Case study: Unsupervised Children on a Zoo Excursion
AdviceONLINE case studies take specific events and reflect on what lessons can be learned for safer educational visits. Case studies are drawn from across the globe and analysed by Educational Visits Advisers at EVOLVE Advice to highlight key learnings.
Unsupervised Children on a Zoo Excursion
What happened?
In April 2025, an after-school care service sent nine children on an excursion to Perth Zoo with a single educator, after being told by its (remote) rostering team to proceed without the second educator it had requested. Two groups from different sites merged onto one bus without any of the four educators realising a joint supervision arrangement was intended.
Once at the zoo, four of the older children ran ahead and were left unsupervised for roughly an hour before zoo staff found them. The provider's written risk assessment had also marked “no” against water hazards, despite the site including an open lake behind a low barrier.
The regulator's tribunal fined the provider AUD 39,500 in total and the service was subsequently closed.
Key findings and recommendations
1. Staffing decisions were made remotely, by people who had never seen the venue.
The educator flagged the staffing shortfall on the morning of the visit. A rostering team based elsewhere told her to proceed alone rather than sourcing cover. The decision to go ahead was effectively made by someone with no visibility of the group, the venue, or the risk.
Key takeaway: Schools should keep the go/don’t-go decision with the Visit Leader or EVC, not with a remote administrative team.
Guidance: OEAP NG 3.2d Approval of Leaders; OEAP NG 3.4k Visit or Activity Leader
2. A joint excursion existed on paper but not in practice.
Two groups combined at a pickup stop, giving 21 children and four educators on one coach, but none of the educators had been told they were meant to be supervising jointly. Each assumed it was simply bus-sharing.
Key Takeaway: Where groups or services combine for any part of a visit, supervision responsibilities need to be explicitly agreed and briefed before departure, not discovered en route.
Guidance: OEAP NG 4.4o Joint Visits and Partnership Working
3. The regulator's own view was that the reasonable precaution was to cancel.
The tribunal stated plainly that calling off the excursion, rather than proceeding with one educator for nine children, would have been the reasonable precaution.
Key Takeaway: When effective supervision cannot be met on the day, postponement or cancellation is the compliant default, not proceeding and hoping for the best. Heads hold ultimate responsibility for this.
Guidance: OEAP NG 3.3e Checklist - Visit Planning
4. The risk assessment actively said “no” to a hazard that was clearly present.
This was not an omission but a positive mis-marking. The written risk assessment recorded no water hazards, despite the site's wetlands area having a large, open, easily accessible body of water behind a simple wooden barrier. The tribunal fined this separately from the supervision failure.
Key Takeaway: Risk assessments form a key part of planning, they are not a tick box exercise, schools must ensure these are accurate.
Guidance: OEAP NG 4.3c Risk Management - an Overview; OEAP NG 4.3f Risk Management - Some Practical Advice; OEAP NG 4.3g Risk Management - What to Record and How
Lessons for Educational Visits Advisers and Visit Leaders
Confirm effective supervision on the day: revisit your supervision plans on the day. Has anything changed? Do you need to amend your plans? If you don’t have enough staff to safely run the visit, you need to rearrange or cancel. Never proceed on the assumption that “one adult will manage.”
Specify responsibilities for combined groups: Where a visit involves more than one group, class, or setting travelling or attending together, clearly assign supervision responsibilities and communicate these to every adult involved before departure.
Complete your risk assessment for the group, activity and venue you’re attending, not a generic template, and specifically consider water, height and open-access hazards.
Brief before entry, not after: The moment of high risk at open-site venues is arrival, before children are settled into sub-groups. Assign named adults to named children before entering the site, not after.
Give Visit Leaders real authority to stop or delay a visit: Visit Leaders will have clear authority to postpone or cancel a visit if staffing or safeguarding arrangements are not in place on the day, without needing sign-off from a remote office.
Source:
State Administrative Tribunal of Western Australia, matter concerning CEO of Department of Communities and Extend (Australia) Pty Ltd t/as Marmion Primary School OSHC-Extend, decision reported July 2026. This case arose under Western Australian childcare regulation (the National Law), not UK educational visits legislation. It is presented here for the transferable supervision, planning, and risk assessment lessons it offers.
This publication is a general summary of guidance. It should not replace advice tailored to your specific circumstances. ©️EVOLVE Advice 2026
If you’d like further support on this issue, or advice on other aspects related to educational visits, speak to your Educational Visits Adviser.