Supervision Of Children
General Ratios
3-4s: 1 adult to 8 children
5-7: 1 adult to 12 Children (Councillor and Specialist)
8+: 1 adult to 16 children (Councillor and Specialist)
Activity Specific Ratios
Bushcraft: 1 adult to 12 children
Policy Rules
- A Site Manager, who is supernumerary will generally be on site or replaced by a named deputy which in most cases will be the Assistant Manager.
- Sites with more than 120 children the Assistant Manager will also be supernumerary.
- Group sizes must be no greater than 24.
- Under 8’s must be accompanied by two staff.
Children to be initially made aware of and constantly reminded of ‘out of bounds’ areas. Children may not go off site either alone or in groups unless with specific permission from Head Office.
Children or Teens must not attend off-site, organised events such as end of camp celebrations.
If children are invited to attend any on-site event outside of the normal camp times clear communication with parents in writing is essential and written permission to attend must be received.
Group Coaches and Carers must keep their group together at all times including when moving between locations.
When moving under 8’s between locations there must be a member of staff at the back and front of the group.
Cross any roads as a group – see Road Crossing Policy
The Site Manager, and if necessary the Police, must be made aware of any suspicious characters loitering in the vicinity of any of the activities.
Group Coaches must be aware of all special medical needs for their group.
Remember that some unsettled children have been known to try to run away from the camp and those interested in exploiting children do target organisations such as ours. This makes vigilance all the more important.
On no account must any child be left alone or unsupervised
Security
Information on each Child
There must be a completed booking form for every child on the camp. These will be held on our booking system site managers to access.
Any Medical Conditions or Medication that is to be administered, must be noted by the Site Manager, and passed onto the Group Chiefs and Swimming Coach. The Chief must record these details in the appropriate column on the Group Register. The medication record is on the register for each day.
Also check that there are no vital details omitted.
It is a requirement of our Registration that children’s details are securely stored so that only authorised personnel have access.
Supplementary Information – Included in this form are the following:
- Signed permission for the child to receive emergency medical treatment.
- Consent for their child to go swimming.
- Permission to take photographs for promotional purposes.
Registers
A child register is sent to the Site Manager prior to each day and this is used on the first day registration.
Thereafter once children are put into groups on the first day each group leader keeps a record of the children in their group along with their time of arrival and parent signature.
During options or Academies, as children are in different groupings, another ‘options’ register is taken and maintained by the Group Coach or specialist in charge.
At registration, check which parent is collecting in the afternoon.
United Adventure Camps recognises the importance of having robust systems in place to ensure the safe arrival and departure of the children in our care.
The manager will ensure that an accurate record is kept of all children in the Camp, and that any arrivals or departures are recorded in the register. The register is kept in an accessible location on the premises at all times. In addition, we conduct regular headcounts during the session.
Breaks and Lunchtime
Children must be encouraged to wash their hands before eating.
All Staff must supervise their group throughout lunchtime and act as facilitators for the group projects. Do not allow a ‘free-for-all’. Historically more accidents have occurred during breaks than during structured sessions.
Each group should decide on a project to work on throughout the week, e.g. creating a banner, a song or dance routine for the ‘Big Event’.
Supervision
The Site Manager must co-ordinate lunch and breaks for the coaches so that childcare and safety is not compromised. Staff are entitled to 30 minutes break within the day.
Isolate the under 8’s in a separate area so that ratios for under 8’s are maintained and lessening of ratios only applies to over 8’s
Ratios could be reduced to 1:24 for over 8’s and 1:16 for under 8’s if necessary.
Spread staff breaks between morning, afternoon and lunch breaks.
Supernumerary staff can be counted in the ratios at break times.
Splitting the staff team 50/50 at lunchtime will not provide the necessary level of cover therefore is not an option.
Toilet Breaks
It is important that children are no more vulnerable when they visit the toilet than at any other time.
All children must be given the opportunity to go to the toilet at each break time to reduce the number of interruptions to coaching sessions. If this is done as a group, then there are no problems with supervision ratios.
Obviously, some will still require unscheduled visits, in which case all younger children must visit the toilet in pairs, with under-eights also accompanied by a leader.
Teen Camp children (11-14s) must be given the option to go on their own if toilets are in the same building and if the coach thinks it is safe.
Options/Academies
Registers must be taken of children doing Specialist options, so we know exactly where children are at any one time. A register must be taken by the leader of each option group and must be kept with them at all times. Option registers can be found in the manager’s folder.
IMPORTANT – during options any medication normally carried by Group Coaches, such as inhalers, must be transferred to Options staff.
