Blanket Consent for EOTC
Education Outside The Classroom (EOTC) is the name given to all events/activities that occur outside the classroom, both on and off the school site including sporting events.
Our school believes in using a range of environments and experiences to enhance our students’ learning.
We have ready access to the beach, rivers, mountains, and the bush in our area and beyond. We are also close to various built environments in our community. These areas are rich learning environments for our students both in and out of school. They need to learn how to be safe. Our school also values the concept of providing students with opportunities. Therefore, some of the learning for students occurs beyond the school site and this document is seeking your consent for your child/ren to participate in such learning.
The Ministry of Education’s EOTC guidelines identify four EOTC activity types, each with recommended types of parental/caregiver consent. In brief they are:
| Type of event | Description | Type of consent |
| A | On site – in the school grounds (i) Lower risk environments (ii) Higher risk environments* | (i) No consent sought or blanket consent (ii) Separate consent for each event or programme |
| B | Off-site events in the local community occurring in school time. (i) Lower risk environments (ii) Higher risk environments* | (i) Blanket consent at enrolment. (ii) Separate consent for each event or programme |
| C | Off-site events – finishing after school finishes (i) Lower risk environments (ii) Higher risk environments* | (i) Blanket consent at enrolment. (ii) Separate consent for each event or programme |
| D | Off-site residential overnight events (i) Lower risk environments (ii) Higher risk environments* | (i) Separate consent (ii) Separate consent for each event or programme |
Involves risk assessed to be greater than that associated with the average family activity.
All EOTC activity categories require staff to undertake an analysis of the risks, and identify the management strategies required to eliminate, isolate and minimise the risks. Emergency procedures are also in place.