School Travel Forum & LOTC - What Does It Mean?
Energy Travel are now School Travel Forum members and LOTC Quality Badge holders!
Late last year Energy Travel became full members of the School Travel Forum and were also awarded the Learning Outside the Classroom accreditation.
But what are these and why do we feel that they are important?
The School Travel Forum was set up in 2002 by school travel operators who wanted a level of control over the industry they worked in. Those first members wanted to have a benchmark in the industry to ensure only quality tours were provided and to ensure Health & Safety remained at the forefront of school travel.
As such, all members must be independently audited each year to ensure that all the tours they provide meet certain criteria – this includes the auditing and monitoring of suppliers such as hotels, transport suppliers and excursions. Staff must qualify to assess the information provided by such suppliers and, in turn, our assessments are monitored in the annual audit. Any ‘adventurous activities’ that require specific instruction from a professional are then monitored by a certified external agency.
Asking a third party to come in and look at all our systems shows how seriously we take the health and safety of our tours, and the management and assessment of our suppliers is no small undertaking. However, we want our clients to understand that when they book a trip with Energy Travel, whether a school ski trip, a sports tour, or cultural tour, all elements of safety have been considered and that we only work with suppliers that can satisfy our requirements.
As such, we would ask why a school travel provider would not want to be a member of the STF?
Find out more by visiting https://www.schooltravelforum.com/about
The School Travel Forum works alongside the council for Learning Outside the Classroom and awards their Quality Badge to school travel providers that meet their high standards.
The LOtC quality badge is endorsed by the Department for Education.