2.4. Tour clothing
All tours need to make use of current school clothing items. The school gold/blue polo, along with the school tracksuit are key clothing items for all tours.
Using these two items will eliminate the proliferation of tour tops that affect the integrity of the current school uniform.
All tour embroidery and requests for specialist tops need to be approved by the Director of Planning & Co-curricular.
3. Setting guidelines for the tours
3.1. Behavioural expectations
It is important to set out an agreed set of acceptable behaviours which are outlined for students on tour. This should include acceptable practices in regards to airport check-ins, accommodation and free time. Students and parents are asked to sign and date the ‘All Tours: Information and Code of Conduct’ document to indicate their acceptance of standards and the consequences for non-compliance whilst on tour.
3.2. Communication guidelines
It is a school policy that each tour leader checks in by either phone or email every 24 hours. This contact is to be with either the Director of Activities or the Director of Planning and Co-curricular. A Tour Blog will be required to be set-up through Communication and Engagement.
3.2.1 Staff leaders mobile phones
All tour leaders will need access to a mobile phone. Any tour group will carry 2 phones at a minimum. One of these will be a school phone (with international roaming set up), configured by ICT.
NB: All number prefixes need to be ascertained and confirmed before departure. An allowance for phone calls needs to be included in the tour budget.
3.2.2 Student mobile phones
All students on tour carry a mobile phone where appropriate that has international roaming set up. This phone is for emergency use only and is to be carried by boys at all times. Considerations about costs need to be explained to students and parents.
3.3. Electronic items
It is recommended that clear guidelines are set for the use of items like iPhones and electronic game units. It is the tour leader/s who will make the final policy on these items.
3.4. Alcohol/drugs
3.4.1 Staff
It is fair and reasonable that during a tour staff will consume alcohol but not in the presence of students. At any time whilst on tour, one of the staff will have a blood alcohol level of 0.00 (i.e. will abstain from consuming alcohol). Staff may consume alcohol on a rotation basis, in moderation. At no time should staff drive vehicles having consumed alcohol. It is also expected that staff will not take any non-prescription drugs whilst on tour.
3.4.2 Students
The consumption of alcohol or use of tobacco/vaping or any other non-prescription drug is prohibited by students when on tour.
3.5. Billets
On the rare occasion boys are being billeted, it is essential that all the billets are approved by the school that CCGS is visiting. The same standards that CCGS expects (ie WWC) should be in place. It is also essential that a list of billets, the boy being billeted and the phone number of the billet is available to both tour leader (and other tour staff) and the contact staff member at the school being visited.
3.6. Hosting visiting groups: guidelines for billeting families
It is now a requirement by law that all members of the exchange household over the age of 18 hold a Working with Children. Please download the Working with Children card requirements document here for families who are hosting students from other schools.
During their stay with the billet family, the same duty of care as for the billet family’s own children applies. Parents should expect high standards of behaviour from visiting students and have the same degree of authority as with their own children. The billet family parents must familiarise themselves with the visiting students’ itinerary and note when meals and transport may be required.
Invitations to social events or any other activity not outlined on the official itinerary should be carefully checked out and the billet family’s parental permission must be sought by the visiting students to attend such events or to go anywhere unattended by an adult.
- No visiting student may go anywhere alone at any time.
- If the billet family’s parents allow their billets to go anywhere not attended by the host parents apart from official itinerary activities they must go in groups of two or more. The billet family’s parents must also know where they are going, who they will be with and when they will return.
Please ensure that the visiting students have the billet family’s parent’s contact telephone numbers and address. Billet families are asked to allow their billets to telephone their own parents occasionally. You may ask them to pay for the calls. The Christ Church Grammar School rules apply to visiting students, the most important being the Common Sense Rule.
3.7. Tour reports
3.7.1 Senior school
During the tour it is important to nominate a group of students to produce a brief audio visual report of the tour for the school community. The report will be presented on return to school at a Principal’s Assembly, as determined by the Director of Planning & Co-curricular, and also submitted to the coordinator for Mitre. The verbal report should be 3 – 4 minutes in duration and a set of pictures should be selected and grouped in a file for electronic transfer to the AV co-ordinator prior to the assembly. These pictures can then form a backdrop to the report.
3.7.2 Prep school
Tour reports will be presented as determined by the Director of Planning & Co-Curricular (Prep School) and also submitted to the coordinator for Mitre.
3.8. Incidents, accidents and injuries
3.8.1 Any problems, which occur on tour (behaviour, injury, sickness or critical incidents), should be immediately reported to the co-ordinator on tour, the Director of Planning & Co-Curricular/Director of Activities (Senior School) or the Director of Pastoral Care, Planning & Co-curricular (Prep School) and a course of action discussed and implemented.
3.8.2 Any incident resulting in a tour member visiting or being referred to a hospital is to be communicated to parents/carers/guardians by the co-ordinator on tour and an Injury/Incident form is to be completed as soon as practically possible.
4. Documentation to be submitted prior to departure
4.1. Document cover
The tour leader needs to download a School Tour Doc Cover that provides a list of items to be considered in tour preparation and submitted two weeks prior to departure date for review and checking.
This list includes:
- An Activity Risk Assessment (ARA) Form (or during the transition period the RAMS Excursions & Tours Form is still acceptable) identifying risks and procedures.
- An Excel Spreadsheet of all tour participants, staff, students and others with all contact details.
- An Itinerary including all flights, on ground transport, accommodation and visits etc.
- Copies of C2G documents; students.
- Copies of all medicals for staff.
- Copies of parent/student declarations (if required)
- Passport copies (overseas trips only).
- Deviation from Tour (if required