A trip to a sawmill by Helensburgh primary pupils now features as a good practice case study on the Health and Safely Executive’s website.

The visit to Ridings Sawmill in Cardross is being hailed as an excellent example of planning, organising and delivering a successful trip to a busy working factory with a wide range of powerful machinery.

The school trip – which involved pupils from Parklands School and St Joseph’s, Rhu, Rosneath and Kilcreggan primaries - now features on the Health and Safety Executive’s website as a case study in the ‘Guidance for School Trips’ section.

Argyll and Bute’s spokesperson for education and lifelong learning, Councillor Ellen Morton, said: “I am delighted that our schools are featuring so positively in this new publication.

“These trips are not only carefully planned in terms of ensuring the children get the maximum possible educational benefit from them, but also in terms of health and safety.

“A working sawmill is a potentially high risk environment in which to place a group of primary school children. So for the HSE to use these Helensburgh schools as a case study of how best to plan and deliver a successful out of school educational activity is recognition of the work done by our staff in ensuring that every effort is made to keep our pupils safe, wherever they are.

“The educational benefit they gain from such trips is immense, and is a key component in our aim to ensure that children in Argyll and Bute receive a well-rounded, balanced education which gives them the best possible chance of fulfilling their potential in later life.”

The case study can be found at http://www.hse.gov.uk/services/education/school-trips.htm 

Carol Walker, Argyll and Bute’s head of education, said: ‘Argyll and Bute Council is committed to providing a well-balanced education to the children of Argyll.

“As head of education, I fully support the positive actions taken towards opening the world of work to our pupils. Visits to premises such as Ridings Sawmill are organised with parental consent of the pupils involved. Corporate health and safety staff assist us with the assessments of premises to be visited and advise on the controls required.

“All too often we hear of the negative side of ‘health and safety’ being used to stop things happening, but the preferred option is to use health and safety to make things happen in a safe and positive manner. Early experiences such as these visits are a good foundation for primary pupils who will also participate in the range of work experience programmes operating within the council.’