Supervision of Students

Policy

The purpose of this policy is to ensure schools satisfy their duty of care in supervising students.

Summary

• Principals must ensure:
  • appropriate arrangements are in place for student supervision before, during and after school hours
  • supervision arrangements are consistent with the school’s Child Safety Risk Register and the requirements of this policy
  • staff members are aware of their specific responsibilities relating to student supervision
  • parents and carers are regularly informed about supervision available before and after school
  • supervision arrangements are documented in a local Yard Duty and Supervision policy (staff login required).
• Parents and carers are responsible for the care and supervision of students travelling to and from school.

Details

Principals must:

• arrange for student supervision according to school needs
• ensure staff are aware of their responsibilities to supervise students during school times and before and after school
• ensure that students are always supervised by a staff member with a current VIT registration and/or a valid Working with Children Check (WWCC).

When making supervision arrangements schools must consider reasonably foreseeable risks of injury including hazards that:

• are known
• could have been foreseen and prevented.

School students cannot be used as supervision staff.

Schools must develop a local Yard Duty and Supervision policy. A Yard Duty and Supervision Policy template (staff login required) is available on the School Policy Templates Portal. Schools can modify the template to suit their local circumstances.

Child Safe Standards

When determining appropriate supervision for various school activities, principals must ensure that consideration has been given to local environmental factors that may impact compliance with the Child Safe Standards. These include, but are not limited to:

• the range of school environments and the nature of physical spaces including buildings and grounds, classrooms, corridors, and pick-up and drop off areas as well as offsite environments during camps and excursions
• the risks posed by dark spaces, stairwells, private spaces and corners
• the risks posed by the introduction of third parties, for example, visiting speakers, tutors, coaches specialists or vocational training providers (onsite or offsite)
• the specific risks of online spaces.

Schools must consider how supervision can be used as a risk treatment in the school’s Child Safety Risk Register to protect against the risks of harm. This includes, but is not limited to:

• regularly informing students about spaces that are off limits, including out-of-bounds areas, storerooms, poorly lit spaces and staff rooms
• developing systems to monitor staff providing supervision to students. For example, school leaders regularly conducting walk-arounds of classrooms and school grounds to monitor and observe, providing coaching, mentoring and professional development
• delivery of regular staff training that supports staff regularly to be alert for signs of harm and risk to child safety while supervising
• ensuring the school’s local Complaints policy (staff login required) refers to the department’s Complaint Resolution policy and clearly details how students and families can raise complaints and concerns through the school and how they can raise issues with the department if they are not satisfied that a complaint has been resolved by the school.

For more information on how schools can create and maintain a child safe organisation and protect students from all forms of abuse, refer to the Child Safe Standards resources.

Supervision responsibilities during school hours

Recess and lunch times

Students must be supervised during recess and lunch in accordance with the school’s Yard Duty and Supervision policy (staff login required). The appropriate student to teacher supervision ratio for yard duty at a school must be determined based on a number of local factors including:

• the physical size and geography of the school, including areas where staff sight lines are obstructed or the location of hazardous areas
• the nature of the student population, including consideration of students with particular needs or vulnerabilities (for example, disabilities or behavioural issues)
• for students who seek to leave school premises during lunch or recess, schools must have procedures in place that incorporate written parent or carer requests for students who are under 18
• considerations for students who may be capable of making their own decision as a mature minor. For guidance on this refer to the Mature Minors and Decision Making policy.

Cross age tutoring

Principals can decide how much supervision to provide for formal cross-age tutoring programs based on:

• the age and maturity of students
• size of the group
• nature of the activities
• the location within the school.

Swimming pools

Students must always be supervised while using a swimming pool (including if a swimming pool is owned by a school privately or by the municipal council). There are specific staff to student ratios and other supervision requirements for swimming and water-based activities that are outlined in the Swimming and water-based activities guidelines (DOCX).

Changerooms and toilets

Schools must ensure appropriate supervision arrangements for students using changerooms and toilets on school premises are included in the school’s Yard Duty and Supervision policy (staff login required). Schools are advised to consider:

• the layout of the changerooms and toilets and whether there is sufficient privacy for each student
• the size of the student group using changerooms and toilets at a given time.

Schools are advised to consider risk controls in the school’s Child Safety Risk Register to protect against the particular risks posed by changerooms and toilets. These include, but are not limited to:

• briefing students and supervisory staff on acceptable behaviours in changerooms and toilets
• ensuring posters and information about expected behaviours are displayed in and around toilets and changerooms
• briefing students and supervisory staff on how to raise an issue if someone is being inappropriate, including what to do and who to tell
• considering whether students travel to toilet areas in pairs or alone
• ensuring as far as possible that toilets are accessed by similarly aged students.

Supervision of students using public changerooms or toilets while on an excursion is covered in the Excursions policy guidance on supervision. Further information can also be found in the Swimming Instruction and Water Safety Education policy.

Excursions

When planning and conducting student excursions, schools must follow the specific staff to student ratio requirements and advice outlined the Excursions policy guidance on supervision.

Multifaith prayer rooms

Schools may consider providing a space for prayer in consultation with their local school community.

Where a school decides to dedicate a space within school grounds for students to practise their religion, this space must be a multifaith prayer room, available to staff and students of all religions.

Students using multifaith prayer rooms must be adequately supervised taking into account the location of the room in the school and the cohort using the room. For example, arrangements may include open doors or windows for line of sight to staff or inclusion in yard duty areas.

Schools with multifaith prayer rooms must detail the supervision arrangements in their local Yard Duty and Supervision policy (staff login required). Schools must adhere to the Special Religious Instruction policy when approving activities in prayer rooms, particularly activities that are structured or led.

Supervising students using digital technologies

Schools must ensure students are adequately supervised when using digital technologies in the classroom, and when they are engaged in online learning, consistent with their duty of care.

For more information, refer to the Digital technologies – Responsible Use policy.

Visitors

Teachers must supervise their students during programs run by visitors. Visitors in schools do not have the authority to supervise students. This includes visitors providing religious instruction. Refer to the Visitors in Schools policy and the Special Religious Instruction policy for more information.

For information on National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) visitors in schools refer to the NDIS Funded Therapy in Schools policy.

Supervision responsibilities before and after school

Principals must ensure:

• school supervision is provided for a minimum of 10 minutes before and after school
• parents and carers are regularly informed about supervision available before and after school (refer to the sample template available on the School Policy Templates Portal (staff login required))
• sufficient teachers are available to supervise the departure of students at the end of the school day
• teachers supervising departures are not called away for other duties without alternate supervision being arranged.

More supervision may be required:

• before or after school, based on local circumstances
• for primary students, particularly Foundation students.

Schools must develop their own protocols to manage situations where students arrive at school before supervision commences or are not collected by the time supervision ceases. For further guidance on this refer to the Collection of Students policy. These protocols must be included in the schools local Yard Duty and Supervision policy (staff login required).

Schools with under 15 enrolments – absence plans

Small schools with under 15 student enrolments must develop absence plans that detail supervision arrangements if one or more staff members will be absent.

Principals are encouraged to consult with the school community and to work with their regional office when making these arrangements.

Staff absence plans must include:

• supervision arrangements for before and after school and recess and lunch time
• plans for arranging a casual relief teacher to attend at the school, where required
• communication trees or instructions for parents and carers if staff are unexpectedly delayed in arriving at the school.

Staff absence plans may also include arrangements specific to the local community. For example, nominating at least one responsible adult who lives in close proximity to the school to be contacted if staff are ill or unexpectedly delayed. This nominee must:

• have appropriate suitability checks to supervise students. Refer to the Working with Children Checks and other Suitability Checks for School Volunteers and Visitors policy
• be able to immediately go to the school to act as supervisor until a staff member or casual relief teacher arrives
• contact the regional office if adequate supervision cannot be arranged.

Parent responsibilities and roles in supporting student supervision arrangements

Parents and carers are responsible for the care and supervision of students:

• travelling to and from school
• outside the times of school supervision before and after school.

Strategies to encourage parent or carer support for supervision

Schools may encourage parents and carers to:

• consider whether their child is old and experienced enough to use public transport
• consider whether their child will need to cross busy roads to access transport
• use preferred or mandatory points of exit for students at the end of the day
• obey parking regulations, speed limits and other traffic controls to:
  • help to create a safe environment at or near schools
  • show respect to neighbours who live close to the school
• arrange another time
• avoid lengthy conversations with the supervising teacher and schedule a suitable time to discuss their child’s progress.

Related policies

• Buses – Owned, Hired or Chartered by a School
• CCTV in Schools – Installation and Management
• Child Safe Standards
• Collection of Students
• Digital Technologies – Responsible Use
• Duty of Care
• Equal Opportunity and Human Rights – Students
• Excursions
• School Bus Program
• Special Religious Instruction
• Suitability for Employment Checks
• Swimming Instruction and Water Safety Education
• Visitors in Schools

Relevant legislation

• Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic)