EVC Summer 2026_magazine_AWdigital - Flipbook - Page 34
THE
golden hour
While serious incidents on educational visits are
thankfully rare, if one does take place, the Visit
Leader will need to handle communications along
with everything else. We asked Pharos Response
to outline a plan to help Visit Leaders manage
communications at the scene.
The ‘golden hour’, the period
of time immediately following
an incident, is as critical for
communication as it is for physical
safety. Whether you’re in the Peak
District or Paris, how you manage
communications will determine
the scale of impact on the school’s
reputation and, ultimately, the
wellbeing of those involved.
your
1 Establish
‘inner circle’
Once any necessary emergency
services have been called,
communication with your
colleagues onsite and in school is
your first priority. Ensure everyone
operates from a single version of
the truth to prevent conflicting
reports. On-call staff back at school
must be genuinely ‘on-call’ to
provide an urgent and effective
response. If you subscribe to
Pharos’ 24/7 response service, Visit
Leaders can call Pharos incident
advisers from the scene.
Identify one single point of contact
for colleagues at school, one for the
emergency services and another
for your trip provider – they need
to know what’s happening so
they can support. One person is
unlikely to be able to do it all while
also managing the group and the
incident!
Help your SEN pupils
Liaising with emergency services
usually falls to the Visit Leader.
Once onsite, authorities typically
take command, allowing you time
to support the group
Image: PGL Beyond
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SEN pupils or those who
have experienced a trauma
previously may need special
attention as they adapt to what
happened. Equally, this should
be considered and addressed
in parent communications; you
may need to remind the school
contact of this.
