COVID19

Here is our COVID 19 Risk Assessment –  COVID19 RA v2 Kaliwood June 2020

Guidelines for returning to Kaliwoods Forest School

The Kinda Education team looks forward to inviting your child to Kaliwoods for their Forest School experience. We have gathered advice from various sources including Government, Forest School Association and Suffolk County Council’s Covid-19 guidelines and set up a system that will minimise the risk of infection and keep children and staff safe in the woods.

There is strong evidence that being outdoors reduces stress, keeps immunity strong, builds resilience and a sense of community and keeps us physically healthy.

We aim to get the balance right and will do all we can to keep the session fun and relaxed, building resilience not fear.

If your child is returning to Forest School, please follow the guidelines below. Many of these points are taken from national guidance.

FIT AND WELL
Please only send your child to Forest School if they are fit and well. Although the most obvious symptoms of COVID-19 are a high temperature and a new persistent cough we now know that people can experience a wide range of other symptoms such as loss of taste or smell. If you are in any doubt if your child may be unwell, please keep them at home.

If anyone in your household displays the main symptoms of COVID-19, all members of the household will need to self-isolate for 14 days.

It is recommended that a child attends one setting only to reduce the risk of infection and lots of contact with different children/groups.

COLLECTION AND LEAVING
We prefer that one adult comes to drop off and collect your child from Forest School. Please observe social distancing guidelines. Please allow 2 metres or at least 1m+ distance between you and the next family. Leave the car park promptly. A member of staff will be at the top of the wood path to walk children down to the camp and back again at the end of the session.

The arrival and drop off time for your child will be specific and known to you before the day of the session. We hope you will get to the site on time to keep the system flowing. If you ask for your child to leave early, we will bring your child to the car park at the agreed time.

COMMUNICATION
If we have a message for you, and it is not appropriate to pass it on verbally, a KE team member will call you later in the day. Likewise, if you have a message for us, sending a message by text to the Kinda Education phone is the safest way to pass on messages.

If you have a message to pass on, please tell staff if present at wood or text 07776 117671 or email info@ kindaeducation.org We will respond as soon as possible.

CLOTHING
Children should wear outdoor, comfortable clothing, including long trousers and have a warm layer. Please bring a waterproof jacket.

BUBBLES
The Forest School Association (FSA) believes that due to the nature of Forest School sessions and facilitating the play needs of children and young people, the most appropriate precaution which can be taken is to create and maintain learner “bubbles”. This means that equipment, resources and the environment can be shared within that “bubble” without significant risk.

Your child will be encouraged to follow the 2m or at least 1m social distancing guidelines, but as you can appreciate, it isn’t easy. Physical run-around games will not be set up by adults. We will be keeping each bubble, including children and staff, separate (e.g. at lunch times) for the day.

Each child will have their own chalk log seat and area. Please bring a water bottle and packed lunch in a bag that they recognise as their’s. Kinda Education tools will be labelled with their name if they are being used consistently.

Any resources that are hard to clean will be removed and unavailable for use at the session. There will be alternative and fun activities that considers the importance of keeping distance from others. We will wipe equipment down, where possible. This will be washed between different groups of children to reduce infection.

HYGIENE
We will share information about personal hygiene and raising awareness of how to minimise the spread of infections in a sensitive and age appropriate way. We want to keep the session relaxed and safe for everyone. Please check that your child washes their hands before leaving home and when they get home from Kaliwood.

Children will wash their hands regularly using our hands-free Tippy Tap water system. A KE staff member will ensure children wash their hands after they have been to the toilet and at other times, including before lunch and before they leave to go home at the end of the session. We have soap and hand sanitisers for use throughout the day. We will supply a hand cream suitable for sensitive skin for any child that has dry hands. If you prefer your child to not use the hand cream please let us know.

We will increase our daily cleaning hours in the wood to ensure that it is kept as clean as possible. In addition, surfaces will be cleaned regularly during the session. We will use bins to collect waste in the bubble areas, in the kitchen and outside the toilet. These will be emptied during the day and the bins will be re-lined with fresh bags.

If your child needs any form of intimate care or first aid for an accident, appropriate PPE equipment will be worn by a member of responsible staff. This will include wearing gloves and face shield where appropriate.

FIT AND WELL
If a child displays any signs of illness, we will contact you straight away. If your child displays typical COVID-19 symptoms, your child will be taken to a quiet area and a member of staff will stay with them until you arrive to collect them. Other children will be kept away to avoid any further distress to anyone.

If we send anyone home from your child’s bubble, with suspected symptoms, we will contact all parents and carers from the bubble to inform you. If the child or member of staff tests positive for COVID-19, everyone from the bubble will have to self-isolate for 14 days. In this case, if you have two children in the wood, your other child will not be required to isolate until someone in your household displays symptoms. In this situation, everyone in the household would need to isolate for 14 days.

If you have any other questions, please contact us.

We hope that you feel reassured with the measures that we have put in place and look forward to welcoming your child to to Kali Wood.