Bay House is a large 11-18 academy using a custom EVOLVE site. We have over 2,200 learners and facilitate visits to the likes of Malawi, Gallipoli, China and Iceland, not forgetting many daytime visits and sports fixtures.

Having found other off-site visit management systems unsuitable for our needs, it was pleasing to find a system and team who are able to cater for exactly what we require. From the offset the eduFOCUS team have been very supportive and able to respond to our complex requirements and fitting with our policy and procedures. They also made some useful suggestions to help streamline our processes.

The approval system has a rigid framework, therefore when used correctly it enables a school to meet both legal and OEAP requirements. It also allows a degree of flexibility, so that a school can create custom questions that fit within the school’s policy and procedures. For example a school could include a question to ensure that a visit leader has acknowledged the emergency procedures, or has recorded flight details. This is very easy to set up, as is uploading policy documents to EVOLVE, and reminders of the school’s procedures.

Using the system is straightforward for Visit Leaders, EVCs and Head Teachers. One of the things that I like most about EVOLVE is that it forces users to be organised, as the process is very logical and does not allow you to move on until relevant information is provided. The need for paperwork is eliminated, however you still have the opportunity to upload and view other documents, such as risk assessments and examples of letters to parents. Users can also record notes on a visit form, for example if an EVC is not happy to approve a visit, they can record a note explaining the reasons for this and what is required for the visit to be approved. The notes remain on the visit form, providing a robust audit trial, which may be helpful later on should school need to demonstrate that they have followed appropriate procedures. Information recorded on EVOLVE remains in the system, which users can access in the future. This is particularly useful for repeat visits.

It is easy to check the status of a visit form, with users able to keep tabs on its position within the approval chain. Users also have the ability to see all visits via the calendar view, which is not just confined to EVOLVE but can be synced to appear in Outlook or other calendars. The calendar syncing can also be filtered, so that calendars can be created to show individual departments, such as PE. The calendar features are very useful and not difficult to set up.

Syncing with a school’s MIS such as SIMS is also easily done. This is a brilliant feature and means that pupils’ emergency contact/medical details, etc., can be quickly accessed and instantly collated (assuming this has been input correctly in the MIS). This enables EVOLVE to act as a one stop shop for visits, and you can print detailed registers and information regarding the visit, such as a pupils dietary requirements. As EVOLVE is an online system, it is possible to a register via a mobile/tablet device, thus eliminating the need for lots of paperwork, remembering that all vital information can be taken from the MIS. EVOLVE can even be used to instantly contact parents via text during a visit which could be very useful in an emergency situation. The MIS link also allows the output of data, for example a report could be run that shows all Year 9 Drama visits over a set period of time, or a report showing all visits that an individual pupil has taken part in during their time at the school. The reporting section has become increasingly useful, particularly in ensuring that pupil premium and disadvantaged learners are involved with visits and learning outside the classroom activities.

EVOLVE is a powerful tool for visits, however it has a wider scope for recording extracurricular and onsite activities. Unsure PE staff need not fear, as recording fixtures is fast, and EVOLVE can be set up so that this process is quicker and easier compared to higher risk activities. When recording PE clubs, multiple dates can be added at one time, making the recording of weekly clubs an effortless process. Our PE staff have found this useful when reporting on pupils’ participation in such activities.

As mentioned, eduFOCUS are always supportive and very helpful when responding to queries. Their annual user conferences provide the opportunity for users to discuss ideas and ways of using the system, and demonstrate how highly eduFOCUS’ value users’ feedback. In terms of professional learning, the EVOLVE National Library is also a useful resource as this provides access to up to date guidance and legislation.

Overall myself and colleagues at Bay House have found EVOLVE to be a highly effective system. It is flexible, easy to use, and assists in ensuring the safety of the learners. I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending this fantastic system to any school who wish to be organised and take learning outside the classroom seriously.

— Richard Thomas, Head of Operations & Ethos at Bay House School & Sixth Form (May 2015)

During May 2014 Franklin College moved to a new trips & visits system (EVOLVE) to replace our old paper-based system. The benefits of using the system far outweigh the old system as college staff spend less time chasing signatures and filling in paper work. There is now a clear audit trail for the planning and approval of visits without the need for lots of filing cabinet space.

Trips & visits have an important part to play in the life of students, both as an essential part of the delivery of the curriculum, and as part of the programme of extra-curricular activities. Franklin College believe that the EVOLVE system is specifically designed to enable the college to facilitate the efficient and robust planning, processing, monitoring and evaluation of all educational trips and visits.

The system allows Franklin College to maintain documents such as local policy documents, risk assessments, parental consent letters and other vital documentation needed for trips.

All visits from local, adventurous and overseas are planned on the system. Our staff go through a straight-forward step by step process until all stages are complete and fully approved. A list of students names are added to the trip, if an incident occurred on the trip the EVOLVE system would be accessed immediately to inform us of all students on the trip.

Evaluations are added to the trip on their return. Comments, photographs and stories are invaluable to the college as it can flag up issues where we could make improvements for future trips. It also gives us the potential for internal and external marketing by using the trip evaluations.

After a brief demonstration from eduFOCUS, most of the EVOLVE Training was carried out ‘in house’ by our own Franklin staff members proving that the EVOLVE system is a straightforward, simple online tool to use.

The support we receive from Karen and Natasha is always excellent. Nothing is too much trouble for the eduFOCUS team.

— Kerry Riches at Franklin College (May 2015)

Prior to my application for the post of EVC at Queenswood School I did some online research into the availability of electronic database systems that could automate and co-ordinate the mass of paperwork that I knew existed at Queenswood School for running outside visits. I knew that in the staffroom alone there were at least half a dozen different forms that needed to be completed and approved by various levels of management, just to get a visit off the ground, and that a complex overseas visit could end up as a series of folders the size of several telephone directories!

It quickly became apparent that apart from one or two quirky systems run by one or two education authorities, and some internal database systems that had been developed in independent schools, the EVOLVE system delivered by eduFOCUS appeared to be the only robust and comprehensive piece of software on the market that might be able to meet the individual needs of Queenswood School.

In addition to a full range of normal sporting and PE activities with an average of 25 to 30 sporting trips going out every week locally, across the country and for weekend overnight stays, Queenswood School has about 12 tennis scholars who make individual journeys to local training and then across the country as teams, pairs and individuals to competitions.

Almost every week about 250 boarders out of the total school community of 440 pupils take weekend visits to shopping centres, cinemas, theatre and the full range of cultural and social activities. There are also departmental excursions that take place: on average 5 or 6 a week, plus music related activities that involve different choral and instrumentalist groupings going out to perform mostly in the London area, but also further afield.

I realised that in order to make the role of EVC manageable into the future, we would have to adopt an electronic system that had the flexibility to adapt to our independent boarding school model of management, delegation, and control which places equal emphasis upon the pastoral/boarding and academic aspects of the school. We needed a system that could adapt to the eccentricities of our system, and that would also allow data to be imported and exported from the iSAMS management information system that we use.

After viewing all the material available online and after a brief demonstration of EVOLVE by Mark Falkingham (Hertfordshire Educational Visits Advisor), we decided that EVOLVE would probably be our best solution, provided the flexibility that seemed to be promised by the system could be delivered in reality.

We visited the eduFOCUS’ offices in the summer of 2011 and had an in depth demonstration of how EVOLVE operated, and how it might be tailored to our needs with an outline permission system operating so that all proposed trips could be sanctioned in the first instance by a panel of senior staff representing academic, pastoral and welfare interests plus cover organise and EVC. Once initial approval had been given, the organiser would then have time to complete the remainder of the visit documentation including itineraries, risk assessments and documentation for parents and pupils.

The system was prepared for us in a very short period of time. We populated it with staff and pupil data for the forthcoming September term and it has run continuously ever since.

I believe that the strength of EVOLVE is in its robustness, and the software has run without problems since its inception. Maintenance is relatively painless; we have since purchased additional modules that allow us to automatically update the pupil roll, and staff changes are updated manually, which in many ways is the best solution, as often staff leave for retirement or promotion reasons but may return on subsequent occasions to support a visit or activity.

EVOLVE has a very useful main screen which is personalised for Queenswood School, and gives a running news and messaging feature to advise of trip and safety related issues. Lists of essential documents are available as hyperlinks, and the coloured tabs at the top provide direct access to the various applications of the software. EVOLVE is very intuitive and the majority of staff find it very easy to use.

We provide annual refresher courses on the use of EVOLVE: in house, and special sessions for new staff at the beginning of every academic year. The feedback that we receive from staff using EVOLVE is very positive, and staff appreciate all records being held in one place and the ease with which they can access data relating to current and past trips. They also appreciate the ability to append notes to a form and use this as a recorded messaging system with respect to a single visit.

At present, only a little use has been made of some of the extended features that are available in EVOLVE. We are looking towards greater integration of EVOLVE and iSAMS as there still is some duplication of tasks, in particular, setting up a custom contact group in iSAMS which repeats the group list in EVOLVE and also providing a general notification of staff of trip details since it cannot be counted upon that all staff will access EVOLVE for the information. In meetings with EVOLVE we have also asked for thumbnails of pupil images to be included on the pupil register lists as there are many occasions when staff running trips do not know all of the pupils in their care.

I feel that EVOLVE has quickly been assimilated into our school administration culture, and now seems a natural part of Queenswood School’s processes. This is a tribute to the way in which the software of EVOLVE has been developed in collaboration with the real needs of its users and an understanding of the day to day processes of schools.

— Queenswood School (April 2015)

The Essex Educational Visits Support Team procured the EVOLVE visits submission software in 2013, replacing the existing in-house internal software system.

EVOLVE was introduced to our schools in the Summer Term and EVC’s / Heads were invited to a series of training sessions to introduce the new system. The new submission process was well received and both schools and the LA saw the potential of a robust and flexible system to record, audit and monitor school visits. Our standard EVC training and update training has also included EVOLVE training so over a three year period all EVC’s should have had access to direct training on EVOLVE.

The Educational Visits Support Team has found EVOLVE easy to manage and introduced several bespoke elements to the submission forms to suit our own LA requirements. The support structure from eduFOCUS has been brilliant with fixes and instruction swiftly resolving any technical issues. Schools have commented on the ease of producing the required information on the submission forms and are now reaping the rewards of their work, producing statistical analysis and reports from the data gathered from their submissions. More schools than ever are auditing all their visits on EVOLVE, including their local visits that do not require LA approval. EVOLVE has also allowed us to communicate directly with EVC’s, produce specific advice and guidance documents and web-links and access to the LA adopted OEAP National Guidance.

A single fully-combined system which can be adapted to changing needs has transformed the way the Educational Visits Support Team works. The EVOLVE system has freed up a lot of manual auditing and recording. It has provided us a very effective tool to monitor schools’ compliance to our own monitoring needs.

Another benefit to the LA is that of a great feeling of confidence in the EVOLVE system and users of the system and administrators alike feel fully supported. There is the added advantage of neighbouring LA’s also using EVOLVE and with transference of staff from Hertfordshire / Suffolk / London boroughs into Essex Schools, there is the familiarisation of the EVOLVE Visits systems.

As an Educational Visits Support Team, the administrative staff support schools and answer queries on EVOLVE to assist school staff who may be unfamiliar with the system to add information as and when required. The ‘person profiles’ really assist us to verify competence and experience and provide a formal monitoring / audit which is easy to verify.

Overall, Essex CC has benefitted using EVOLVE to support schools and other educational establishments to fulfil legal requirements and supporting EVC’s with risk management, advice and guidance. Essex Educational Visits Support Team would recommend the system to other employers as it suits all our needs and helps us to meet our employer H&S / Duty of Care responsibilities to our schools. This means visits are supported through a robust system enabling confidence in our approach to Educational off-site visits.

— Essex County Council (May 2015)

The Greenwood Dale Foundation Trust was founded in 2009 by Sir Barry Day, OBE and specialises in working with schools in challenging circumstances. The Trust has a positive track record of delivering significant improvements in these schools and currently sponsors 27 academies educating over 16,000 pupils across the East Midlands.

The aim of the Trust is to improve the educational standards and life chances of all these young people and we run a wide range of enrichment activities that directly support all aspects of the curriculum. Personal development is also very high on the agenda and pupils at all our academies have opportunities to take part in a progressive range of adventurous activities that build their leadership and communications skills, confidence, motivation and self-esteem. All these programmes provide invaluable training and encouragement that enable our pupils to reach their full potential in the classroom and to develop themselves as confident and ambitious young people.

As the Trust has grown, the use of Evolve since October 2013 has been vital in ensuring the safe and efficient management of over 2000 external events each year. The Evolve system allows the Senior Leadership Teams at our academies to retain direct control and responsibility of all their off-site activities. All the Principals have delegated authority to approve local events that make up the majority of the visits and activities undertaken by the pupils. However, as an additional safeguard, the residential and overseas visits are referred automatically to our external partner for further scrutiny and authorisation. This approval system works extremely well and ensures that responsibility and accountability remain primarily with the Principals. The additional benefits of Evolve include reducing bureaucracy and the time taken to arrange and approve visits, whilst ensuring total oversight by the Central Team of all external activities and events taking place across the Trust.

The Evolve system also provides the perfect mechanism for storing Risk Assessments and it creates an indelible record of all arrangements, decisions and the approval chain. The increased efficiency and greater confidence generated by the system amongst the staff, have resulted in a significant increase in the number of external learning opportunities across our academies and it has also helped with the management of monitoring visit inspections, staff ‘post-event’ evaluation and pupil records of achievements. We also hold an annual Evolve conference for all our Off-site Visit Coordinators that provides an excellent opportunity to update everyone on the latest developments available on the system, including the benefits of Evolve +, and to create a users’ forum.

Overall, the use of Evolve has completely revolutionised the management of all our external events and visits across the Trust and has played a very significant part in maximising the off-site learning opportunities for all our pupils and staff. The support from all the team at eduFOCUS has been outstanding throughout and it would be impossible to manage the scale and complexity of our extended opportunities programme without the Evolve system.

— Martin Waring at Greenwood Dale Foundation Trust (April 2015)

Central Bedfordshire Council (and previously Bedfordshire County Council) have had a policy in place since 1992 to assist schools and other settings to plan, manage, seek approval and monitor their Educational Visits. The use of EVOLVE has been the greatest single improvement to those procedures.

Before EVOLVE:

• A lot of paper including a 3-year working archive
• Incomplete applications
• A time-lapse (often weeks) from paperwork coming into the LA to letters of approval going out
• Time consuming collection of data for reporting to SMT
• Daily administrative support to record visits and competencies, training and qualifications of EVCs and Group Leaders
• Constant chasing of information via telephone

Since EVOLVE:

• No paper
• Far less phone calls
• Complete applications
• Instant communication with EVCs and Group Leaders via EVOLVE Messenger and the visit form
• Highly detailed and customisable reports generated at the touch of a button
• EVOLVE stores visit history, staff competencies, staff history, evaluations of visits and gives instant access to all of these
• Administrative support has been greatly reduced

The system is totally customisable; CBC designed the visit form to reflect the paper form that was in place before and to ask all the relevant questions in relation to the policy. The support from eduFOCUS from Day 1 has been exceptional in every way. eduFOCUS staff are incredibly knowledgeable about the system and are able to resolve any concerns quickly.

— Glynis Yates at Central Bedfordshire Council