For Teachers:

Overview

At Youthworks, we love having teachers on camp. We see enormous value in teachers sharing the positive experiences of camp with their students, and the long-lasting benefits they can provide back in the classroom. However, we also appreciate that it can be a hassle for teachers to come on camp: spending time away from their own families and needing to make arrangements to cover their roles at school.

With this in mind, we’ve made it our policy that teachers stay with us free-of-charge on Horizon camps, at a rate of 1 teacher per activity group of 15 students, plus two supervising teachers.

We’ll take great care of you, with all linen provided and comfortable beds made up prior to your stay. We’ll also make sure you’ve got plenty of access to tea, good coffee and delicious suppers, as well as WiFi around the site and all AV facilities, free of charge. Your group will have exclusive use of the venue while you’re there, and contact with groups using other venues at the centre will be minimised as much as possible by Youthworks.

Feedback from teachers is very important to us, so we encourage you to raise any concerns or suggestions you have to us, so we can do our best to address it.

Duty of Care

Duty of care for students while on camp will ultimately rest with teachers, as per Department of Education guidelines. Youthworks guides will act as facilitators, with delegated duty of care. We do everything within our power to mitigate and manage risks, with copies of our risk assessments available by contacting our office.

We ask that the Head Teacher has a clear behavioural management plan for camp, to be communicated to assisting teachers and Youthworks guides. Teachers are responsible for student conduct and discipline inside the bounds of this plan, with Youthworks guides using their own behavioural management techniques during activities to ensure student understanding and cooperation.

Programming

Outdoor activities on camp are fully customisable by you, in consultation with our bookings team. We can recommend a variety of options to achieve outcomes predetermined by you; you might be looking for a camp to push older students physically, or you could be looking to build trust and friendship between new Year 7 students. Whatever your desired outcomes, we can formulate an activity program for you.

For self-run camps, the program and structure is entirely up to you – we’ll just serve your catered meals and let you get on with it.

If you’ve got any questions not covered here, please Contact Us! Our experienced bookings team is waiting to answer any questions you might have.

Parents FAQ:

What does my child need to take to camp?

Your school will usually provide a packing list along with the camp permission note. If you don’t have a list, or want to be extra sure, we’ve put together our own list of things to bring on camp that you can print out and tick off here.

Does my child need to bring linen?

Yes. We do provide a mattress, pillow and blanket, and we put a mattress protector on all our beds. However, campers are still required to bring a sleeping bag or full linen to camp, including a pillow case.

Can you cater for my child’s special dietary requirements?

All our sites implement nut-aware policies and none of our meals contain nuts (e.g. No satays or Nutella). However our kitchens are supplied with ingredients that may contain traces of peanuts/tree nuts. If your child has a life threatening/anaphylactic allergy, please call our friendly catering staff to discuss a catering solution for your stay here. We can also cater for gluten/wheat/dairy free and vegetarian diets.

How safe are your activities? Are your activity staff qualified?

Our activities undergo regular inspections by qualified contractors, as well as updated risk assessments every three years as part of our standards and procedures.

Youthworks outstanding safety record is due in no small part to our professional staff. All of our guides hold the relevant qualifications for the activity they are running, typically a Certificate III or IV in Outdoor Recreation. They also regularly take part in further education and training.

Youthworks is also a nationally-recognised Registered Training Organisation (RTO), and is certified to train our staff in-house as part of our Outdoor Ministry Traineeship.

Will my child be forced to participate in any activities they are scared of doing?

Here at Youthworks, we love seeing students having the opportunity to apply themselves to activities that are outside of their normal experience; this can be as challenging as abseiling off a cliff or speaking up in a problem-solving activity. Each participant is unique and different, and so what challenges them is also different.

For this reason, we operate within a challenge-by-choice framework. We provide the opportunity, the support and the expertise, your child then indicates the level of challenge appropriate to them, and we respect their choice. We are always delighted to be a part of that moment when any student has challenged themselves and achieves something they never imagined they could do.

Will my child’s program go ahead in bad weather?

The safety of campers is paramount in any activity we undertake. Our qualified activity staff are trained to make ongoing observations of the weather. If conditions make any elements of a program unsafe, we will not hesitate to alter the program to ensure the safety of all participants.

Is there a bushfire plan in place at your centres?

All our centres are regularly in contact with the Rural Fire Service (RFS). At times of higher fire risk we let the RFS know the number of people and types of groups we have at our sites. The RFS include our needs in their evacuation planning, which we adhere to in the event of an emergency. Should an evacuation be enacted, the school will be responsible for liaising with parents. Youthworks staff are all trained in responding to different emergency scenarios and we regularly conduct emergency drills at all our staffed sites.

How can I contact my child while they’re on camp?

In the event that you need to contact your child, the best way to do so is through the head teacher of your child’s group via their school office. If you are trying to contact your child directly, remember that many schools have a mobile phone policy that prevents your child having access to their phone during camp.