Schools must consider age, maturity and skill level of students when planning curriculum activities. Adjustments are required for
students with disability to support access and participation in the curriculum. Consult with the parents/carers of students with disability, or when appropriate the student, to ensure risks related to their child's participation in the activity are identified and managed.
Schools must consult current student medical information and/or health plans in accordance with the
managing students' health support needs at school procedure. Record information about any student condition (e.g. physical or medical) that may inhibit safe engagement in the activity and include specific support measures within emergency procedures.
Emergency plans and injury management procedures must be established for foreseeable incidents (e.g. punctures, forearm welts from the bow string).
Adult supervisors must have:
- emergency contact details of all participants
- a medical alert list and a process for administering student medication
- communication equipment suitable to conditions (e.g. mobile phone) and a process for obtaining external assistance and/or receiving emergency advice.
Safety procedures must be determined for the location (e.g. out-of-bounds areas, location of first aid support and equipment). Consult the
Archery Australia safety policy for support in determining appropriate safety procedures.
Access is required to
first aid equipment and consumables suitable for foreseeable incidents.
An adult with current emergency qualifications is required to be quickly accessible to the activity area. Emergency qualifications include:
Induction is required for all adult supervisors on emergency procedures, safety procedures and correct techniques. If the activity is conducted at an off-site facility, induction is to be informed by advice provided in consultation with expertise at the venue.
Instruction is required for students on safety procedures and correct techniques including safe shooting and retrieval protcols (e.g. use of whistle signals, handling arrows). Consult the Archery Australia safety policy or
SQAS risk register for support.
Parent consent (DOCX, 306KB) is required for all activities conducted off-site and strongly recommended for
high risk activities conducted on-site.
Supervision
Principals make final supervision decisions for the activity. Sufficient adult supervision must be provided to manage the activity safely (including emergency situations).
For activities with students with a medical condition or disability that may impact on safety during the activity, consultation with parents is required prior to allocating supervision to determine the impact of students’ medical condition or disability on safety during the activity.
The number of adult supervisors required to fulfil emergency and supervision roles must consider the nature of the activity, students' ages, abilities and specialised learning, access and/or health needs.
Before the activity, all adult supervisors:
- must be familiar with the contents of the CARA record
- must assess
weather conditions prior to undertaking the activity, inspecting the intended location in order to identify variable risks, hazards and potential dangers.
During the activity, all adult supervisors:
- must be readily identifiable
- must closely monitor students with health support needs
- must comply with control measures from the CARA record and adapt as hazards arise
- must closely supervise the approach/launch, the shooting line and range area at all times
- must suspend the activity if the conditions become unfavourable (e.g. extreme temperatures, thunderstorms).
Supervisor qualifications
Principals make final decisions in determining supervisor capability (competence, relevance and currency) and are responsible for encouraging and enabling school-based activity supervisors to raise their qualifications to improve safety standards.
All adult supervisors must comply with the
working with children authority—blue cards procedure and be able to identify, and respond to, risks or hazards that may emerge during the activity.
A registered teacher
must be appointed to maintain overall responsibility for the activity.
At least one adult supervisor is required to be:
High risk level:
Facilities and equipment
The qualified adult supervisor of the activity, in consultation with the principal, determines the requirements for facilities and equipment appropriate to the local context.
Location must be suitable for the activity being undertaken, including sufficient space to ensure safe participation and that safety rules and procedures can be followed.
Participants must wear
personal protective equipment appropriate to the activity (e.g. enclosed footwear, firmly-fitting clothes that won’t become entangled, finger tabs/shooting gloves, chest protectors and armguards). It is recommended armguards extend above the elbow.
Equipment must be sized to match the ability and strength of students including type of bow, bows strung to their recommended string lengths and arrows fitted with target arrow heads.
Consider using a whistle for command signalling.
Equipment hygiene must be maintained (e.g. using paper towels and antiseptic spray or antiseptic wipes).
Targets must have butts that will stop arrows and be set up with parallel flight paths and easily visible faces.
Consult the
Archery Australia safety policy for support in determining safety of facilities and equipment.