EOTC FAQs

 Question topics:

• How long does my school need to keep all of the documentation and information related to EOTC?

• Students attending events with their parents/caregivers?

• First Aid Qualification for Trips

• Managing staff driving on long trips

• Students attending events with their parents/caregivers

• Parents/caregivers transporting groups of students  

• EpiPen availability 

• Fees Charges and Donations

• Guidance on managing Covid Alert levels

How long does my school need to keep all of the documentation and information related to EOTC?

Answer

The information and documentation involved in EOTC fits into a number of different categories as far as how long it has to be kept.

Enrolment forms and information gathered as part of enrolment (e.g., blanket consent forms used as part of the enrolment process) need to be kept for 7 years after the student has left the school. They may then be destroyed once the 7-year period has expired.

For EOTC event forms (including signed consent forms, attendance lists and trip plans) can be kept for as long as the school needs them for administration or reference purposes then they can be destroyed (with the permission of the board).

The school’s non serious accident register must be kept until the school closes. The serious accident register must be kept indefinitely as well but may be sent to Archives NZ after 10 years and must be sent after 25 years. If the school has one register containing all of the accident information, then it must be kept and sent to Archives NZ.

The EOTC Safety management policy and procedures the school creates to guide its EOTC practices and is approved by the board (e.g., the EOTC Safety Management plan) must be kept indefinitely, it may be sent to Archives NZ after 10 years and must be sent after 25 years.

For the detailed criteria around the retention and disposal of school records and information see: https://www.education.govt.nz/assets/Documents/School/Running-a-school/2016-SchoolRecordsRetentionDisposalv2.pdf

What are the school’s responsibilities when a student is the only participant in an event and is taken there by their parents/caregivers?

Common examples of this scenario are equestrian events, Motocross, Zone or National events where the student is the only one to qualify from the school.

Answer

  The school has responsibilities whenever the student is:

• competing in the school's uniform, 
• entered under the school name, or
• when the parent would reasonably have the expectation that it is a schools event.

It is very important that the parents/caregivers understand what the school has or hasn’t assessed as far as the event’s safety management is concerned. This allows the parents/caregivers to know what responsibilities they have when they take their student to the event.

The answer is in having very clear communication with the parents and passing on any information the school receives from the event organisers. 

This could include having a conversation with the parent concerned followed by an email that the parent replies to. Something along the lines of:

“Thank you for taking the responsibility to allow Bob to go to ….. while he/she is entered under the school name as he/she is the only participant and we have not assessed the event’s safety management. We trust that you will take full responsibility for the transportation and safe participation of Bob during this event. Please reply to this email to confirm that you are happy with these arrangements. Please get in touch if you have any questions.”

In terms of staff with a first aid qualification for trips, do we need to supply a staff member who holds a current first aid qualification on all EOTC trips?

The EOTC Guidelines state that “Boards must ensure…ready access to a qualified first aider and adequate first aid supplies” page 68.

Schools need to decide what this means in their situation and for the different EOTC experiences they offer. This includes thinking through the practicalities of accessing first aiders if you suddenly need to. This is related to the students on the trip and their health requirements as well as just the distance from school or the location being visited (i.e. the local supermarket will have staff members trained as first aiders that the school could access if need be, compared with the local park where there are only going to be the school staff available).

It's good practice to record these decisions and when/what trips do require a qualified first aider to be on the trip. This can be recorded in your EOTC procedures.

For those trips that are very local (like the playground across the road from the school) you might decide that ‘ready access’ means students are close enough to school that one of the staff could get back to school and get the qualified first aider very quickly (in the same way they would if something happened on the school site). 

Sports trips are often overlooked as far as first aid outside of game times goes. Normally the sporting organisation running the event would have first aiders at the event (although the school would be wise to check this was the case). However, if the school team is travelling any distance and/or staying overnight then a qualified first aider would need to be available during those times.

Of course, it is always going to be best to have a first aider on a trip and schools are encouraged to work towards increasing the number of staff with current first aid qualifications to allow this to happen easily.

How should the school manage staff driving students on long trips?

Answer

Having two people to share the driving on long journeys is always the best solution but is not always practical.

The EOTC Guidelines Bringing the Curriculum Alive (2016) contain 3 main points about driving hours and driver fatigue. EOTC Guidelines, page 39.

1.   “The number of driving hours required for the journey and the length of the driver’s working day (including non-driving hours) should comply with Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) regulations. www.nzta.govt.nz.”

The NZTA regulations referred to are for commercial drivers and can be found here. Schools and their staff (including parents and volunteers) are classed as exempt services but should still follow the regulations as far as managing driver fatigue and breaks. There are Work-time rules under these regulations. These rules mean on any workday you can work a maximum of 13 hours and then you must take a continuous break of at least 10 hours (as well as taking half-hour breaks every 5½ hours during the 13 hours).

Work-time includes all time spent working regardless of whether it is time spent driving or doing other work like teaching students or supervision overnight at a camp. Schools need to consider what their drivers are doing before they drive long distances with students. E.g., whether staff have taught for a full day before a four-hour drive, whether they will be in the field all day at camp and then expected to drive back to school, or be on duty and up overnight?

2.   “Strategies should be in place to avoid driver fatigue (for example, having more than one driver or planning stopping points on long journeys for toilet breaks and refreshments).”

Planning breaks at least every two hours, driving at nature times (when you are usually awake), staying hydrated and sharing the driving are all strategies that should be considered. Drivers should also check their medication to ensure it doesn’t list drowsiness as a side effect. For additional strategies see NZTA resources.

3.   “Due consideration be given that there should be an observer in the vehicle who is awake at all times and observant of the driver and driver fatigue.”

What are the school’s responsibilities when a student is the only participant in an event and is taken there by their parents/caregivers?

Common examples of this scenario are equestrian events, Motocross, Zone or National events where the student is the only one to qualify from the school.

Answer

  The school has responsibilities whenever the student is:

•  competing in the school's uniform, 

• entered under the school name, or

• when the parent would reasonably have the expectation that it is a schools event.

It is very important that the parents/caregivers understand what the school has or hasn’t assessed as far as the event’s safety management is concerned. This allows the parents/caregivers to know what responsibilities they have when they take their student to the event.

The answer is in having very clear communication with the parents and passing on any information the school receives from the event organisers. 

This could include having a conversation with the parent concerned followed by an email that the parent replies to. Something along the lines of:

“Thank you for taking the responsibility to allow Bob to go to ….. while he/she is entered under the school name as he/she is the only participant and we have not assessed the event’s safety management. We trust that you will take full responsibility for the transportation and safe participation of Bob during this event. Please reply to this email to confirm that you are happy with these arrangements. Please get in touch if you have any questions.”

What should we do when a group of parents/caregivers are taking groups of participants away and we have a set travel plan (e.g. who's in each vehicle), and then the parents/caregivers change things round without notifying the school? 

Answer

It is very important to highlight to the parent body the importance of knowing who is being transported by whom. A clear statement to all parents/caregivers involved is necessary. This is really important in case of an incident (every parent/caregiver would want, and understands the need for, accurate and timely information about their child if an accident occurs). This type of information can go in the school newsletter to help educate the parent body on the importance of knowing where students are on trips.

Always ensure that travel arrangements are discussed in the briefing before the event starts.

A simple solution to dealing with those last-minute changes could be by including a sentence on the information that goes to the parents/caregivers helping such as:

“if there is a last-minute change to travel arrangements (e.g. students end up in different cars than originally planned) please text the teacher in charge (or the office on 027 ….) to ensure the school has accurate information”.

Please note, if a parent/caregiver gave permission for their child to travel in a particular person’s car then changes should not be made without seeking the parent/caregiver’s permission for the change.

As a school, should we have an EpiPen always available in our first aid kit?  
We would like to know:

1.   Is it good practice for schools to carry EpiPens?

2.   What training should be completed if we are going to carry one?

3.   If we don't carry one, then presumably we need to absolutely make sure that students that require one have it, we know where it is stored/being carried, and under what conditions we need to administer it?

Answer

Absolutely. Check with and know who on your trips have any allergies and what treatment they require. Know where medication is stored and when it should be administered. Students will need to provide their required medication and have immediate access to this. Visually checking before you leave school and before setting out on activities if at camp (albeit discreetly) would be good practice.

Consider carrying an EpiPen in your first aid kit and know what to do with it if you are going to an area of high risk. For example, the South Island beech forest in summer where wasps are an identified problem. 

You need to talk to your local pharmacy or medical centre to source an Epipen as it is a Pharmacist-only medicine. They will advise you.

Ultimately, it's up to your school board to decide whether EpiPens are included in first aid kits. 

Resources:

• Health Conditions in Education settings - supporting children and young people (P27 has specific reference to EOTC that might help with these decisions)

• EpiPen Consumer Information from Allergy NZ at www.allergy.org.nz

• Donations Scenarios Clarification of the funding position of various scenarios including the status of camps, senior-level outdoor education, and overseas trips (Clarifications provided by the Ministry of Education)

• Donations Scheme FAQs from the Ministry of Education 

Find information here.