Risk Assessment for school activities
In the past, we did not have to do any assessment for possible risks before proceeding to plan for school learning journey for outdoor activities.
Risk Assessment becomes a requirement for most schools after major incidents that had endangered our students’ safety.
Most schools have put in place a system to assess possible risks and preventive measures before the implementation of the actual outdoor activities.
This short article will cover some points that most schools have put into considerations before they carry out their learning journey.
Assessing the activity
The first to ask is whether is there a need for such activity.
The teacher organiser will need to have clear and concise learning objectives.
The teacher organiser will need to assess whether the chosen activity will meet the learning objectives.
It is possible that the teacher organiser will change the location or activity after assessing that the previous chosen activity cannot meet the learning objectives well.
What are the things required?
Equipment – Teacher organiser will need to state the equipment needed for the activity to ensure safety of the learning journey.
Transport – The issue about how our students are going to travel to the selected destination. The evaluation of possible danger on the bus as well as the journey to the destination.
Food – Teacher organiser will need to think about the food that students will eat. This is to ensure and prevent any possible food poisoning.
Programme
Teacher organiser will need to think about the itinerary and ensure safety for every aspect of the programme decided.
Teacher organiser will also need to ensure all safety measures are put in place for all itinerary decided.
Teacher organiser should also eliminate unnecessary activities that do not meet learning objectives or involve possible risks.
Supervision
The consideration of the number of adults or teachers needed for the learning journey.
It is usual for younger students to have more adults or teachers to accompany to monitor students’ safety.
For older students, teachers can act more like facilitators to remind safety issues that students should take note.
The ratio of the number of teachers to the number of students is therefore determined by the age group of the students that we are planning for.
Weather
Teacher organiser will need to put in place preventive measures especially for outdoor activities.
The possible of wet weather or possible change of climate of chosen location.
The need to have the lightning alert application to be installed on the mobile phone so that teachers can quickly get students indoor when there is lightning risk.
In conclusion
I do agree that there are lots of considerations before teacher organiser can proceed with the planned learning journey.
The risk assessment is just to help the school to ensure that all possible risks are prevented during the activity.
The well-being of our students should be our main concern even though it does take quite a bit of time to assess the risk factors.
I do hope that teachers, who are planning activities, can find these ideas useful to prevent possible risks.
Disclaimer: This is my personal reflection and I am not in any position to instruct anyone what they should do. I am not responsible for any action taken as a result of this post. My post can only be a reference for your further research and growth. By reading this post, you acknowledge and accept that. All images and pictures were taken from google images that are free from copyright under labelled for reuse.
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://fun2learn.vornix.blog/2018/10/07/risk-assessment-for-school-activities/
Hi @fun2learn,
I think the risk assessment is a formalized version of what everybody has done in the past already. I have at times my problem with that kind of formalization, as it makes organizers stop thinking themselves.
In my school, we do not have strict rules. My favourite approach is to wonder, how much we exceed the everyday risks students are exposed. Of course I have to keep in mind that some of my students have a familiy which is already unable to cope with the everyday live, so for those I have to have an idea, how to help. But usuall I expect my students and there parents two be adequately prepared for the weather and other simple factors.
Also I would like to promote the idea of general preventive measurements. Learning groups leaving the school are supposed to have a standardized first aid kit with them and teachers are supposed to attend to a first aid course every two years.
@teach-it thanks for reading and making your comment. My school also requires us to attend first aid course about every one and a half year due to the AED training that expires earlier. In my school, every learning journey needs to assess for risk with paper work that needs to be submitted for approval. I guess safety is the priority over my side of the world. Once again, thanks for your comment! See you around!
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