PLANNING OFF CAMPUS ACTIVITIES

2.2. Responsibility
Responsibility for the development and implementation of high quality off campus education activities
is shared across four levels.
The Principal has overall responsibility for all off campus education programs and for
individual activities that make up the program. It is essential that the requirements set out in
the procedures for particular activities are met.
The Teacher in charge of a particular off campus activity has the overall responsibility for
decisions made during the course of the activity, guided by the requirements set out in the
procedures and other relevant advice on the DoE’s intranet.
The Teachers involved are responsible for the organising and implementing particular
activities. It is essential that the requirements set out in these procedures are followed and
where necessary reference made to other relevant resources identified for particular
activities. This may involve seeking advice from activity qualified guides and instructors.
The Support People are responsible for assisting the teachers in looking after the wellbeing
and supervision of the students on an activity or for a group of students to whom they have
been assigned.
For all off campus educational excursions and activities, the principal must appoint a registered
teacher who has the authority to make decisions that will be supported and implemented by all other
excursion and/or activity staff. Advice from the activity qualified guide or instructor may require this
person to modify plans and actions in response to prevailing conditions on site.
The teachers involved are responsible for supervision of students during the activities. The person
qualified in the activity may need to be deferred to in responding to specific conditions. The principal
is accountable for the whole program.
A head count must be completed and recorded before, at relevant times during and at the completion
of the activity to ensure that no student is missing. This is a mandatory requirement of every off
campus activity.
2.3. Levels of activity
There are many levels of off campus educational activity. These include:
local excursions of relatively short duration
major excursions to distant places and/or for extended periods of time
everyday sports and recreation activities
low risk outdoor activities which require little specialist experience or skill
high risk outdoor activities of short or longer duration which require specialised skills
high risk adventure activities of short or longer duration which require demanding specialised
skills.
The level of risk and nature of the off campus activities determines their precise requirements as well
as their suitability for particular students and ages of students.
Please refer to the online copy of this document (TASED-4-1765), located on the Tasmanian Department
of Education’s website to ensure this version is the most recent. P a g e | 7