Expeditions Section Supporting Roles and Responsibilities

Operating Authorities are responsible for the safety and well-being of the participants and the approval of the Instructors, Supervisors and Assessors. Operating Authorities have activity procedures, which set out the training, experience and/or qualifications required for their Instructors, Supervisors and Assessors. Leaders must ensure that Operating Authority requirements are fulfilled.

Many Operating Authorities have local expedition teams able to support participants in undertaking their ventures.

The nature of self-reliant unaccompanied ventures places particular responsibilities on Instructors, Supervisors and Assessors. Whilst the Award does not insist on specific qualifications, Supervisors and Assessors are strongly recommended that, where suitable national qualifications exist appropriate to the mode of travel and administered by national governing bodies of outdoor pursuits, these should be obtained.

Instructors

Instructors provide training in one or more aspects of the Common Training Syllabus.

The safety and well-being of participants is dependent on the quality of the training, as is the quality and enjoyment of the total expeditioning experience.

Training should be provided by those who have the necessary skills and experience in the mode of travel and the environment in which the venture is going to take place. This frequently involves using more than one Instructor. No specific qualifications are stipulated by the Award except in the case of preliminary first aid training, when instruction should only be given by one of the following:

• An instructor in first aid recognised by one of the voluntary aid societies, the armed services or the Health and Safety Executive.
• A qualified teacher or youth leader who holds a valid first aid certificate.
• A State Registered Nurse or Health Visitor.
• An instructor approved by the Operating Authority.

All Instructors should hold the appropriate National qualifications where they exist, or be of equivalent experience and approved by the Operating Authority. It is important that Instructors should have extensive experience in the kind of environment in which the proposed venture is to take place so that they will have a realistic appreciation of the problems which participants may encounter.

The training course should be planned in advance and checked against the syllabus to ensure that there are no omissions. An Instructor or Leader within an Award Group should have an overview of all the training and instruction. They should be mindful of all the conditions and requirements which participants have to meet to ensure that the group is equipped, in terms of recording and observation skills, to fulfil the purpose of the venture, and that all members of the group are aware of the conditions under which the venture will take place.

It is important that Instructors always bear in mind that they are training young people to be self-reliant for unaccompanied ventures. Training should be progressive over the course of the training period. The Instructor must plan the sessions to enable the participants to become increasingly more self-reliant and dependent on their own resources. All participants should have the opportunity to develop their own leadership style. Training should be concerned with team building as well as developing individual talents and resources within the team to strengthen the group as a whole. This can be enhanced by regular reviewing sessions built into the programme.

Practice journeys have a most important role in the training syllabus and there is great merit in some of these journeys being accompanied by the Instructor. This provides an opportunity to gain a real insight into the capabilities of the individuals thus enabling tuition to take place over a more extended period of time than in the more usual evening or lunch time sessions.

Supervisors

All ventures, including practice journeys, must be supervised by a suitably experienced adult who accepts responsibility for the safety and well-being of the group on behalf of the Operating Authority. The Supervisor, who is the agent of the Operating Authority, must be satisfied that the participants are competent and equipped to undertake the planned venture.

Supervisors should be familiar with the aims, objectives, requirements and conditions of the Expeditions Section. They should be sufficiently experienced and competent in the mode of travel to be able to provide safe and effective supervision.

Groups undertaking their qualifying venture must not be accompanied except in exceptional circumstances, such as some water ventures, when closer supervision may be permitted. Contact should not be made with the group during the venture except for the needs of assessment and supervision. In certain circumstances, for safety reasons, it may be important that support from an adult should be quickly and easily available at night.

Supervisors should always carry with them all the relevant safety information, which may be required. This will include the names, addresses and emergency contact details for all participants as well as contact details for the Assessor, a responsible person in the Operating Authority and Award Head Office.

During all qualifying ventures the Supervisor should be within, or sufficiently close to, the area of venture to render help within a reasonable time if an emergency should arise. For ventures in wild country or Explorations on the sea, coast and remote areas of marshland, the Supervisor must be based in the vicinity of the area where the venture takes place.

Ventures in estuaries or sheltered coastal waters may be supervised from a safety boat. The safety boat must be sufficiently remote from the participants to avoid restricting the group's sense of remoteness and self-reliance and yet be able to render assistance in an emergency within a reasonable period of time.

The Supervisor and/or Assessor should be aboard yachts in open sea areas but should not be involved in the skippering, crewing, navigation, control or management of the boat, except for reasons of safety. They should hold the RYA or DTp Yachtmaster Offshore Certificate.

The Supervision of Qualifying Ventures

The duties of the Supervisor, detailed below, are for Gold level ventures in wild country but will serve as a pattern for good and safe supervision of ventures at Bronze and Silver levels using all modes of travel.

Before the Venture

• Verify that the training has been completed and that the participants are properly equipped.
• Ensure that the declaration in the Record Books have been signed.
• Check that the Notification Forms, route cards and other details have been completed and send them to the Assessor.
• Find a suitable base from which to supervise the venture.
• Ensure that initial contact is made with the Assessor. Complete the arrangements for the first meeting immediately prior to the venture.
• Participate in the first meeting along with the Assessor and the group during the day or evening immediately prior to the venture.

During the Venture

• Visit the group once a day, or as the needs of safety demand. Co-ordinate visits with the Assessor to ensure that the group is visited at the camp site each evening.
• Be responsible for communications and for keeping everyone informed of any changes in plans.

After the Venture

• Be present at the oral debriefing carried out by the Assessor, if invited by the group.
• Receive the presentations of the venture if the participants decide to submit them to the Supervisor.