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Health and Safety on Educational Excursions
Chapter 3 Supervision
Ratios
59. It is important to have a suitable ratio of adult supervisors to participants for any excursion. The factors to take into consideration include:
- sex, age and ability of group;
- those with additional support or medical needs;
- nature of activities;
- experience of adults in off-site supervision;
- duration and nature of the journey;
- type of any accommodation;
- competence of staff, both general and on specific activities;
- requirements of the organisation/location to be visited;
- competence and behaviour of participants;
- first aid cover.
60. Some local authorities set their own levels of supervision for off-site excursions, which establishments must adhere to. Staffing ratios for visits are difficult to prescribe as they will vary according to the activity, age group, location and the efficient use of resources. However, for groups of people under 18, adult to participant ratios could be:
- 1 adult to 15-20 group members for excursions where the element of risk to be encountered is similar to that normally encountered in daily life, e.g. excursions to sites of historic interest, most field work, local walks etc;
- 1 adult to 10 group members for all trips abroad;
- within each of these categories, schools may want to consider, for example for children under the age of 8 or for children with additional support needs, whether a lower ratio, of 1 adult to 6 (or fewer) group members should apply;
- for higher risk activities, consideration will need to be given to greater adult supervision, as appropriate.
61. The above are examples only. Group leaders should assess the risks and consider an appropriate safe supervision level for their particular group. There should be a minimum of one leader in charge. For advice on ratios for swimming see Chapter 8, paragraphs 180 and 182. National Governing Bodies for Sport will be able to advise on ratios for adventure activities.
62. In addition to the leader in charge there should be enough supervisors to cope effectively with an emergency. When excursions are to remote areas or involve hazardous activities, the risks may be greater and supervision levels should be set accordingly. The same consideration should be given to excursions abroad ( see Chapter 9 paragraph 203) or residential visits ( see Chapter 8 paragraph 190). Some non-residential excursions with mixed groups will need a teacher from each sex.
Parents/Volunteers
63. Where there is more than one leader/supervisor a group leader should be appointed who has authority over the whole group. If more than one establishment is involved an overall group leader should be identified, usually the person with the most experience in leading such excursions.
64. Where a high leader:participant ratio is required, it is not always feasible to use establishment staff alone. Parents/volunteers may be used to supplement the supervision ratio. They should be carefully selected and ideally they should be well known to the establishment and the group. Anyone who has not had a criminal conviction check should never be left in sole charge of participants.
Vetting suitability - child protection
65. Education authorities should provide support and advice to assist group leaders to properly assess the potential risks to children on any excursion. Among the potential risks is harm to children from inappropriate conduct by adults or peers that is abusive in any way.
66. Group leaders should make themselves aware of the child protection procedures and contacts within their service and their local authority. Within schools, a designated child protection co-ordinator will be the first point of contact and advice, and within the education service, a senior manager with designated responsibility for child protection. Within all voluntary groups and organisations working with children, it is advisable to have a child protection policy.
67. All staff involved with an excursion should be familiar with the need to prevent child abuse, to understand signs that a child is at risk or has been harmed, and to respond appropriately if he or she has concerns. Bullying may be considered less serious but does cause significant harm and upset to children, particularly when away from home, and prevention and responses to bullying must also be considered.
68. Staff should plan to minimise situations where children are at risk of inappropriate contact with adults, or other children and young people; inappropriate conduct between peers; or situations where children may be at risk of abuse. Staff should also plan for appropriate responses to concerns and systems of communication, support, notification to other services, and record keeping. The guidelines on child protection in education adopted by education authorities will provide information on all of these issues.
69. For the protection of both adults and young people, all adult supervisors should ensure that they are not alone with a young person wherever possible.
70. It may not be necessary that every member of staff is fully trained in child protection or is considered to carry full responsibility for child protection, especially where volunteers are used on an occasional basis. However, a simple information sheet may help to raise awareness and outline contact information for all staff. It is essential that the group leader has received child protection training.
71. It is good practice to discuss clearly and openly with children and their parents prior to any excursion the expectations of behaviour, safety rules and procedures, and contact arrangements should concerns arise.
Vetting suitability - Disclosure Scotland
72. Any adult who is in substantial and regular contact with children should be subject to an Enhanced Disclosure Check before working with children; this includes volunteers and parent helpers. There are some circumstances in which the group leader may judge that the limited level of contact means a Disclosure Check is not necessary. This would be limited to situations such as:
- an occasional involvement as a helper or driver on a day excursion in which other staff are Disclosure Checked and have received child protection training, and in which the adult will not take sole supervision of children;
- the short-term involvement by an individual or contractor with a group of children during their excursion, where the group continues to be supervised at all times by the group leader and staff who are Disclosure Checked and trained in child protection.
73. Care must be taken to consider suitable supervision for activities such as sports and swimming (e.g changing rooms), personal assistance for disabled children, and night-time care and safety during residential activities. In circumstances such as these an Enhanced Disclosure Check and child protection training should be considered essential.
74. Education authorities should provide advice on Disclosure Checks for volunteers, or this can be gained direct from Disclosure Scotland www.disclosurescotland.co.uk Advance planning is essential to ensure that staff can be Disclosure Checked well in advance of excursions if this will be necessary. Voluntary organisations not already registered with Disclosure Scotland must do so before their staff can apply to be checked.
Supervisors' responsibilities
75. All adult supervisors must understand their roles and responsibilities at all times. It may be helpful to put this in writing. In particular, all supervisors should be aware of any participants who may require closer supervision, such as those with additional needs or those likely to cause trouble. Group leaders retain responsibility for the group at all times.
Competences if leading an adventure activity
76. If the establishment is leading an adventure activity, such as canoeing, the local authority must ensure that the group leader and other supervisors are suitably competent to lead or instruct participants in the activity, bearing in mind that some participants may be novices. Competences should be demonstrated by holding the relevant National Governing Body (NGB) award where it exists. Some local authorities have their own procedures for approving the competences/experience of instructors. Such local accreditation schemes should be overseen/managed by an appropriately qualified technical adviser. Where there is no local procedure the relevant NGB can normally advise. Names and addresses of NGBs are at Annex B.
Head counts
77. Whatever the length and nature of the excursion, regular head counting of participants should take place, particularly where there are opportunities for participants to become separated. All supervisors should carry a list of all participants and adults involved in the excursion at all times, preferably on their person. Participants, particularly young children, should be easily identifiable, especially if the excursion is to a densely populated area. Brightly coloured caps, T shirts or a uniform can help identify group members more easily. Participants should not wear name badges. But some establishments find it useful to provide participants with badges displaying the name of the establishment and its emergency contact number. The group leader should establish rendezvous points and tell participants what to do if they become separated from the group.
Remote supervision
78. The aim of excursions for some participants may be to encourage independence and investigative skills, and some of the time on excursions such as trips abroad and fieldwork may be unsupervised. The group leader should establish during the planning stage of the excursion whether the participants are competent in remote supervision and should ensure parents have agreed this part of the excursion. The group leader remains responsible for participants even when not in direct contact with them.
79. Parents should be told, before the excursion, whether any form of remote supervision will take place.
80. See Preparing participants for remote supervision in Chapter 4 paragraphs 91 - 92 and for Remote supervision during adventurous activitiessee Chapter 8 paragraphs 171 - 175. For Supervision on transportsee Chapter 6 paragraphs 123 - 125.
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