and meeting points? | Property information for the school's own planning |
| Facilities and activities | Which facilities would the group use, and what separate planning is needed? | Planned use and questions to resolve before approval |
A reply such as “we regularly host schools” does not answer the specific room-layout question. Ask for the detail that the school needs to make its decision.
For a domestic visit, the London accommodation guide can help narrow the area. For a visit to France, use the Paris guide for location context, then verify the arrangements with each proposed property.
Free Grotels planning tools
Use the question sheet for your school's review, and let Grotels help with finding accommodation. Share your room needs and compare property offers in the app for free. Assessment and approval stay with your school.
Plan supervision around the actual group
HSE says supervision levels should follow the school's risk assessment for the trip, with clear boundaries and communication. Its guidance does not supply a single ratio for every visit. HSE's school-trip supervision guidance.
Work through staffing with the school's responsible lead and check any applicable age-specific or activity-specific requirements. Do not treat a hotel receptionist, activity instructor, or overnight security contact as part of your supervision plan without an explicit, appropriate arrangement.
Use practical questions to identify decisions that need attention. Who is responsible when part of the group is at breakfast and others are still upstairs? What happens if an adult needs to accompany a student away from the group? How will students contact a responsible adult at night?
These questions support the school's assessment. They do not establish an appropriate staffing level on their own.
Prepare for changes and emergencies
DfE advises schools to have emergency-response and communication plans that trip leaders understand. Emergency planning in the DfE guidance.
Before arrival, put the property's agreed contact route alongside the school's own contacts. Ask how a late arrival or a change in the room allocation will be communicated. Record who will check that the changed arrangement still works for the group.
For a trip abroad, make permission and travel-document checks a separate task. Use the official guidance on permission to take a child abroad, including its exceptions, and confirm destination-specific requirements with the relevant authorities.
Keep necessary health and safeguarding information within the school's approved processes. The general accommodation question sheet should record whether the appropriate person has resolved an issue without exposing the student's private details.
Record decisions and review the plan
HSE emphasizes identifying real risks and recording significant findings, rather than documenting every trivial possibility. HSE's risk-assessment explanation.
For the accommodation workstream, a concise record can use these fields:
| Question or issue | Evidence received | School decision or action | Responsible person | Due date | Review trigger |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Add the specific issue | Record the reply or document reference | Complete through the school's process | Assign owner | Set date | Note what change would require another check |
Leave a decision open when the necessary information has not arrived. Avoid filling an empty field with “suitable” merely to finish the sheet.
Bring unresolved accommodation requirements into your Grotels inquiry so they can be included in the search brief. Keep the assessment and approval with the school's responsible people.
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