Taking students with special needs on overnight excursions
Where teachers are requested to take children with disabilities and/or children who require extensive medication to camp or on overnight excursions, a risk assessment should be completed prior to taking the children, writes BRENDA SEYMOUR.
The NSW Sport and Recreation Director-General established, in a letter June 26, 1998, that the Department of Sport and Recreation recognises that it has the responsibility for the administering of medicine to children during their attendance at the Department's Centres and Academies.
This responsibility is reflected in the Department's policy and procedures and in any communication with schools attending the Department's Centres or Academies.
It is Federation's view, however, that where teachers are requested to take children with disabilities and/or children who require extensive medication (particularly where the children are prone to violence and/or sexual exhibitionism) to camp or on overnight excursions that a risk assessment be completed, prior to taking the children.
This assessment should consider the causes of the student's behaviour as well as the risk of the student's behaviour to cause harm to teaching staff and/or to other students. There should also be an assessment of other behaviour or attributes which could cause harm, for example self harm / seizures.
Control strategies and resources must be assessed and weighed up against the positive gains of including the children in camps and overnight excursions. Some examples might include an assessment as to whether there is:
- a specific safe place to allow time out for students
- modification to bathrooms, and so on, for appropriate and safe lifting techniques
- training in dealing with risks, for example manual handling and violence
- emergency procedures to ensure adequate provision should a violent incident occur
- appropriate sleeping arrangements
Judging how likely it is that something will happen is like predicting the future. You can't really be sure, you can only make your best guess. It is a teacher's professional judgement exercised both before and at the camp and so on that will be assessed if there are any incidents which arise.
Brenda Seymour is the Assistant General Secretary (Research and Industrial).
Learn more about the procedures for administration of medicine in schools.
For further information
November 2000 contents
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