Although one of the reasons we love the outdoors is for its endless surprises, our briefings ensure everyone involved in the program is prepared for those surprises and ready to take on the wonderful journey ahead.
It is vital to support the entire school community through their outdoor education journey, including parents, students and school staff. In line with our Service Level Agreement, The Outdoor Education Group’s Client Relationship Managers will deliver staff, student, and parent pre-program briefings, allowing each party to better understand the details of the upcoming adventure, familiarise themselves with our team and ask us any questions they might have.
Our briefings are approximately 30 minutes in length and can be held on school grounds or delivered virtually, after or before office hours.
When we deliver a parent briefing, we provide them with the information they need to embrace the experience and ensure they know how to best prepare their child for camp.
The Outdoor Education Group will consult with the school in deciding what type of information is most valued by their parent body. The Outdoor Education Group’s Client relationship Manager will introduce the program, explain the outline and the rationale behind it, clarifying the learning outcomes and aims of the program. Parents will hear about the location of the camp, including the details around the departure and return, the activity and group set up i.e., how many students and adults to a group and how many to a tent.
Our team will explain our risk management and mitigation processes, including our Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (HIRA), which is applied to every program. Parents will hear about our communications systems and procedures, the role of our Field Duty Manager, our COVID policy procedures and response plan and the program's individualised emergency response plan. Our team will also cover:
how hygiene is maintained
the food provided
what camp cooking looks like
what to bring and what not to bring including snacks
correct footwear, the best sleeping bags (and where to get them)
how to layer clothing against the elements and what gear we will provide
Your Client Relationship Manager may also bring some examples of gear (backpacks, tents, gaters, etc) and clothing.
During parent briefings, we also demonstrate how to use the School Portal, where to find pertinent information and explain our medical form process, including how to submit dietary requirements. And of course, there's always an opportunity to ask us questions.
A lot of the information provided to your parent body will also be provided to your staff; they will hear about the finer details of the camp, the school portal, food, accommodation and what they need to bring.
A major point of discussion during teacher briefing is our Join Supervision Plan. Supervision of students is shared between The Outdoor Education Group and your school’s supervising adult or adults. The main function of the Joint Supervision Plan is to maximise the wellbeing of staff, ensuring all adults on program have adequate rest while maintaining supervision and educational responsibilities. During teacher briefings, our team will discuss what a Join Supervision Plan might look like with your staff. To ensure we are on the same page, we will also share our student guidelines, outlining what we expect from your students.
Risk will also form a big part of the presentation. Your team will become familiar with our COVID response plan and how we manage incidents with our system of thresholds, helping guide us as to the most appropriate response and requirements during an incident. School staff will be made aware of how we maintain communication throughout our programs and how we received updates regarding weather, changing conditions and logistics.
We understand some students may feel apprehensive about their upcoming adventure. The aim of student briefings is to demystify the experience for them, set them up for success by ensuring they are prepared with all they need and generate some excitement. Student briefings also allow students to acquaint themselves with the team behind their camp.
During student briefings, we explain the educational objectives of the program and why the outdoors is the best classroom to help them reach these objectives. Some schools may choose to focus their camp on Positive Education, others might focus on building independence or resilience. Student briefings allow us to unpack the significance of the program’s aims in line with your school’s vision, so your students better understand the goal of the program.
Some students may have concerns about how far they will be bushwalking or canoeing, how heavy their packs will be, where they will be sleeping, what will happen if it rains and what they will be eating. We're sure to cover all this and more during student briefings to ensure the group is at ease.
Students will be shown photos of their destination, a packing list along with examples of gear provided by The Outdoor Education Group like tents, backpacks, wet weather gear, trangias and other cooking equipment.