Have Your Say - Top Risks for Schools in 2024
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Active Supervision

16/05/21
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NSW

 

This article was originally published for Lights Out. You can access the full publication here.

School boarding houses and boarding facilities have changed dramatically since I was involved in boarding house duty in the 1980s as a young teacher. Today, modern boarding school facilities are light years ahead of the norms of the 70s, 80s and earlier. Just as schools have progressed immensely in relation to how they educate children, they have progressed exponentially in how they care for children - especially boarders.

Duty of Care

Today, boarding house supervision boils down to one overarching factor - Duty of Care. It is considered to be paramount in terms of a school’s obligations to its boarders. What is meant by a duty of care, as noted in this article, is usually only determined by a court when there has been a breach of the level of care and a child has sustained an injury. If we refer to Section 3.6 of the Australian Boarding Standard, all boarding staff, whether they be supervising in the:

  • dormitories and/or bedrooms (3.6(c)(i))
  • recreation and common rooms (3.6(c)(ii))
  • outside areas (3.6(c)(iii))
  • dining room(s) (3.6(c)(iv))
  • bathrooms/toilets and changing rooms (3.6(c)(v)) and (c)(vi))
  • off-site or extra-curricular activities and excursions (3.6(c)(vii))

or while on any form of supervision duty, should be clearly aware of their duty of care responsibilities and the extent to which they are expected to monitor the students in their care. Basically, student duty of care in relation to boarders is an obligation on schools and boarding staff to not act negligently.

 

Supervision Rosters

However, there are several issues that schools need to be mindful of regarding boarding house duty and staff rosters. Most notably, it needs to be understood that any supervision roster, no matter how or by whom it is created, is the responsibility of the school and not the boarding supervisors. Boarding directors need to place the right person with the right skills set in the right place for their skills to be utilised effectively, while on any boarding duty. Boarding staff who are randomly placed on duty in areas or in circumstances that are outside of their experience or capabilities can, and often do, pose a high risk regarding a breach of duty of care by the school. Before developing a boarding duty roster, amongst many other matters, schools need to look closely at industrial requirements, the boarding house and school environment, the general environment, the qualities of their staff and the age and abilities of the boarders – this is not a document that should be left to chance.

In addition, the Australian Boarding Standard requires that boarding schools implement

  • risk management processes used to determine ratios of trained boarding staff to boarders for all circumstances (3.6.(b))
  • procedures outlining the manner of supervision of boarders in various activities, locations

and facilities including off-campus activities (3.6(c))

  • policies and procedures in relation to the record of rosters (3.6(a)(i))
  • a daily record of boarders at key times throughout the day (3.6(d)).

There are also state or territory specific requirements such as these in NSW and in

WA.

However, no roster will be effective if the staff do not take their duties and their responsibility and accountability for attending to their duties, and the care of the students, very seriously. The development of any roster must be accompanied by clear instruction regarding the requirements for the duties, the expectations of the Principal and the school and, if necessary, the outcomes for the supervising staff if they fail to attend, are not active in their supervision or are deemed culpable in the event of a student injury.

 

Standard of Care/Responsibilities

I would argue that the standard of reasonable care that could be expected by the law is that boarding staff act as a reasonable teacher would act. The standard of care required of schools and boarding staff is higher than would be expected of parents, and the duty of care is a special duty which goes beyond the ordinary duty in negligence.

It is a special relationship due to the vulnerability of students and requires staff to act positively to insure against the risk of injury which includes protecting students from harm caused by themselves or another source.

Schools and boarding staff must also maintain other duties imposed by legislation including:

  • reasonable care for the health and safety of employees and others in the workplace (for the purposes of work, health and safety laws, students are considered 'others')
  • mandatory notification of suspected or actual child abuse
  • duty to prevent discrimination and harassment of students
  • contract obligations to parents upon enrolment of students.

All boarding staff are also responsible for:

  • following the guidelines set out in safety policies and procedures
  • taking reasonable steps to ensure the safety and welfare of boarders
  • participating in safety training as required
  • supporting boarder safety education procedures, including active roles in boarder education as required.

Summary

In summary, supervising boarding staff must proactively monitor boarder activities and provide assistance to boarders at all times while on duty. They must take reasonable steps to ensure the supervision, safety and welfare of boarders, they must follow the guidelines set out in specific work health and safety and supervision policies and procedures, they must comply with all reasonable school directives and they must participate in boarding staff training as required.

Above all, if they fail to actively supervise while they are on duty and a child is injured, they may be held personally accountable by law for a breach of their duty of care.

This quote from 'School Governance', although it refers to teachers, is equally valid for staff in boarding facilities who are charged with the care of student boarders:

“In determining the scope of a teacher's duty of care, the legal position is often not clear enough, especially when school and community or religious lines are blurred. Instead, where teachers are unsure whether they have a legal or moral duty of care for students, they should look towards creating a culture of safety through their capacity to influence the situation involved. Embedding that culture of safety is the most effective way of ensuring a teacher and a school meets their student duty of care obligations both within and outside the school gates.”

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About the Author

Craig D’cruz

With 39 years of educational experience, Craig D’cruz is the Principal Consultant and Sector Lead, Education at Ideagen CompliSpace. Craig provides direction on education matters including new products, program/module content and training. Previously Craig held the roles of Industrial Officer at the Association of Independent Schools of WA, he was the Principal of a K-12 non-government school, Deputy Principal of a systemic non-government school and he has had boarding, teaching and leadership experience in both the independent and Catholic school sectors. Craig has also spent ten years on the board of a large non-government school and is a regular presenter on behalf of Ideagen CompliSpace and other educational bodies on issues relating to school governance, school culture and leadership.

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