Hazard anticipation

The teacher is expected to handle all aspects of safety. He/she will identify and educate the students to identify any hazardous situations and create awareness of  elementary precautions. The general precautions that should be taken whatever the students’ outing can be drafted in a special document that is part of the school rules –if this is not already the case - and circulated to the parents before the outing: of the outing location will help define precautions that are specific to the place:   

• Topographic and legal access.
• Specific hazards and appropriate precautions.
• Check of the children’s aptitude for the planned activities.
• Emergency gathering point, communication between groups (sifflet...).
• Existence of a mobile phone relay station providing network access or location of the nearest phone booth.
• Route to the closest medical centre.
  

Appropriate behaviour in the face of an unexpected event or hazard:

The teacher who is responsible for the children during the outing must be able to act as quickly as possible to avoid an accident or limit its effects. Which means that he/she must be wtachful enough to anticipate possible risks and be clear-sighted enough to make decisions immediately, be firm enough to be listened to by the children, and be competent to provide first aid if needed.
Now instant correct response relies on rules that have been defined previously and group management skills.
Besides if rescuing a person is a legal duty, one must make sure that one’s gestures are appropriate. In any case each must have given the problem some thought, discuss with others about the adapted responses to this or thaat situation. In an isolated place a wounded or sick student or teacher may become a serious problem and be traumatic for the group, which makes all the more important a fully open and responsible attitude. One may have to improvise when faced with the unexpected.

During the outing:

Regularly count the students.
Absolutely ban any improvised outing or any improvised changes to the planned trip.
Precisely define the roles and duties of each person: students, student groups, teachers or accompanying adults

Documents: of the importance of the written word

Experience shows that written documents validate the good quality of an outing organisation. Naturally there is no question of filling in a lot of useless red tape.But the following documents help list the necessary precautions and are the evidence that such precautions have been taken. Standard documents may be drafted once and for all if they are not already part of the normal procedures

It goes without saying that the student remains subject to the school general regulations throughout the outing.