Safe at Sovereign Hill
Policies and Documentation for School Groups
Sovereign Hill is committed to providing a safe and friendly environment for all children. This page is designed to help teachers who are planning an excursion or camp to Sovereign Hill and/or Narmbool. It will help you locate the documents you need. All resources can be downloaded from this page.
1. Child Safe Policy
Click here to view our Child Safe Policy
This policy outlines:
• How our staff are expected to relate to children.
• Staff selection and training (including mandatory Working With Children Checks for all staff).
• Procedures for reporting child abuse.
• Responsibilities of staff.
2. Insurance
Click here to see our Current Public Liability Insurance Certificate
3. Accreditation
Residential Campsite Certificate of Accreditation for
• Sovereign Hill Hotel
• Narmbool
4. Supervision of Students and First Aid
Our Code of Conduct and Conditions of Entry for visiting schools. It explains:
- “Duty of care for all visiting students rests with the school and teachers. Adequate and active supervision of all students by their teachers is mandatory at all times.”
- Visiting teachers and supervisors must “provide appropriate, qualified first aid staff, equipment and medications for their students.”
The Code of Conduct and Conditions of Entry must be signed and returned by supervising teachers on behalf of their school community before visiting.
5. Emergency Procedures
- What to do in an emergency provides a flow chart for teachers. This information is also provided on the Teacher Map which is given to all schools. Sovereign Hill staff are trained and will be available to help in any emergency.
- Emergency procedures for the Sovereign Hill Hotel and for Narmbool are displayed prominently on the doors of all accommodation rooms.
- The Catastrophic Fire Danger letter to Principals explains that Sovereign Hill is not in a fire prone area and outlines our arrangements and procedures for Catastrophic Fire Danger days.
6. Risk Assessments
- Sovereign Hill conducts risk assessments for all activities that students and other visitors will be involved in. Because there are literally hundreds of activities and each school visit is a different combination of activities, it is not feasible to provide every school with a unique assessment for their particular schedule.
- Short descriptions of Sovereign Hill Education programs are available here.
- All schools must complete their own risk assessment before visiting our sites.
- The Safety Considerations at Sovereign Hill PDF explains some risks and our safety procedures.
7. Sovereign Hill Safety Information
Click here for our Safety Information document. This document provides information about bodies of water, out of bounds areas and horse safety. This information is also provided on the Teacher Map which is given to all schools.
8. Access and Inclusion
Sovereign Hill is committed to be accessible and inclusive of all audiences. Our Accessibility page provides additional information concerning physical access, the Sovereign Hill Hotel facilities, hearing loops and more. Also available are Social Stories for those on the Autism Spectrum visiting the Sovereign Hill outdoor museum, and Auslan movies describing many of our common demonstrations and presentations for deaf or hard-of-hearing visitors.
9. Narmbool Specific Information
Camp details, Code of Conduct, Emergency procedures, risk assessments and Critical Incident Management information for Narmbool can all be found in our Camp and Safety Information booklet.
10. Costume Information
Please respect the responsibilities and roles of our staff and volunteers, and the experience of other visitors, by not wearing goldrush period costume or fancy dress at Sovereign Hill.
Our costume is an important part of our role as a museum interpreting the goldrushes. We research it thoroughly and wear it under strict guidelines. Our visitors know that the costumed people they meet are staff or volunteers who can help and inform them during their visit. They are trained on how to respond in an emergency and it is essential that visitors are able to quickly and clearly identify staff whom can help them in an emergency.
Within our Sovereign Hill Schools Program participating students participate in a costumed immersion in the life of an 18th century child. Wearing their costume according to strict guidelines and using the mid18th century manners they are taught are vital parts of their program.
You can have a photograph taken in costume at our Red Hill Photographic Rooms, our Schools Booking Officers can assist you with your booking schoolbookings@sovereignhill.com.au