Training with External Registered Training Organisations for Public Schools procedures

Guidance

The employee nominated by the principal to manage a school’s agreements with an external RTO does not have to be a member of the teaching staff.

Programs may include participating students spending part of a school week, term or year undertaking training provided by an RTO at a training facility away from the school site. These procedures do not apply where the training is provided by an external provider on the school site; the school’s normal duty of care for students applies in these circumstances.

The RTO’s provisions should align with the Department’s Duty of Care for Public School Students policy.

For School Based Trainees and Apprentices, there is a shared duty of care between the school and the host employer for the time when the trainee/apprentice is at training or in the workplace.

The Department’s required minimum level of public liability insurance cover to be held by external RTOs is $20 million, for any one occurrence, unlimited in the aggregate.

The Department has no insurance cover for accidental injury to a student. Please refer to the Department's Insurance and Claims Management Guide for more information:  https://ikon.education.wa.edu.au/-/insurance-information.

Family/caregivers should be aware that:

• RTO environments differ from school environments; direct supervision by staff may not be provided during study or lunch breaks
• students are expected to remain at the RTO during study breaks unless prior notification is provided to the school in advance by the family/caregiver
• if classes finish before the scheduled time, students may be released from class and will not be supervised
• family/caregiver’s written notification of absences will be provided to the school and RTO staff member on return to the program in order to support continued participation
• transport between school/home and RTO is the responsibility of the family/caregiver.
• in exceptional circumstances, alternative transportation between school and RTO may be necessary
• family/caregivers are required to inform the principal’s nominated staff well before the program of any change to their child’s health and fitness as recorded at the school so that appropriate arrangements can be made. (Information may be entered on the attached consent form)
• where necessary, RTO staff will arrange medical assessment and treatment for students.

For students with disability engaging in training with an external RTO, refer to Selecting Students for RTO Training guidelines.

Additional consideration should be given to the cultural safety of Aboriginal and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) students and their families/caregivers both in RTOs and related communications. Culturally responsive processes may include accessing interpreters if required.

These procedures do not apply to students when they are undertaking training with an external RTO as part of a combination of options under a Notice of Arrangements (NOA). Where a student is undertaking training under such an arrangement, the school only has duty of care for that part of the week or term in which the student is still enrolled at the school.