Rock pooling

If you or another member of your leadership team is running the activity at an external venue/location, follow these extra steps:

• Arrange for a home contact. Leave any route or other relevant details with your home contact and complete a home contact agreement form. Let them know about any changes to your plans.
• Tell your commissioner.
• Get a copy of the public liability insurance of the activity provider before you book.
• Check you hold the relevant qualification (if one is needed) to run the activity and let your commissioner know you plan to run it yourself. If you aren't sure, speak to your local adviser to check.
• Check with the venue that they have the correct equipment and, if needed, specialist clothing that will meet the needs of your group.
• Get any specialist equipment or clothing needed to run the activity not provided by the venue, and make sure this is in good condition and fit for purpose.
• Check that any equipment is suitably insured by the provider and agree what happens to the equipment if it gets damaged.
• Ask for a copy of the venue's safety guidelines and risk assessment (if relevant).
• Make sure you have the correct ratio of participants (girls, leaders and volunteers) to qualified adults (those running the activity if a qualification is needed). This is different to the ratio of leaders to girls.
• Consider the ability and experience of the participants and any disabilities, access needs or health conditions and plan the session accordingly.

Some venues might ask for a disclaimer or waiver to be signed for each person taking part in the activity. This is something which parents and carers must sign on behalf of their child. You can do this along with the consent form. Parents and carers should be given sufficient information from the provider along with the waiver so they can make an informed decision to sign it or not. Leaders can only sign disclaimers and waivers for their own personal participation. 

Guidance on weather warnings

Leaders are responsible for completing a risk assessment for the walk and deciding if it's safe for a group to complete it. If a weather warning is issued for the area where your walk is due to take place, you must update your risk assessment. The result of this risk assessment will inform you as to your next steps which may include cancelling/rescheduling your walk, considering an alternative route that may be safer or proceeding with your initial plans with additional mitigations in place.

Risk assessments should be updated, and a clear plan of action agreed in regard to the weather warning to ensure the group’s wellbeing and safety. If re-routing the walk due to a weather warning you should ensure that you have thoroughly risk assessed the alternative route and recorded this risk assessment – normally we would expect ‘escape route’ options to be identified in advance.

If the weather warning is issued during your walk or is worse than expected, you must do a dynamic risk assessment. That will result in whether you continue, cancel, or re-route your walk to keep the group safe. A deviation from a planned route due to unforeseen circumstances does not require a recorded risk assessment.

We recommend at least 1 adult with up-to-date knowledge of water safety and rescue techniques, such as the Girlguiding water safety training module.

A lifeguard must be as part of the risk assessment.

Finding a lifeguard

Contact your local swimming club, the Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS) or the Swimming Teachers' Association (STA) for information on booking a lifeguard.

• Check the tide and make sure that you have factored the timings into the activity. This activity should only be done at low tide.
• Make sure that safety rules and alarm signals have been explained to the girls. And that girls understand that they need to follow instructions immediately.
• Make sure girls wear protective shoes such as wellington boots or jelly shoes with rocks, limpets and barnacles on the rocks. Feet need to be protected.
• Follow water safety guidelines and make sure that the responsible adult helpers are familiar with them.
• Girls must be paired up, stay in these pairs and be responsible for watching each other using the 'buddy' system.

The ratios below are given as a maximum and ratios must be considered as part of the risk assessment. This may lessen due to any medical conditions, lack of water confidence or other factors.

Leadership team: girl ratio

As this activity will take place outside of your usual meeting place the leadership team adult: girl ratio is mandatory.

• Rainbows 1:5 (minimum of 2 adults)
• Brownies 1:8
• Guides 1:12
• Rangers: N/A

We recommend at least one adult with up-to-date knowledge of water safety and rescue techniques, such as the Girlguiding water safety training module.