Snorkelling - People
Staff
Staff members are those adults who provide the supervisory, instructional and educational elements of the activity. All staff members must be approved by the school council.
All staff members must comply with current Departmental police check requirements or the Working with Children Check.
A teacher registered with the Victorian Institute of Teaching and either employed by the Department or the school council must be present and have overall responsibility for the activity.
Where not directly responsible for the instruction of the activity or assisting the instructor, the teacher responsible for the activity must understand the activity and the environment in which it will be conducted. This teacher must confer with the designated instructor about the supervisory role and establish areas of responsibility. If the teacher is not the designated instructor he/she is to act on the advice of the designated instructor on technical safety issues.
Any staff member with a known medical condition that might compromise the group’s risk management plan should make accompanying staff aware of this condition. Issues of confidentiality and privacy apply to any such disclosure.
Experience and qualifications
Staff involved in the planning and conduct of the activity should have sufficient knowledge and experience of the activity and its environment to operate in all foreseeable conditions.
The designated snorkellinginstructor(s) must hold the following:
- documented snorkelling instructional qualifications and experience from a training provider or education institution (such as AQTF Outdoor Recreation Industry Training Package competencies which are documented by the Outdoor Recreation Centre), or equivalent
- a current lifesaving qualification appropriate to the venue (please refer to the definitions section of these guidelines for a description of type 1, 2 and 3 venues).
The designated assistant to the instructor must:
- have experience in the activity at the level being offered to students
- be familiar with the requirements of the activity
- be able to assume a supervisory role during the activity
- have the ability to participate competently in emergency response procedures, including CPR
- have conferred with the instructor on the safety requirements of this role.
Pro Forma Staff Qualifications / Experience (Word - 132Kb) can be used to document staff qualifications/experience.
Note: Swimming in a pool using a snorkel, mask and fins may be an extension activity for a school swimming program, with no intention of progressing into snorkelling as an adventure activity. In such cases, the guidelines for swimming and water safety programs apply (see the School Policy and Advisory Guide, Swimming Supervision and Water Safety).
Where an external contractor is chosen to run all or part of this activity, the guidelines for the use of External providers should be followed.
Supervision
Effective supervision is a critical factor in managing risk in the outdoors.
A minimum of two staff members must be present for each activity. One staff member is to have responsibility for instruction in the activity and the other is to assist the instructor.
The following table shows the minimum staff-to-student ratios for snorkelling. These must be applied when establishing the instructional and supervision strategy for the activity.
| Activity | Staff required | Student numbers |
|---|---|---|
| Type 1 venue | 2 | 1-20 |
| 3 | 21-30 | |
| Type 2 venue | ||
| Snorkel swimming | 2 | 1-20 |
| 3 | 21-30 | |
| Snorkel diving | 2 | 1-16 |
| 3 | 17-24 |
In general, it would be expected that staff members included in the ratios above would be supervising from in the water, unless prevailing conditions meant that supervision would be more effective from a boat or the shore.
The maximum number of students in the water at one time should be based on an assessment of the water and weather conditions and the impact of these conditions on effective supervision. If there are not enough qualified staff to supervise the number of students who are to be involved in snorkelling, a plan to rotate students in and out of the water may be implemented in order to maintain safe supervisory ratios.
Decisions about staff numbers and suitability for the activity should be based on the:
- age, maturity, gender and physical characteristics* of students
- ability and experience of students
- needs of individuals
- dynamics of the student group
- experience, qualifications and skills of staff
- location of the activity
- anticipated conditions at the location.
*For example, if a group includes any physically large students, supervising staff must have the required training and qualifications to undertake any necessary rescue and the required physical attributes.
The teacher in charge is responsible for the supervision strategy, which must be endorsed by the school council as part of the excursion approval process. Staff members should supervise students according to this strategy.
If a decision is made to vary the recommended allocation of supervising staff, reasons for the variation must be documented. The minimum requirements for this activity are provided above.
Overnight excursions
If the excursion has an overnight component, the Overnight camping guidelines may be relevant.
Informed consent
The school must receive consent from parents or guardians before their child may participate in adventure activities.
Informed consent should be based on an understanding of:
- the educational purpose of the activity
- the nature and details of the activity
- the supervision strategy
- other information deemed relevant by the school, parents or guardians.
Informed consent must be given in writing and signed by parents or guardians.
First aid
At least one member of staff responsible for each group of students must hold, as a minimum, a current (within 3 years) level two first aid qualification, a current (within 12 months) Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) qualification and have a first aid kit applicable to the level of training.
Staff members must carefully consider the nature and location of the excursion as well as the medical history of the students to determine the level of first aid training required by staff. For example, if any student in the group has a history of anaphylaxis and may require the use of an epi-pen, appropriately trained staff must be present.