PTLLS task one part one

Part One
Roles and Responsibilities – In my current role as an instructor some of my responsibilities are to keep up with current practice and make sure my qualifications are up to date (continuing professional development). I also make sure I know my organisations policies and procedures including risk assessments, fire evacuation and working with vulnerable adults. During my sessions I have to maintain a safe environment and make sure all learners are engaged in the task in hand. I regularly plan sessions in a range of activities and complete risk assessments for on and off site activities. In my role I work as part of a team and communicate with others about any issues that need to be discussed. This could be a student with additional needs or a maintenance issue.
Codes of Practice / Legislation – In the outdoor industry each different activity has its own governing body for example in paddle sports the national governing body is Canoe England. They provide codes of practice that a coach follows and polices including access issues. All outdoor centres are inspected and should have an AALA (adventurous activities licensing authority) licence. This means that centres get inspected and includes looking at equipment check records and observations of sessions. Some of the other acts that need to be taken into account are:
• HASAWA 1974 – this covers a company’s responsibility to their employees, responsibility that employees have and responsibilities to the general public.
• The children act 2004
• Equality act 2010
• RIDDOR 1995 – statutory obligation to report serious workplace accidents, occupational diseases and near misses to the HSE.
• Data protection act 1998
• Manual handling 1992
• COSHH
Equality and Diversity - Learners should be able to attend and participate regardless of their gender, ethnic background, disability, age , religion, and sexual orientation. In my sessions I include everyone so all participants are learning at the same time and no one is falling behind or excluded from the group. You cannot discriminate against anybody because their opinions are different to yours and need to let all learners have an equal chance to contribute, if you let one person take over then this will have a negative effect on your other learners. You need to value the differences in your students whether this is relating to age or their individual characteristics. For example if you have someone who has a different first language they might require extra support so that they understand what is being asked of them.
Individual needs of learners – It is important to identify the needs of your learners so that you can plan a good session. This can be done by an initial assessment. The assessment can be done in a range of ways including questionnaires, interviews, conversations and emails. A mixture is good because the more you find out about your students the more helpful you can be. It is useful to know peoples preferred learning styles so you can include everyone. Students will all have different abilities in maths, reading and computer skills where somebody is struggling you should be thinking is additional support needed? If a learner needs extra support with sign or actually physically writing can you get hold of the right people to help? If you cannot communicate with your learners this then creates problems and leaves people feeling excluded.
Maintaining a safe and secure learning environment – Where you teach is the physical environment. Checks should be made that all students can get around with ease and nobody is going to trip up over anything. Risk assessments can support this. Simple checks like are the lights working? If not then do we know who to report the problem to? In my organisation we have a maintenance book and it is up to the facilities manager to check jobs have been completed. To create a positive learning environment tutors need to be enthusiastic, well prepared, non judgemental, and show an interest in the individual. These are all positive steps so the students will feel more comfortable with others, motivated, valued and not scared to contribute, everyone should be included.
Behaviour in the classroom – Giving the group control of coming up with their own ground rules makes them feel as though they have ownership of how they conduct themselves. Bullying and any other unacceptable behaviour must be challenged or other learners start to feel threatened and uncomfortable because there no longer is a safe and secure learning environment.