Excursions

POLICY STATEMENT:

Green Umbrella OSHC will plan excursions to extend the educational programming at the service.  Excursions are designed to allow children to explore their physical and social environment, including their local community, away from the service’s premises (“My Time, Our Place” Outcome 2.1).  Parental permission will be sought for all excursions and each excursion will be carefully planned and the potential risks assessed.  When planning excursions, educators will take into consideration experiences that encourage children to investigate ideas, solve problems and use complex concepts and thinking, reasoning and hypothesising and to transfer and adapt what they have learned from one context to another (“My Time, Our Place” Outcomes 4.2, 4.3).

PROCEDURES:

Planned excursions will take into account:

• Children’s ages, abilities and interests.
• Ways to maximise the children’s developmental experiences and opportunities to practice new skills.
• Suitability of the venue.
• Clothing and equipment required.
• Travel arrangements.

a)         Risk Management

A Risk Management Plan (RMP) must be prepared for each excursion.  RMPs will include:

• The proposed route and destination for the excursion;        
• Any water hazards;
• The transport to and from the proposed destination for the excursion;
• The number of adults and children involved in the excursion;
• The number of educators or other responsible adults required to ensure appropriate supervision. This number will be determined by taking into consideration the risks posed by the excursion and whether any adults with specialised skills are required;
• The proposed activities;
• The likely length of time of the excursion;
• The items that should be taken on the excursion, for example, first aid kit, mobile phone and a list of emergency contact numbers;
• Verbal instructions to children on appropriate behaviour expected whilst on excursions.

• A sample Excursion Risk Management Plan can be downloaded from the ACECQA website: http://acecqa.gov.au/storage/Excursion%20risk%20management%20plan.pdf

(b)        Policies

• The service’s Health and Safety policies will be taken into consideration and implemented on excursions where appropriate.  

3. Permission

• Families’ permission must be obtained before any child is taken outside of the service and specific permission is required for swimming. By signing the excursion permission form, the family member is authorising their child to attend the activities stated.  
• Excursions to locations visited on a regular basis such as local parks may be undertaken without prior notice if families of children in the group have given excursion permission. If an excursion is a regular outing, the authorisation is only required to be obtained once in a 12-month period.  Once an initial risk assessment has been carried out for regular outings, risk assessments are not required for subsequent outings to the same place, unless there is a change to the place or venue.  

(e)        Supervision

• Children will be orientated to the risk elements and procedures prior to attending any excursion. This would include elements such as what to do if they become separated from the group, toilet procedures, talking to strangers etc.
• Adequate numbers of educators to effectively supervise the children must be rostered on for excursions.  Numbers of educators must take into consideration the ages and developmental stage of the children attending the excursion and be based on a risk assessment of the excursion.  
• Head counts must be conducted regularly throughout the duration of the excursion.
• Children will carry identification on excursions that clearly states the name of the service and the contact phone number.
• An educator must inspect all public toilets before children use them. An educator and at least one other child must accompany any child when using a public toilet.
• When walking the children, one educator must lead the group, another to follow at the back, and the remaining educators spaced along the group, walking on the road side of the footpath.
• When crossing a road, a pedestrian crossing must be used if possible.  If there is no pedestrian crossing, the safest way to cross the road must be determined.  One educator must step out onto the road, and if necessary, stop traffic from both directions. The remaining educators then lead children across the road.

(f)        Information and Equipment

Information and equipment to be taken on excursions will include:

• A list of all children with relevant personal details and family contact phone numbers.
• A list of emergency procedures and contact numbers.
• A first aid kit, including SPF 30+ broad-spectrum water resistant sunscreen.
• Any medication for children attending the excursion.
• A fully charged mobile phone.
• Other information/equipment noted on the Risk Management Plan.

(g)        Lost Child

In the event that a child is lost during an excursion the well-being and safety of the other children in the group will be considered and at least one educator will remain with the group.

• Inform other educators in your group.
• Ask the children if they have seen the missing child recently.
• Reassure any child who may be upset.
• Search the premises.
• Check the meeting points.
• Ask the venue staff to begin a search and make an announcement over a loudspeaker if possible.
• Once initial checks have been undertaken and if the lost child has not been found, the Nominated Supervisor or another educator with a Supervisor Certificate will call the Police and the family.
  

(h)        Transporting Children to/from an excursion:

• Children are only permitted to travel to an excursion on any form of transport with written permission from their families.
• If using public transport (such as bus, ferry, taxi, train, etc.) children must be effectively supervised at all times and never left unattended.
• In some circumstances where the site of the excursion is close to the service, it will be appropriate for children and educators to walk to the site.
• The decision to walk should be preceded by a risk assessment and the route should be determined consistent with the objective of ensuring the safety of educators and children.
• Public transport should be used for excursions, wherever appropriate.

• When using public or private transport it is important that each journey is risk assessed, for example, when travelling by bus:

• Ensure all bus operators hold appropriate licenses and insurance 
• Ensure they provide correct facilities i.e. wheelchair access if applicable
• Ensure adequate adult supervision
• Ensure children display appropriate behavior

• A staff member will account for children as they get in or out of a vehicle and will keep a record to show that children are accounted for.
•  A staff member will check of the inside of a vehicle after all children have left to ensure no children remain and will keep a record to show that children are accounted for.

1. Water Safety

• The service recognises the risks posed by bodies of water.  The service will ensure that every precaution is taken so that children are able to enjoy water-based activities safely. Risk assessments will be carried out for programmed water-based activities.
• The Regulations do not specify a specific educator to child ratio for activities where water is a feature. The number of educators present is to be determined by a risk assessment of the proposed activity. It must also be noted that in sections 165, 167 and 169 of the National Law there are clear statements about adequate supervision.  A range of factors shall determine the adequacy of supervision, including:

• Numbers, ages and abilities of the children
• Number and positioning of educators        
• Each child’s current activity        
• Areas where children are playing, in particular the visibility and accessibility of these areas        
• Risks in the environment and experiences provided to children
• Educators’ knowledge of each child and each group of children, the

     experience, knowledge and skill of each educator.

• Definition of a body of water:

• Swimming pools and /or water fun parks
• Wading pools
• Lakes
• Ponds
• The sea / ocean
• Creeks
• Dams
• Rivers

A body of water would also include equipment used by the service that could contain 5cm or more of water and would allow a child to submerge both nose and mouth simultaneously.

CONSIDERATIONS:

ENDORSEMENT BY THE SERVICE: