Sister School Partnerships

Sister schools travelling to Victoria

Victorian schools must take reasonable steps to discharge their duty of care to students who they are hosting from their sister school. The following policies apply:

• Risk management – schools must carefully consider all of the risks associated with hosting sister school students and prepare a risk management plan. The responsibility for risk management lies with the principal and the school council, refer to Risk Management – Schools.
• Emergency management – schools must extend their emergency management plan to include the sister school students. This should include procedures:
  • in the event of an emergency involving the sister school students
  • for sister school students to report any problems at school
  • for students to report any problems in relation to their homestay.

• The plan must also include the nominated person/s responsible for responding to critical incidents. Information about emergency procedures and contacts must be communicated to sister school staff and students, refer to Emergency and Critical Incident Management Planning.

• Student information – schools must ensure that they collect adequate information from the sister school students and retain such information on the schools’ file in case it is required, for instance, in an emergency situation. Information should include:
  • student’s name and date of birth and their identification, for example, copy of passport and visas
  • parents/guardians’ names and contact details
  • emergency contacts
  • information on medical conditions and consent to provide this information to the student’s homestay family.
• Suitability of host families and homestays – schools must give careful consideration to the suitability of any homestay residences where sister school students will stay, in accordance with the Homestay Guidelines for Hosting Sister School Students, in the Sister School Resource Kit (PDF).