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EOTC Staff Competence

St Joseph's School takes care to identify the staff competencies required for the EOTC activities we deliver. All staff involved in an EOTC event (i.e. staff employed by the school, including teaching and non-teaching staff, as well as external contractors) must have the necessary information and competence (skills, knowledge, experience), or be adequately supervised, so that they can safely perform their role. If school staff do not have the relevant expertise for an activity, we seek outside expertise and may arrange to build capability within our staff. The competencies required to run our EOTC programme are considered when recruiting new staff.

We establish competency through means such as sighting recognised qualifications, and/or observation and skills assessment (by a more highly qualified/competent person). Competency requirements are benchmarked against industry qualifications (where they exist) and any relevant good practice guides.

We use the following tools to assess and document competence:

• an inventory of EOTC events, identifying and recording the competencies required to run each activity safely
• a register of existing relevant staff competencies.

This information is used during our EOTC event and safety planning process to ensure the staffing proposed for the event has the required competencies for the particular EOTC activity.

We keep records about staff competency for at least seven years, including induction, training, and qualifications. This helps identify and address any gaps in staff competence needed to run our EOTC programme effectively and safely. This information may be used in the case of a notifiable event. See EOTC Incident Reporting.

Activity requirements

We record activity competency requirements and staff member competencies for each EOTC event in our EOTC safety planning and risk assessment documentation. This ensures the proposed staff are competent to:

• manage and/or teach a group of students in the designated environment to the level required of their role
• assess and manage risk throughout the event and act accordingly at all times.

Support for staff

At St Joseph's School, we support school staff to become competent in EOTC processes and activity requirements through training and mentoring.

• Staff are introduced to school EOTC processes during their induction.
• Staff are supported appropriately and receive feedback and/or professional growth opportunities in relation to EOTC.
• Staff involved in EOTC participate in activity briefings and training as required.
• Schoolwide and EOTC-specific emergency response processes are practised regularly.

Related policies

• EOTC Health and First Aid
• First Aid Training and Supplies
• EOTC Supervision (includes EOTC volunteers)
• EOTC External Providers and Contractors
• Recording and Reporting Injuries and Illness
• School Records Retention and Disposal
• Staff Induction
• Emergency Management
• Education Outside the Classroom (EOTC)

Legislation

• Health and Safety at Work Act 2015
• Education and Training Act 2020

Resources

• SupportAdventure: Staff (good practice guidance on staff competence)
• Te Kāwanatanga o Aotearoa: education Learning Management System (search EOTC for training modules)
• TKI | Te Kete Ipurangi: EOTC Guidelines (see chapter 4)
• EONZ: EOTC Safety Management Plan and Toolkit (see EOTC Safety Management Plan template – "Staff Competence and Supervision of Ākonga")
• EONZ: EOTC Safety Management Plan and Toolkit (see relevant resources)
  • Risk Assessment and Supervision Form
  • Volunteer Agreement Form
  • Staff Agreement Form
  • Coordinator Toolkit – Staff Competency Database
  • Coordinator Toolkit – Activity Competency Requirements
  • Coordinator Toolkit – Staff Induction Checklist

Release history: Term 1 2024, Term 1 2021, Term 1 2019

Topic Number: 16787	Last Modified Date: 08/01/2026 13:58:35
Topic Version: 1	Published Date: 30/01/2026