EOTC is My Favourite Thing

Trips to museums and bus rides to beaches
Fun for the students means work for the teachers
Dealing with all of the work that it brings
EOTC is my favourite thing…

Planning and talking and dreaming logistics
Using my time tested and new heuristics
Asking for favours and pulling some strings
EOTC is my favourite thing…

Booking the bus and the day and the venue
Sorting the gear and the forms and the menu
Checking that everyone knows what to bring
EOTC is my favourite thing…

When the dog bites, when the bee stings
When I’m feeling sad,
I simply remember
The camp’s nearly over
And then I don’t feel so bad

When the bus comes there is scrabbling for seats
Covert ingestion of forbidden sweets
Two kids that vomit, another that clings
EOTC is my favourite thing…

Then later on when they’re meant to be sleeping
One group is talking, another is weeping
One group is fighting, another group sings
EOTC is my favourite thing…

Then back at school, every child, every one
Ends their report with the words “IT WAS FUN”
Counting up all of the good things it brings
EOTC is my favourite thing…

When the dog bites, when the bee stings
When I’m feeling sad,
I simply remember
The camp’s nearly over
And then I don’t feel so bad.

Summary of the EOTC Review

As usual, this review attracted a lot of feedback and we can be assured that it has been very thoroughly reviewed. It is extremely important for each school to read and address, as appropriate, the implementation feedback submitted by their school community.

The review feedback generally confirmed that people greatly value the trips and experiences EOTC provides. Most were happy that their schools provided a range of activities that were diverse enough to cover various interests, cultural considerations, and socioeconomic situations. A few people feel that there are too many trips and that these are at the expense of academic education, but most people value the contribution EOTC makes to students’ development.

Getting EOTC right is a challenge for every school. There is a lot to consider and many variables from one school to another, even from one event to another.

We have endeavoured to provide schools with a streamlined approach for teachers wishing to organise EOTC activities so that they, and everyone involved, are clear about the process and can easily find the necessary forms and resources. We have provided EOTC forms as templates that schools can customise to the specific requirements of the class or event. This customisation is a very important step, particularly any risk management considerations. 

Many reviewers raised the issue of the law regarding booster seats for children up to seven years old. When the law changed we altered our generic Private Car Volunteer form,  replacing the words “seatbelts” to “appropriate restraints”.  Some schools want to be more specific and we are more than happy to upload school-specific forms if they are emailed to us. We’ve added notes to the sample form to assist schools to develop a school-specific form. We’ve also added a reference to the Parent Volunteer form. (See our earlier blogs about Private Car Transport and Car Seats for Seven Year Olds.)

We created the new Parent Volunteer form in response to feedback from several reviewers who felt that the school’s expectations of parent volunteers were not clear, for example, that parents helping on camps sometimes were unaware of the school’s Smokefree status or that it applies to camps as well. The forms can be used as a “register” of volunteers, and also to set out and expectations and responsibilities. Schools can use our sample form, or can supply us with their school-specific version. As with all the EOTC forms, the Parent Volunteer form can be used as a template and altered for specific events.

The proposed alterations to EOTC topics, the guidelines for the Private Car Volunteer form, and the new Parent Volunteer form, are on the Demo site under Upcoming Changes. We will roll out the changes by the end of this first term.