RSY-Netzer - The Zionist Youth Movement for Reform Judaism

Each camp has their own Welfare Officer. They are generally teachers with at least 3 years teaching experience that have been through RSY-Netzer or similar movements themselves as a participant and leader.

Their role is to think about the overall health, happiness and safety of your children. They will assist the leaders to pitch things appropriately; check how a day is flowing and can discuss changes for the camp should they feel they are needed. If for example the young people as a whole seem too tired/cold/hungry to complete the planned activities the Welfare Officer will decide with the head leaders how to end the activity and restructure the rest of the day.

The Welfare Officer works very closely with the nurse/medic on camp and will spend time with those young people who have more complex welfare issues while on camp. They can be in close contact with families should the need occur.

Before camp our resident Welfare Officer is available to talk through issues that are raised by you or flagged up by our medical forms.

Our resident Welfare Officer spends time with each camp Welfare Officer before camp going through issues that may have arisen and any information you want known only by the minimal people on camp.

During camp they are mentored each day by our resident Welfare Officer.

The Welfare Officers work very discretely, confidentially and with respect for you and your child's family issues.

They can be involved in disciplinary matters that may occur on camp.

Our camps are staffed by a trained medic or nurse.

If your child should become sick whilst on camp, a member of the team will inform you if they have a temperature or feel that a trip to the local GP or hospital is required. If they have a simple cold or if it is the first day they have complained of an upset tummy you may not be informed. However if they continue to feel unwell we will keep you informed and you may of course speak to them.

Rarely, in the past children have needed to be admitted to hospital, should this occur, a member of the team will stay with your child until a family member can reach the hospital - this can mean overnight.

We adhere to strict health and safety policies, and it is rare, but if your child has an accident and sustains a serious injury that has needed medical attention on camp, a member of the senior team will inform you directly. They will keep you up to date on how your child's feeling and will encourage the children to talk with you directly if appropriate.

We have had many years of experience of dealing with various levels of homesickness. We find that perhaps surprisingly, the less contact your child has directly with you over the first few days the more they seem to become involved with the routine of camp, make friends and feel more established. We understand that this can be very anxiety provoking for yourselves and will do what we can to reassure you of your child's progress. If the Welfare Officer on the camp feels it would be beneficial to be directly in touch they will do so, otherwise information will be relayed via the office. Your messages will also be relayed if you do not want to talk directly to your child.

Frequently on a variety of camps girls may have their first period. It would be helpful if you anticipate that this may happen, to pack sanitary towels and a hot water bottle. It would also be helpful to ask them theoretically if they would like you to be informed by a senior member of the team whilst they are on camp or if they will want to call you themselves.

We have found that some girls prefer to discuss this event with their parents only once they get back to camp. We will not automatically inform you unless your daughter asks us to. We will automatically ask your daughter if she wants to phone home. All camps have a medical staff member and a Welfare Officer who are able to deal with both the emotional and physical aspect of this event.

From the moment your child arrives for camp we realise that even those who know many other participants may find the concept of friends and friendships daunting. We attempt to monitor and encourage friendships from the way children are sat on the coach going to camp to the way we organise time on camp.

All camp structures are created to encourage friendship making. Each camp has regular times when the children are split in to smaller groups. This could be at dorm time when one leader will be responsible for encouraging a feeling of comradely and creates a supportive atmosphere before bed time. Activities are done within the dorm to aid relaxation before bed time, to reflect on the day and to prepare for the next day. This often creates bonds between the young people.

Kvutzah is another time when small mixed sex groups meet regularly. They are set up to create a "family group" with 2 leaders to approximately 8 children. The leaders take a special interest and responsibility for their group. More experienced leaders are paired with less experienced leaders and we aim to have a male and female leader for each kvutzah. This is often a special and secure time for all the children on camp. These groups meet at least once every other day.

During other activities on camp the young people will be split in to different groups to avoid clique behaviour and to encourage positive group friendships. Kvutzah and dorm leaders assist in suggesting positive group dynamics.

Bullying is taken very seriously on camp and offenders can be sent home.

Should a dynamic be known to be a problem between young people before camp we recommend that we are informed so that we may monitor the situation and if necessary act accordingly in terms of dorm and kvutzah splits. We can also offer support before camp to those that have specific worries in this area. These steps have proven to be very helpful in the past.

We also encourage you to ask your children to inform any leader or the Welfare Officer on camp should they be made to feel uncomfortable by another young person or a group of young people. We will then intervene with our protocols as quickly and efficiently as possible. Many children have enjoyed camp in spite of a terrible dynamic that had been created at school or other social environments before camp had started.

Our leaders do look out for bullying, nastiness and young people not appearing happy, and are often very good at spotting issues. However, things are much more effectively dealt with if the young people inform any staff member that they are unhappy. The Welfare Officers on camp are experienced in dealing with these types of problems.

Every child's needs are looked at specifically and discussed confidentially before camp.

As with other medical requirements we are also able to deal with participants with diabetes. Our trained Medics can assist your child to monitor and manage their sugar levels in this environment and the Welfare Officer will contact you directly to discuss how this affects your child.

If you need to supply special snacks please make sure that these are marked as medication so that no one else in your child's room will mistake it as tuck.

We ask all parents to check their child's hair before camp so that an outbreak of nits does not occur. If however it should happen, we will use a combing and conditioner method and may ask your advice with regard to how else we can manage this.