Student Supervision, Field Trips and Duty of Care
How school staff keep students safe in their care, following the invented Riverbend District School Board in Ontario: the duty of care and the careful parent standard, negligence and what the school cases teach, active supervision in yards, hallways and lunchrooms, ratios, duty schedules and volunteers, school buses, vans and walking trips, field trip planning and risk assessment, water, wilderness, winter and overnight trips, consent forms and why waivers are used with caution, plans of care for anaphylaxis, asthma, diabetes and epilepsy under Sabrina's Law, Ryan's Law and PPM 161, giving medication safely, concussions under Rowan's Law and other injuries, and responding to, reporting and reviewing incidents.
HSE-363 12 lessons · 4 h 5 min ▶ Video lessons coming soon
Offered by HSM University · Safety Training
This is the Canadian version of this course. See the American version.
What you'll learn
- Explain the duty of care that school staff owe students, the careful parent standard and the factors that shape what reasonable supervision looks like.
- Apply the elements of negligence, shared fault and vicarious liability to school incidents, and draw practical lessons from leading school cases.
- Supervise classrooms, hallways, washrooms, lunchrooms and yards actively, using the right supervision level and safe dismissal practices.
- Plan supervision ratios and duty schedules, include students who need individual support, and brief and limit the role of volunteers.
- Keep students safe around school buses, charter coaches, vans, private vehicles, walking routes and public transit, using named head counts.
- Plan and seek approval for field trips with a pre-visit, a risk assessment using the hierarchy of controls, accessible arrangements and a trip binder.
- Plan higher-risk trips involving water, wilderness travel, winter sports and overnight stays with layered controls and qualified leaders.
- Prepare informed consent forms, explain the limits of forms and waivers, and keep families informed before and during trips.
- Support students with anaphylaxis, asthma, diabetes and epilepsy through individual plans that travel with them, trained staff and coverage checks.
- Store, give and record medication safely at school and on trips using the five rights, and respond properly to errors and near misses.
- Recognize and remove students with suspected concussions, manage their return to school and sport, and respond to other common injuries.
- Respond to injuries and missing students, inform families, write factual incident reports, support people afterward and review incidents for system fixes.
Course content
12 lessons · 4 h 5 min total · final exam
- 1 Duty of care: the careful parent and the standard of care 21 min · quiz
- 2 Negligence in schools: what the cases teach 21 min · quiz
- 3 Active supervision: classrooms, hallways and yard duty 21 min · quiz
- 4 Supervision ratios and planning 21 min · quiz
- 5 Getting there: buses, vans, cars and walking trips 20 min · quiz
- 6 Field trip planning and risk assessment 20 min · quiz
- 7 Higher-risk trips: overnight stays, water and outdoor education 21 min · quiz
- 8 Consent forms, waivers and informing families 20 min · quiz
- 9 Medical conditions: anaphylaxis, asthma, diabetes and epilepsy 20 min · quiz
- 10 Medications at school and on trips 20 min · quiz
- 11 Concussions and other injuries: recognize, remove, respond 20 min · quiz
- 12 When something goes wrong: response, reporting and review 20 min · quiz
- E Final exam 20 questions
Requirements
Recommended background. You can start any course at any time.
Description
How school staff keep students safe in their care, following the invented Riverbend District School Board in Ontario: the duty of care and the careful parent standard, negligence and what the school cases teach, active supervision in yards, hallways and lunchrooms, ratios, duty schedules and volunteers, school buses, vans and walking trips, field trip planning and risk assessment, water, wilderness, winter and overnight trips, consent forms and why waivers are used with caution, plans of care for anaphylaxis, asthma, diabetes and epilepsy under Sabrina's Law, Ryan's Law and PPM 161, giving medication safely, concussions under Rowan's Law and other injuries, and responding to, reporting and reviewing incidents.