School excursions and international

school study tours

Implementation Date: 27/09/2018
Audience Version: 7.2

All state schools

Purpose
This procedure outlines the responsibilities and processes for principals and school staff involved in the planning
and delivery of school excursions and international school study tours (SSTs) that occur both during and outside of
school hours.

Overview
School excursions and SSTs enhance students’ learning by providing opportunities for students to participate in
curriculum-related activities outside the normal school routine. They vary in terms of the number of students
involved, duration of the planned activity and venue/s where they are to occur. They may include both regular
activities and one-off events that occur during school hours, overnight, on weekends and/or in school holidays.

To ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of students and staff, schools are required to proactively manage all
aspects of excursions. The school’s duty of care to students extends to school excursions (including camps) and
SSTs which are part of students’ educational programs.

Activities conducted away from schools may increase risks and therefore the standard of care required must reflect
the increase in identified risks. Schools must be able to demonstrate that activities have been thoroughly planned
to ensure that students, staff and others will be safe while undertaking the activity. Any reasonably foreseeable
risks must have been identified and managed and there must be a planned response in case of an emergency.
Documentation need not be excessive.

An excursion plan must be completed for all school excursions, either using the OneSchool Excursion planner or
Excursion planner template. For SSTs the OneSchool Excursion planner must be used. Excursion plans are
approved by the school principal. When more than one school is involved, principals of all participating schools
approve the excursion.

Responsibilities

Principals
 Ensure all relevant staff are aware of and comply with this procedure.

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  Approve school excursions and SSTs noting that when more than one school is involved, all relevant
principals must approve.
 Ensure a register of approved school excursions is maintained. If excursions are planned using the
OneSchool Excursion Planner then OneSchool will be the register. Otherwise the register should contain:
o times, date/s, venue and itinerary
o number and year levels of participating students
o names of supervising teachers and other assistants
o transport, accommodation, meal and first aid/emergency arrangements
o arrangements for students not participating
o cost per student
o copies of relevant approvals and permits.
 Ensure all volunteers satisfy Blue Card requirements.
 Ensure liaison with the relevant child safety service centre for students in out-of-home care, allowing
sufficient time for the provision of consent and funding approvals (if required).
 Ensure the access and participation needs of all students have been considered and reasonable
adjustments implemented to reduce barriers identified in the planning of excursions and SSTs.
 Consult with the Parents and Citizens' Association regarding the conduct of any activity or provision of any
good/s or service/s that attract a fee.
 Clearly detail (annually) to the school community the fees that are to apply to excursions and/or SSTs in
line with the State education fees procedure.

Staff
 Undertake a risk assessment for the excursion or SST, adhering to the Managing risks in school
curriculum activities procedure for all activities that will occur during the excursion.
 Plan, manage, monitor and review the excursion or SST to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of
students and others.
 Ensure international SSTs are:
o managed in accordance with the Guidelines for international school study tours (DoE employees
only)
o planned and approved through the OneSchool Excursions Planner.
 Seek and record approvals, parental consent and relevant permits/permissions for the excursion or SST.

Regional Directors
 Approve SSTs where a state school principal is travelling with the SST.

International Travel Unit

 Provide advice and support to schools regarding SSTs.
 Progress approvals to the Director-General for Independent Public School SSTs where the principal is
travelling.

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Process

Planning

Staff

 Conduct risk assessments that:

o consider all activities that will take place as part of the excursion or SST
o adhere to the Managing risks in school curriculum activities procedure
o adhere to activity guidelines for particular curriculum activities. Use the Curriculum activity risk
assessment generic template to identify the risk level of activities where no guideline exists
o assess the suitability of destinations and venues including access for students with disability. If a
pre-visit is not possible, advice may be available from the venue itself or regional offices, other
schools or similar sources that have used the venue. For international travel, consult the
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Smartraveller website for information and advice
o identify risk management processes.
 Consult with other school staff (e.g. nurses, therapists, support staff) and with the Regional Senior Health
and Safety Consultant as appropriate to identify any access and participation needs and additional support
required for participating students.
 Identify and arrange sufficient adult supervision to manage the activity safely (including in emergency
situations).
 Arrange an educational program for students remaining at school for the duration of the school excursion.
 When excursions involve overseas travel, follow the Guidelines for international school study tours, School
study tours and international travel insurance requirements (DoE employees only).
 Complete an excursion plan, either in OneSchool or using the Excursion planner template for school
excursions. For SSTs the OneSchool Excursion Planner must be used.

Permissions and approvals

 Principals approve excursions and SSTs, considering:
o educational aims, curriculum relevance and impact on the total learning program
o safety of students, staff and supervisors
o student needs
o Managing risks in school curriculum activities procedure
o supervision
o reasonable adjustments required to ensure adherence to the Disability Standards for Education
2005
o school resources
o fees and associated costs to participants (e.g. entry fees, visas, insurance)
o appropriateness of the itinerary and detailed activity planning, including any Smartraveller
information (if relevant)

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 o community perceptions of the activity
o transport arrangements.
 If the principal is travelling as part of the SST, principals progress the excursion planner for further
approval in accordance with the Guidelines for international school study tours (DoE employees only).
 Staff give timely advice to parents and students of planned excursion details, including anticipated learning
outcomes, dates and breakdown of costs. (GST or Fringe Benefit Tax information for school excursions or
study tours is available to departmental employees.)
 Staff obtain and retain written parental consent according to the Information asset and recordkeeping
procedure. For independent students (DoE employees only) ensure consent form is signed by the student
and countersigned by the principal. As a minimum, the consent form should outline:
o activity description/s, date, time, location and cost
o educational purpose of the activity
o supervision arrangements
o transportation arrangements to, during and from the excursion
o dress code
o behaviour code
o explanation of risk level
o information relevant to students with medical requirements.
 Staff liaise with the relevant child safety service centre to facilitate consent and any necessary funding
approvals for students in out-of-home care (if required).
 Staff organising school excursions obtain and record evidence of:
o contacting relevant environmental agencies (e.g. local firefighting authority to check restrictions on
lighting open fires)
o prior permission from property owners where private property is traversed
o any other approvals required for excursion activities.
 Staff register SSTs with Smartraveller.

Transport arrangements
 Staff obtain and record evidence that:
o a bus charter service operator has a current operator accreditation number (which in Queensland
is required to be displayed on the back of the vehicle and preceded by the letter Q)
o a commercial water vessel operator has a current certificate of operation and certificate of survey.
 Staff ensure that passengers are not permitted to stand on buses travelling on notified roads.
 Principals approve the use of private vehicles, if relevant, ensuring the following safeguards have been
implemented by staff:
o Persons offering to transport students in private vehicles have completed an Offer to transport
students in a private vehicle form, providing proof of vehicle registration, driver’s licence, valid
Blue card (if required).

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 o Parents have provided written consent for their child to travel in a privately-owned vehicle, using
the private transport consent form.
o Parents and students are informed about supervision arrangements in place during travel.
o Blue Card requirements are met for all adults travelling in private vehicles transporting students.
o Children will be restrained in accordance with child restraint laws unless exempted.
 Principals approve reimbursement of fuel costs (DoE employees only) to providers of private vehicles
transporting students on school excursions.

Final planning for excursions and SSTs

Staff

 Update risk assessments as new information or circumstances come to hand, and review immediately
prior to the excursion/SST.
 Access student’s OneSchool Student medical information form to identify any relevant medical details and
ensure these forms are readily available to supervising staff during the activity.
 Update student medical information in OneSchool based on advice received from parents.
 Plan the collection, secure transportation and administration of routine and emergency medications to
students participating in the excursion/SST, in accordance with the Administration of medications in
schools procedure and Guidelines for the administration of medications in schools. Note: A checklist for
camps and excursions is included in the guidelines.
 Select suitable supervisors (staff and/or volunteers) to meet the needs of the participants and the activities
being undertaken, providing explicit instructions about responsibilities and expectations.
 Develop a current contact list to allow fast and efficient contact with the school, venue, parents, medical
authorities, transport company and/or drivers of private vehicles (where applicable), and other personnel if
required.

During excursions and SSTs

 Principals ensure that appropriate supervision and/or instruction is provided for students remaining at
school for the duration of the school excursion.
 Staff brief accompanying parents/volunteers/staff prior to departure regarding their roles, hazards that may
be encountered, precautions to be taken and student protection measures.
 Staff brief students on appropriate behaviour and expectations including dress code (e.g. hats, uniforms,
protective clothing, name badges) and consequences of non-compliance.
 Staff provide active and visible supervision of all groups during the school excursion.
 Staff and principals report any suspected student harm in accordance with the Student protection
procedure.

After excursions and SSTs

 Staff report any adverse events that occur during the excursion to the principal (e.g. damage to property by
a student).

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  Staff complete all relevant incident report forms in relation to any incidents that occur during a school
excursion in accordance with Health and safety incident recording, notification and management or contact
the relevant Regional Senior Health and Safety Consultant.
 Staff process claims for fuel reimbursement by the providers of private vehicles if relevant.
 Staff review and document processes and practices for future excursions, and provide feedback to the
principal as relevant.
 Staff complete an international travel report (sample available in Guidelines for international school study
tours (DoE employees only)) and submit for principal’s approval within four weeks of returning to duty from
an SST.

Definitions
The legal obligation imposed on the department to provide a standard of reasonable
care while undertaking activities that could foreseeably cause harm to others. For
excursions and SSTs, schools must take all reasonable steps to manage foreseeable
risks to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of its students, for example:

 conducting risks assessments of all activities

Duty of care
 making sure that activities are safe and appropriate for the students’ ages
and abilities
 ensuring students are properly instructed and prepared for the activities
 ensuring all equipment is in a safe condition
 providing adequate supervision.

A well-planned curriculum-related activity that is conducted outside of the school

Excursion grounds that aims to maximise students’ learning experiences. The school maintains
responsibility for the students during an excursion.

An excursion involving international travel for activities including, but not limited to, a
International school
curriculum-related activity, language immersion program, sporting exchange/activity
study tour (SST)
or a sister-school arrangement.

As defined in the legislation governing schooling in Queensland (Education (General

Provisions) Act 2006 (Qld) Section 10 “Meaning of parent”):

(1) A parent, of a child, is any of the following persons –

(a) the child’s mother;
(b) the child’s father;
Parent
(c) a person who exercises parental responsibility for the child.
(2) However, a person standing in the place of a parent of a child on a temporary
basis is not a parent of the child.
(3) A parent of an Aboriginal child includes a person who, under Aboriginal
tradition, is regarded as a parent of the child.
(4) A parent of a Torres Strait Islander child includes a person who, under Island

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 custom, is regarded as a parent of the child.
(5) Despite subsections (1), (3) and (4), if –
(a) a person is granted guardianship of a child under the Child Protection
Act 1999 (Qld), or
(b) a person otherwise exercises parental responsibility for a child under
a decision or order of a federal court or a court of a State;
then a reference in this Act to a parent of a child is a reference only to a
person mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b).

Legislation
 Education (General Provisions) Act 2006 (Qld) s.12
 Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
 Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
 Transport Operations (Road Use Management – Road Rules) Regulation 2009 (Qld) s.266

Delegations/Authorisations
 Nil

Related policies
 Nil

Related procedures
 Administration of medication in schools
 Applying for leave combined with official international travel
 Managing first aid in the workplace
 Health and safety incident recording, notification and management
 Managing risks in school curriculum activities
 State education fees
 Student protection
 Working with children check – Blue cards

Guidelines
 Guidelines for international school study tours (DoE employees only)

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Supporting information/websites

These templates include the minimum information required:

 Excursion planner template
 Activity consent form template
 Private transport consent form
 Offer to transport students in a private vehicle form

Curriculum activity risk assessment templates:

 Curriculum activity risk planner
 School curriculum activity register (mandatory for all high and extreme risk activities)
 Curriculum activity risk assessment generic template

Other relevant information/documents

 GST implications (DoE employees only)
 Child restraint laws

Contact
For further information, please contact your closest regional office.

For international travel, contact international.travel@qed.qld.gov.au.

Review date
16/01/2021

Superseded versions
Previous seven years shown. Minor version updates not included.

3.0 SCM-PR-002: School excursions

4.0 School excursions
5.0 School excursions
6.0 School excursions and international school study tours
7.0 School excursions and international school study tours

Creative Commons Licence

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