A prestigious Sydney girls' school is undertaking a full review of its student safety policies after a 15-year-old student was missing in Kosciuszko National Park for about six hours in the middle of the night during a school camping trip.
The year 10 student at Roseville College on Sydney's north shore was eventually found at 5.40am after having left the Snowy Mountains campsite to go to the toilet after 10pm on Wednesday last week, in the middle of a five-day school trip.
The student's tent buddy alerted teachers of her absence at 10.40pm, and 16 students, two teachers and two staff from Land's Edge, the private company that runs the camp, searched the area within 500 metres of the campsite for 1½ hours, a spokeswoman for the school said
Emergency services, school principal Deb Magill and the missing student's parents were notified at 12.30am when that search was unsuccessful.
Two additional experts from Land's Edge, which provides a range of camping and outdoor services for schools, arrived at the site as the initial search was underway and began looking further afield.
"A signal flare was set off to try and attract the attention of the student," Land's Edge managing director Antony Butcher said.
"Any program where we've got students in National Parks, we have people back at base who are in communication with the site.
"Our staff had satellite phones, Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons, first aid kits."
They eventually found the student with her head torch turned on, and responsive.
The school's spokeswoman said Land's Edge staff established vocal communication with her: "They said, 'Are you OK?'
"She said 'yes'.
"'Are you cold?'
"'Yes'."
Emergency services estimate the temperature was about 5 to 7 degrees on the night, but the student was wearing proper clothing and was uninjured.
"She was known to have left the campsite to go to the toilet," Ms Magill said. "She just became disoriented."
The student left camp early the next morning, while the other students went home as planned on Friday afternoon.
"Our deputy principal and a counsellor immediately went to the site," Ms Magill said.
"The parents of all the other students were informed early in the morning and throughout the rest of the process.
"The students went through a full debrief with a psychologist, and they've been well supported.
"We're proud of the way emergency protocols were enacted."
The spokeswoman for the school said it had reviewed its protocols 48 hours before the incident occurred, and the incident was an important reminder for schools to have updated emergency plans in place.