Position Descriptions Parent Support Group Last revised

Transcription

1 Position Descriptions Parent Support Group Last revised Overview Merewether High School (MHS) facilitates student participation in the Duke of Edinburgh s Award, a global programme governed by The Duke of Edinburgh's Award in Australia. The MHS Duke of Ed program is run as an adjunct department of the school by the Parent Support Group (PSG) for and on behalf of MHS Duke of Ed student participants. The PSG is predominantly comprised of parents, chaired by an annually elected Executive Committee. The Award Leader, usually the Deputy Principal, is nominated by the school and is accountable to the Duke of Edinburgh s Award in Australia. Level coordinators, while also part of the PSG, are accountable to the Award Leader, are supported by the PSG and are responsible for the majority of the program administration. For this reason the parent volunteers who take on the Level Coordinator roles usually recruit additional volunteers to assist in the organisation and administration of the program as shown in the organisational chart below. MHS Duke of Ed Position Descriptions Parent Support Group Page 1 of 7

2 The Parent Support Group comprises the following positions, described to follow: President Vice President Treasurer Secretary Level Coordinators Expedition Advisors Award Advisors Quartermaster Communications Equipment coordinator Assistant Coordinators Approvals Coordinators Field Supervisors Parent volunteers Each role has one responsibility in common and that is to plan for the successor to ensure smooth transition to the next parent group. Roles within the PSG are typically intended to be held for only one to three years by any one parent. The PSG places a strong emphasis on documenting and sharing knowledge to enable the program to continue as parents leave the school. The majority of these roles need to be filled by parents of the new Bronze group intake for the program to proceed. President The President is accountable to the MHS Award Leader for ensuring the program delivers the required outcomes and meets the school and Duke of Ed guidelines. The President also: chairs PSG meetings leads the PSG in the planning, organising and actioning of activities such as: parent information nights, awards ceremonies, gear expo, Participant and Parent Training. Attends awards ceremonies and gives a welcoming address Represents the PSG, including at events such as the parent information night. Vice President Assists the President as required. MHS Duke of Ed Position Descriptions Parent Support Group Page 2 of 7

3 Treasurer All monies belonging to the PSG are held by MHS and are distributed by authorisation of the PSG. The role of the Treasurer includes: Liaising with the Bursar of MHS to advise on which expenses have approval for payment Obtaining financial records to ensure that a financial statement, outlining income and expenditure, is prepared and tabled at each PSG meeting Maintaining a list of current participants at Gold, Silver and Bronze levels, ensuring that all payments are current and where fees are outstanding, to send a reminder notice seeking payment Advising the Level Coordinators of any incidents of ongoing non-payment of fees. Secretary The Secretary's role is to ensure the PSG functions smoothly and effectively by: Giving notice of meetings and circulating an agenda Booking a meeting room and ensuring access Taking minutes of the meeting and circulating the minutes after each meeting to ensure accuracy and to communicate agreed actions Manage correspondence that is not directly related to level coordinators Ensure the Duke of Ed information and documents on the school website are up to date Keep records of meeting minutes and correspondence to hand over to next Secretary Level Coordinators The PSG appoints a Level Coordinator each year to manage the new Bronze level intake. The Level Coordinator for the Bronze level typically becomes the level coordinator for the Silver level the subsequent year and so on (or hands over to a parents whose child is continuing). Level Coordinators are accountable to the MHS Award Leader and the PSG to deliver the Duke of Ed program for their participant group. This includes: Ensuring the program is delivered in compliance with the Award Coordinator roles and responsibilities outlined in Section of the Duke of Edinburgh s International Award (Australia) Handbook and with the policies of MHS and the PSG Communicating with MHS staff, the PSG, participants and their parent/guardians regarding the Duke of Ed program for their level MHS Duke of Ed Position Descriptions Parent Support Group Page 3 of 7

4 Communicating with assessors as required Building team relationships with the parents/care givers of the bronze participants with the view to identify individuals skills and interests that is relevant to support the participants in their adventurous journeys or in the management of the program Recruiting and managing parent volunteers to ensure expeditions can occur. This includes recruiting parent volunteers to the role of Field Supervisors. Assisting with the development of, or modification of, adventurous journeys as required Liaising with NPWS and private landholders in regards to adventurous journeys Record keeping Creating and review documentation, including document control Supporting participants in completion of the award level. Expedition Advisors Expedition and Award Advisors are typically parents who have been involved in the Duke of Ed previously, having held positions within the PSG, such as Level Coordinator, and who have knowledge of Duke of Ed and MHS requirements. Their primary function is to support Level Coordinators and the PSG by providing advice and oversight. Expedition Advisors: Help maintain MHS Duke of Ed program knowledge base Provide oversight and review of expeditions. Assist Level Coordinators to: Understand how the expeditions are conducted Assist with training for parents and participants Review Field Supervisors Develop new or revise adventurous journeys Help set annual expedition calendar. Award Advisors Expedition and Award Advisors are typically parents who have been involved in the Duke of Ed previously, usually holding positions within the PSG such as Level Coordinator and who have knowledge of the Award requirements. Their primary function is to support Level Coordinators by providing advice as required. MHS Duke of Ed Position Descriptions Parent Support Group Page 4 of 7

5 Award Advisors: Help maintain MHS Duke of Ed program knowledge base Provide advice on service, physical recreation and skill activity requirements. Assist Level Coordinators to: Understand of how the Duke of Ed program works Understand award requirements Help set annual expedition calendar Quartermaster The quartermaster is responsible for the storage and hire of PSG equipment including tents and backpacks. This includes: Arranging the hire of items to participants and parents in accordance with hire agreement Receipting hire and deposit payments Monitoring condition of equipment and undertaking or arranging repairs as appropriate Assisting with participant training Reporting to PSG meetings The quartermaster role and is suitable for a participant to undertake and can count towards the service component of the Silver or Gold Award. Communications Equipment Coordinator The Communications Equipment Coordinator is the custodian of communications devices owned by Merewether High School for use by MHS Duke of Ed participants. Devices include portable UHF radios, handheld GPS devices, emergency locator beacons (EPIRBs), compasses, associated support equipment (chargers, etc.) and related consumables. The role includes: Tracking, coordinating and maintaining the communications equipment and associated consumables Ensuring equipment is available and reliable for events (including testing and replacing batteries, testing units, purchasing and labelling new equipment as approved by PSG) Ensuring participants (e.g. participants and parents from diverse backgrounds and capabilities) are adequately trained/briefed in equipment use MHS Duke of Ed Position Descriptions Parent Support Group Page 5 of 7

6 Proactively liaising with Level Coordinators and Field Supervisors to ensure equipment will be ready for adventurous journeys Keeping records of equipment loans and returns Contribute to PSG equipment decisions and implement action as required Monitor equipment use and event feedback to identify and implement improvements - such as user training and equipment/asset maintenance Recommend improvements to PSG (and where relevant the MHS executive) on both equipment/assets and overall MHS Duke of Ed program. Assistant Coordinators Level coordinators have a broad range of tasks and this can include a significant work load. At the Level Coordinators' discretion these responsibilities can be delegated to other volunteers and might include taking responsibility one aspect of the program, for example managing student progress in the online record books, for the duration of the program. Approvals Coordinator This is an administrative role to ensure that all walks can proceed. It involves: Ensuring landowners whose land our walks cross are notified of walk dates Being a contact person on all communications with landowners Applying for permission from National Parks and Wildlife Service as needed and organising access and payment of fees Notifying the Rural Fire Service and State Emergency Service of all walk intentions Updating the property owner contact list annually or as needed to ensure future groups have correct information Organising thank you letters for all private landowners. Field Supervisors Field Supervisors are responsible for the adventurous journey and should have considerable navigation and bushwalking experience. Typically a number of Field Supervisors are appointed within any parent group so that the workload is not too significant. One or more Field Supervisors will volunteer for each adventurous journey and are responsible for: Determining if it is safe to undertake the journey on the day Monitoring weather and other factors to determine if the journey needs to be modified or shortened once it has commenced Assisting participants to make decisions regarding navigation MHS Duke of Ed Position Descriptions Parent Support Group Page 6 of 7

7 Making decisions about any first aid, emergency or evacuation situations Signing off on pre and post logs submitted by participants. Other parent volunteers Parents are needed to volunteer for a range of one off or ongoing tasks, allocated by the Level Coordinator, for example: Assisting in training participants in navigation, camping, safety etc Walking with participants to support their acquisition of navigation and bushwalking expertise Transporting participants Transportation of water and supplies to camp sites Base camp support including communications First aid Providing a 4wd as vehicle support Camp site preparation and clearing as required Picking up and dropping off the satellite phone MHS Duke of Ed Position Descriptions Parent Support Group Page 7 of 7