COVID-19 Update

 The Fireflies Forest School team looks forward to inviting your child to Hinchingbrooke Country Park for their Forest School sessions. We have gathered advice from various sources including Government, Forest School Association and discussions with Cambridgeshire 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.

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.

BUBBLES AND SOCIAL DISTANCING

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. This bubble may last 2 hours or it may last days. 

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. Although we will encourage social distancing, there may be times when children are playing when they will forget. 

  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 Forest School, although we will ask them to use the tippy taps on entry and exit too. 

Children will wash their hands regularly using our hands-free Tippy Tap water system. A Fireflies 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.  Hands will also be washed before using ropes or tools. If you would like to pack your child their own soap, sanitizer or hand cream please do. 

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 forest school log circle areas, in the kitchen area and by the tippy taps for any hand towels that may be used. These will be emptied during the day and the bins will be re-lined with fresh bags.

FIRST AID

If your child needs any form of first aid , appropriate PPE equipment will be worn by a member of staff. This will include wearing gloves and face shield/visor where appropriate.

SIGNS OF ILLNESS

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.

TRACK AND TRACE

Anyone booking into our sessions must agree for their contact details to be held for 21 days and if requested, we will pass these onto the track and trace service. 

 We hope that you feel reassured with the measures that we have put in place, please do read our parent information sheet and our risk assessment below. 

We do request that your child does not attend another Summer camp alongside on the days either side of attending sessions with us. 

If there is anything you would like to discuss further please do not hesitate to contact us via email, phone or through our facebook page. 

 We look forward to welcoming your child to Fireflies Forest School this Summer!