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. evacuation procedure, provision of
first aid, student emergency contact details).
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).
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 (e.g. catastrophic injury management), safety procedures (e.g. inspect the take-off area before each jump) and correct techniques (e.g. lifting heavy equipment). 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 (e.g. lifting heavy equipment).
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 individually supervise monitor students during participation
- must closely supervene the approach, take-off and landing areas. Participants must not begin their run up until the landing area is clear
- must regularly monitor the landing padding position and condition
- must comply with control measures from the CARA record and adapt as hazards arise
- must suspend the activity if the conditions become unfavourable (e.g. poor visibility, high head winds, 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 1 adult supervisor is required to be:
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 to ensure safe participation and that safety rules and procedures can be followed.
An accredited sporting facility with suitable pole vaulting facilities, as required by the
World Athletics manuals and guidelines (see Track and Field Facilities Manual Chapter 2.3.4) must be used.
Landing area padding, including take-off box padding, as required by the
World Athletics manuals and guidelines (see Track and Field Facilities Manual Chapter 6.2.6) must be used. For example, width = 5 metres, length = 2 metres in front the zero line and extending 5 metres beyond, and thickness = 0.8 metres for activities other than major international competitions.
Landing area padding must be constructed from material that allows both sufficient absorption from the fall and adequate resilience when compressed.
If spikes are worn, the landing area must be covered by a single spike-proof top mat approximately 5cm thick and should have a weatherproof covering.
If multiple pads are used, the landing area must be covered and bound together to prevent any part of the body from catching between the pads.
The uprights should be mounted so that they are not easily tilted.
A range of undamaged poles of different sizes to suit individual needs must be available.
All equipment must be used in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.
A process for checking for damage for all equipment used in the activity must be established and employed.
Ensure spikes, if worn, are no longer than 9mm (synthetic surface) or 12mm (grass surface) per the
Little Athletics competition handbook. Follow venue requirements, if available.