There are many children and young people at camp and we recognise that camp can expose children to hazardous situations. These guidelines are an attempt to formalise arrangements for their care. They are intended to provide a safety net at camp and do not remove parental responsibility.

Purpose
To ensure that particular regard is given to the well-being of all children at camp and to minimise the potential for harm within the parameters of 'responsibility'.

Potential Hazards
going off site unsupervised
fire
lats
on trips
small children in the dark

Checking things out
On some occasions children have been heard sounding very distressed at night and people have felt unclear as to whether they should approach or intervene. We must all accept that we have a a duty to 'check' and must all accept that 'checking' is part of camp life. Even if the child is accompanied by its parents, they may actually need a break, or a hand or even to visit the lats. We must all agree to 'check' and 'be checked' without bad feelings.

On Site: Secure Siters
There will at all times be two consenting named adults whose task it is to ensure there are sufficient people on site to cope with an emergency (illness/accident) and drive to/contact local emergency services. This responsibility will have an end time of midnight. Although this is late, there is no reason secure siters should not go to bed if all children's arrangements are in place.

Secure siters are not baby sitters, but are there to act as a safety net to ensure that there are enough unencumbered adults on site who have agreed to accept more responsibility than usual. People baby sitting are not in a position to respond in the event of an emergency.

Secure siters will make sure bed times are kept to, people are signed out and back safely, ensure that camp fires are supervised and safe and will keep a general eye out for who's who and what's going on around the site. The secure siters do not have to do all these things, but are responsible for making sure that they are done.

First Aid
A named person with first aid skills will be on site at all times (obviously except when everybody is off site).

Bed times
Unless there is an agreed camp activity outlined by the Clerks, bed-times should be adhered to. This is to make supervision possible.
12 and under - in tents by 10pm
13s - in tents by 11pm
14s & 15s - in tents by midnight.

Evenings off-site
Arrangements need to be clear.
All people with under 12s should sign out as usual, but identify who is staying behind with responsibility for their offspring. People with under 12s should return to the site by agreement with the identified minder or by midnight at the latest, so that the minder has an end time.

Baby-sitting
Baby-sitters must be within hearing range of the tent in which the children are sleeping. The sitter must not go to sleep before the responsible adult has returned to camp, ensuring that they are back, unless they are sleeping in the same tent.

Daytimes on site
The site is less hazardous during the day because it is possible to see more clearly and there are usually more folk around. However, there should still be contingency plans to ensure that at least two people are secure siters: for example, it is not appropriate to leave parents on site with children if none has access to vehicles in emergencies.

Off-site
The driver of each vehicle is responsible for all under-12s in that vehicle whilst on the trip and until they formally pass over the responsibility for each child to another person. This needs to be done on more than a 'Look after Hiawatha for me' basis. It needs to be a proactive statement where people actually state 'Hiawatha has come in my car and whilst I am happy for him to go with you, you are now becoming the responsible person for him'. This is formal, but it should establish a clarity about who is being responsible for who, with little leeway for misunderstandings.

The driver of a vehicle is responsible for making sure that everybody in the vehicle has signed out properly.