Activity staff cover

Query… Can anyone give a definitive answer regarding staff cover on cadet activities. An activity where a male CI is taking a trip of males and females to a museum without any female staff or female cadets over 18. Is this allowed?

I appreciate best practice but is there any thing written down?

All should be fine, only thing I would suggest is to Have at least 2 female cadets

If possible have a female staff “on call” in case on of emergency and put that in your briefing

other than AT there is nothing i know of. shooting is merely “recommended” but otherwise no guidance, suggestion, recommendation or hint of what is acceptable.

the acid test is to complete the PiPE/SMS event application and see if it gets signed off!

edit: correction. Fieldcraft also has minimum ratios

On SMS now you get a little warning telling you the recommended ratios from some JSP. They want 2 staff at all activities, including one of each gender if both gender of cadets are going. Not always practical though and in reality I think as long as you’re not doing any overnight stays then you should be fine.

To play devil’s advocate would you be asking if it was as a female going on something with no male “cover”?

We went 4 years with no female staff and longer with females over 18 (pre and post let’s worry about it era) and dealt with things as and when they arose.

The only option you have is to not allow any females to attend, which satisfies all the tick boxes, but possibly not the girls wanting to go.

If it’s not an overnight activity there is nor equipment to have female staff, it is just an NSPCC guideline.

If it is an overnight you must have a female member of staff, but a female staff cadet can fulfill this role 99% of the time… (Some military training estate such as HMS Bristol require it to be a full blown staff member).

Out of interest, does it apply the other way round as well?* i.e. if hypothetically all the staff were female and there was a male cadet?

*I run an all-male unit so it’s never been something I needed to know!

At one point we had female cadets and no female staff and apart from the odd ‘lady’s problems’ we never had any issues, a couple of parents queried it, but their daughters still joined and stayed with us. One of the CWC was OK about being our female cover as was my wife. This would probably send a shiver through the organisation today, but as we don’t specifically recruit staff on a gender and or skill etc basis, you take what comes along.

When you look at schools, there is a massive imbalance towards female staff, especially in primary education and as far as I’m aware no one questions it. When our children were at primary they went on school trips and residentials and not a man in sight, other than the coach driver.

It’s exactly the same, doesn’t affect normal parade nights or day only activities just over nighters.

There is no real regulation just a statement from the NSPCC that it’s best practice.

My WHQ will not sign off activities without staff of both genders taking part if cadets of both genders attending.
Conversely it is OK for flying presumably because they do not sign off flying on SMS. Discuss