He got into difficulties because of the cold and the strength of the currents.
He was swept out of the pool and died. In September last year, Ellis pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was jailed.
Ellis's trade union, the National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT), refuses to comment on the case. But its advice to members on educational visits is clear: don't take them. It blames our "increasingly litigious society", which it says "no longer appears to accept the concept of a genuine accident".
Who is responsible?
Few youth workers want to make public statements on such a sensitive case. Privately many question the idea that what happened to Max was an accident.
Passing sentence, trial judge Mr Justice Morland called Ellis's behaviour "unbelievably negligent", saying that it had been inexcusable to allow a group of 10- to 13-year-olds to enter the water at all, let alone jump into the pool.
The NASUWT ruling would make little sense for youth workers. Youth work is about doing things and learning from experience. Helping young people to push their boundaries is central to the process.
So the Community and Youth Workers' Union does not have a blanket ban on trips. But its general secretary Doug Nicholls does have fears about inadequate levels of training among youth workers. He advises members not to go "unless they are fully, 100 per cent prepared on all aspects of the health and safety of the trip". Many, especially part-timers, are not, says Nicholls.
The Scout Association's 500,000 young members sustain 3,500 accidents a year, serious enough to require the attention of a dentist, doctor or hospital, so it has a useful insight into the risks posed by activities and trips. John Grantham, insurance manager at the association, explains that only around 2.5 per cent of the accidents occur during adventurous activities. Around a third happen at group headquarters, and a similar proportion at camp.
It may be surprising, but it makes sense. Young people attend regular club nights far more than they go on adventurous activities, so they are cumulatively more likely to be exposed to risks inside the clubhouse.
Another explanation is that hazardous activities are strictly regulated and supervised by qualified instructors.
The key to safety is not to avoid activities. It is risk assessment.
The trouble is, some people are simply not very good at anticipating what might be a risk. What youth worker would try to accelerate a fire by pouring paraffin or petrol on it? Quite a few, says John Grantham. He hears of at least one serious burn each year from doing just that.
Many types of dangers
On training courses, Grantham describes an aluminium dixie containing a gallon of water being boiled on a gas ring perched on an elderly and rickety trestle table surrounded by boisterous Cub Scouts. He sees experienced Scout Leaders shake their heads in disbelief. But while they wonder at the stupidity, other leaders are letting it happen. When something goes wrong, such leaders' perplexed response tends to be - we've always done it like that. But doing something for 20 years and never having a problem doesn't mean that the process is safe, Grantham points out. It may mean you have been lucky.
Statistically, most accidents are collisions - young people coming into sudden physical contact with the fabric of the building or with each other. So does that mean you have to stop playing games where young people run around? Emphatically not. It does mean that you must do a risk assessment to identify as many hazards as you can, eliminate some if possible and minimise the chance of injury from those that remain. You should operate the games within agreed and understood boundaries and not allow them to get out of hand.
Put it in writing
Risk assessments should be written down. That gives everyone access to them, and the need to provide a written document makes sure that the risk assessment does actually take place. Writing the risk assessment does not turn it into a pointless exercise to satisfy the health and safety people and keep insurers quiet. "It should be a living document that you revisit regularly and always when an incident occurs," says Jim Hammett, chief executive of Christian camping organisation CCI UK. "How can you make improvements? What activities or personnel have changed since you wrote it?"
Mike Bridgeland, a senior youth worker employed by Cornwall County Council, takes young people for weekend residentials on Bodmin Moor. They go on night walks across the moor. They play team games in the woods. They go on river walks, descend water slides, hold each other upside down over a pool, float across a lake on a bit of polystyrene. The activities have been carefully risk assessed. The organisers know what the hazards are and what kind of protective clothing is needed.
Activities don't even have to be closely supervised to be acceptable.
Young people in Cornwall go camping without adults on open moorland for parts of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme. Properly trained and motivated young people can be "remotely supervised", says Bridgeland.
Everyday hazards
According to Bridgeland, the riskiest activity is travel. It is hazardous because the injuries that occur as a result of a traffic accident can be severe. What is more, he points out, "you cannot control the behaviour of other road users".
"Risk assessment is a process," stresses Jim Hammett. The more you think about this, the more obvious it is. Things change. The weather may worsen.
Young people may get tired. All these things change the likelihood of someone being harmed.
Mike Bridgeland agrees. "You can take a youth group down to the beach for a game of volleyball," he says. "You will have risk assessment for that. But if they suddenly decide to go swimming, then the situation changes."
That is why he advocates three different types of risk assessment. A generic one is used as a template for common activities. Site-specific assessments are drawn up for a particular trip or visit. Then there is ongoing risk assessment - which has to become intuitive to youth workers whenever they step out with young people.
Bridgeland stresses the need to share assessments with young people.
Risk assessment is also about risk education. One coach driver was unable to brake when a soft drinks bottle got jammed under the brake pedal. Does that make the rule that drinks are not allowed on the coach seem less arbitrary?
Risk education also deals with an underlying concern that we are in danger of bringing up a generation of young people who are not equipped to deal with risk because they have not had exposure to it. Youth workers should not be aiming to eliminate risk, but simply manage it.
The good news for teachers' unions is that courts do dismiss frivolous claims. John Grantham tells of a Cub Scout who claimed post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of homesickness on a residential. The Cub lost his case.
WHAT TO CONSIDER
- Accidents can happen any time Any accident to a young person can be devastating to the youth worker in charge. Injuries can and do happen anywhere, not just in fast-flowing rivers or on mountain sides
- Assessing the risk A hazard is something that can cause injury or harm to people. A risk is the likelihood of someone actually being harmed by that hazard. Many people find a numbering system useful: one, two and three for high, medium and low risk. Remember that hazards can be anything
- Don't reinvent the wheel If you are taking young people to a theme park, an activity centre or just down to a bowling alley, you don't need to risk assess the premises. The site owners will already have done that. Call them in advance and check that they are up-to-date. Then concentrate on what you are responsible for - getting the young people safely there and back
- Give young people a say Invite young people to take part in the risk assessment. They need to learn. And they may well spot hazards that adults hadn't been aware of. If you don't let them know of the effort that has been put into making an activity safe, they've lost a learning opportunity. They might also be endangered through ignorance
- Have confidence in your assessments Once you have understood the hazards, and done what you can to bring the risk to a minimal and acceptable level, you can concentrate on having a good, safe time
- Think safety first Use risk assessments as a way of training the team of people you work with to "think safely". Beware of accepting things as safe because they've happened that way for years. Familiarity can lead to sloppiness
- See the good practice guides The information web site www.teachernet.gov.uk/healthandsafety lists many. Health and Safety of Pupils on Educational Visits published by the Department for Education and Skills is a key document
YOUNG PEOPLE'S VIEWS ON RISK
Young people from Pool School and Community College talk about their activity residential on Bodmin Moor We had to crawl through an underground tunnel with water and it was pitch black. A group of six of us went down. I was scared at first but it was really good.
KERRY POOLE, 15, Portreath
On the river walk a couple of people slipped over and got a bit wet but that was all. We went for a walk on the moor at night. It was a good laugh. People kept screaming and jumping because every time you flashed a torch the sheep's eyes lit up.
NICK DOHERTY, 16, Camborne
The best thing was the water slide. The organisers knew what they were doing. I trusted them.
OWEN HODGE, 16, Portreath
The worst thing was having to clean up at the end. I was doing the toilets. That was risky - you don't know what you could catch.
CRAIG OATES, 15, Pool
People like doing scary things because of the adrenaline. It's the excitement that makes people want to take part in the first place. But if they know the precautions are there, then they know they will be safe.
AIDAN LEE, 15, Illogan
I did the river walking but I didn't go in the lake. I didn't fancy it because I knew I would fall off. If you didn't want to do something you didn't do it.
SARAH WILKINSON, 15, Illogan.
