Completing visit details and submitting for approval

Once Initial Approval is granted (or if initial approval is not enabled on your site) the Visit Leader will be presented with a more comprehensive form in which to enter complete details of their visit.

Note that the some of the emergency contact details will be filled in automatically with things such as the establishment phone number, as most visits are likely to take place while the establishment office is manned, however these details must be changed for out of hours visits.

When entering details of the number and ages of participants, you will be initially presented with options relevant to the age range of your establishment, however you can click on 'show more year groups' to allow access to a wider age range.

When filling in start and end dates, you will also be given the option of adding details of the departure and arrival times. Also in the 'WHEN' section, you will be prompted for whether this is a one off visit (e.g. a skiing trip to France) or a rolling programme of events (e.g. year 8 football team matches for this season). If you choose 'rolling programme' you will also be asked for the approximate number of occurrences of the visit.

Many of the fields provide an auto-completion facility, so if you start typing something you entered on a previous visit, a menu of options will appear in order to save you further typing. Selecting from the menu will fill the field in with that option, and may also fill in related information - e.g. if you select a location/venue you have previously entered, the address and contact details will be automatically filled in.

Certain sections of the form may be hidden or revealed depending on the answers to other questions.

As well as typing data into fields on the form, there is also the facility for attaching files to the visit record.

At any point in your completion of the form, you can click on the 'Save' button at the bottom of the form and save the data either as an insurance against losing your internet connection or because you need to stop and come back to it for further work at a later date.

Once you are happy you have entered all the details, you can mark that the application is fully completed using the drop down menu above the 'Save' button, and click on the 'Submit' button. At this point you will be shown warning messages for any errors you have made on the form (e.g. forgetting to fill in any mandatory fields) and you will not be able to submit the form until you have corrected them.

Once submitted, notifications are sent to the EVC and anyone else (e.g. head, employer) who needs to approve the visit. You will be notified when each approval or rejection is given. If any approval is rejected, you will be given reasons and you may make changes to the visit and resubmit. Once all required approvals have been granted, you will be notified and the visit can go ahead under the establishment policy requirements and operational procedures.

Next: Approving visits