Letter to BOT O Imagine that your school’s Board of Trustees (BOT) is discussing whether your school should continue to offer outdoor activities. The Board is concerned about students’ physical and emotional safety. However, the Board is willing to hear from students before they make a decision.

Sooo…… What can we do about this?? O First, we need to identify risks involved in outdoor activities so we know what we need to do to keep ourselves safe... O Then we need to participate in these activities, to show that they are indeed safe. O Then we need to write a letter to the BOT in support of continued school-wide Outdoor Education experiences/activities. O Your letter will need to outline your responsible behaviours and how your experiences ensured safety during outdoor activities.

There are 3 main types of RISKS O People (THE BIGGEST SAFETY HAZARD) O Equipment O Environmental

People Risks O These include factors such as: O Physical Risks such as poor behaviour, injuries, current disabilities, current ability/learning level, fitness level O Emotional Risks such as prior experience, emotional state, anxiety O Participant Needs such as age, height, previous experience, size, shape O Cultural Risks such as activity type, specific requirements

O Think about going kayaking, what are some of the safety risks PEOPLE may cause whilst participating in this activity?

Equipment Risks O These factors include: O Activity specific equipment such as climbing ropes, mountain bikes, ice picks O Equipment Maintenance such as quantity, quality O Clothing Risks such as shoes, warm/cold weather clothing, O Transport such as buses, cars, bikes, walking, vans O Safety Equipment such as first aid kits, phones,

O Pretend you are about to go Rock Climbing, what are some of the potential EQUIPMENT Hazards that you may come across?

Environmental Risks O These factors include: O Weather such as rain, sun, wind, snow, temperature, season O Terrain such as mountain, bush, natural/man made, sea, river beach O Animals such as cows, sheep, pets, wild, insects, bugs, O Accessibility to Help such as roads, open areas

O Take a look outside… Name me some ENVIRONMENTAL safety hazards for a team wanting to train on our fields. O ( don’t just look at the grass, look at what is surrounding the area)

Understanding Responsible Behaviours O Before you attempt to participate in any Outdoor Education activity you need to consider the following: O What could go wrong? O How do we prevent this? O What would the correct/model behaviour look like?

Information Gathering

White Hat(Information) O What information do you have about our chosen activities? O How did you know that the information you have received is from a trusted source?

“what activities are we doing?” I hear you ask…

TUI RIDGE PARK - Rotorua O We will be staying overnight at Tui Ridge Park. O We will be completing ABL – team building activities; then will be rotating through 4 adventure activities.

Activity 1 – High Ropes Course O A series of different challenges locate 10 meters off the ground set in a clearing surrounded by bush.

Activity 2 – Mountain Biking O 3 different trails of varying lengths and skill ranges. Set in the bush over dirt and gravel tracks.

Activity 2 – OR Bmx O Specially designed short course for Bmxing.

Activity 3 - Archery O 3 targets to hit with Bow and Arrow

Activity 4 - Frizbee Golf O 9 ‘hole’ golf course to be completed with frizbees.

Black Hat (Caution) O What are the potential physical and/or emotional safety risks in your outdoor education activities? O Split into ‘Expert Groups’ to break down each activity.

Expert Groups Identify all the People, Equipment and Environmental Risks. O What could go wrong? O How do we prevent this?

O Now we have identified the risks, how can we prevent these? O What sort of things should we make sure we do whilst we are participating in this activity?? Risk Prevention

Responsible Behaviours O Now that we have come up with all the risks you will need to choose 2 Responsible Behaviours that you feel are important to ‘keep people safe’. Responsible Behaviours

Responsible Behaviours: O cooperation with others O self management O compliance with instructions O care of equipment O appropriate communication O group work O assisting others O tolerance O conflict resolution O