Covid-19 Safety and your School Tour

To promote the highest safety standards for all groups visiting Cuskinny, we have completed the Failte Ireland Covid Safety Charter. This Charter is the government confirmation that we adhere to recommended safety guidelines. Please find the following steps we have put in place to create a Covid Confident Environment for your school tour;

Protocols we will have in place for your school:

STEP 1 Complete your booking form 

On booking we will liaise with you in advance to discuss the format for the day. Here we will require that the teacher organising the day will complete the following form on behalf of the group.

Here will will confirm with you

  • A staggered arrival and departure time
  • Group bubbles
  • Group sizes
  • Group designated areas
  • Any concerns you may have and any medical / special needs issues you have
  • We will ask that children bring a small waterproof bag that contains a water bottle with sufficient water for the day, a packed lunch and any medicines they require.  A change of shoes and socks.  Bags will be stored in a covered outdoor dedicated area for your school bubble / pods.
  • Arrival / Drop off / Collection procedure for parents/guardian and teachers if required. A link to this information will be provided to you for you to share with parents / guardians.

STEP 2 Complete your Covid-19 Self declaration forms

Before arrival teachers will be asked to request a signed Self Declaration Form for each member of their group

STEP 3 We will operate a School Bubble System

To ensure your group will not come into contact with any other school we have developed a School Bubble System. This will ensure your group will not come into contact with any other school on your visit to our premises. As we operate on a 15 acre estate we will accommodate a maximum of two different schools on premises at any time. Groups will not interact or come in contact with another school nor will groups share instructors. Groups may only see another group whilst walking at a very safe distance in passing to and from activity areas.

To ensure schools do not come into contact with one another we have the following measures in place;

  • Separate arrival / briefing / lunch / toilet breaks
  • Dedicated instructors for your school bubble
  • One-way walking routes and colour coded bubble routes and paths to avoid groups passing each other. We are on a 15 acre estate so this is very achievable.
  • We will operate as closely to your existing class / school pod bubble system as possible.  Activity groups will be run in groups of 12-15  with sub-pods of 5 – 7 within each group who will work together as a team for the day. These sub pods will be divided by a colour coding system to ensure they stay within their pods

 

STEP 4 Sanitary Measures

Toilets will be sanitised hourly by staff trained in correct toilet sanitisation procedure.

Teachers or accompanying adults and bus drivers will be provided with a dedicated separate toilet to children. Again this will be solely for your school bubble and will not be used by teacher, adults or drivers from other school bubble.

We have amended or removed any activities that do not meet our ability to maintain

STEP 5 Staff Masks

All instructors / supervisors will wear masks where social distancing is not possible.  These masks will be removed when at a safe distance for briefing instructions to ensure that safety instructions can be delivered audibly and clearly.  Masks will be worn for the duration of activities.  Masks are optional for children.  We would also ask that accompanying teachers / adults wear masks when interacting with Cuskinny staff or when social distancing of 2 meters is not possible and when entering indoor spaces for toilets or teachers lounge.

STEP 6 Hand washing and sanitising

We will have hand sanitising stations at the entry area to all activity areas. Each member of the group will be asked to sanitise their hands before and after each activity.  We will also have an outdoor hand washing area with hot water, soap, paper towels and a towel disposal bin at your lunch area for thorough hand washing before and after eating.

STEP 7 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Following current health & safety advice, any item of PPE such as helmet or harness that will be in direct contact with a persons skin will be only used once per person per 24 hours.  It will be sanitised / quarantined between use.

STEP 8 Sanitising of equipment / touch items

The following items of equipment that will have multiple users on the same day will be sanitised between groups. They will be sanitised as per the current guidelines.

  • Grass sledges
  • Archery bows
  • Archery arrows
  • Bushcraft tools such as fire starters
  • Low ropes and obstacle course touch points
  • Team Games touch points

Step 9 All activities are outdoors

To ensure groups stay outdoors at all times we will not be using our indoor spaces. As a result no indoor enclosed changing rooms will be available to groups. To minimise the need for changing rooms we have removed the ‘wet/muddy’ section of our Obstacle Course activity.  We still recommend children bring all weather gear, a change of shoes and socks, however this change can be done safely outdoors. We will have limited screened outdoor canopy spaces should privacy be required. For students who require additional assistance we will provide private indoor bathroom areas that can be used at the discretion of their SNA.

Step 10 First Aid

Should a student require first aid assistance we have a minimum of two fully qualified First Aiders on site. Before approaching the student our First Aider will wear a mask, visor and gloves. As they assess the student they will keep a safe distance.

Step 11 Isolation Room

Should a member of your group feel unwell at any time we will have an designated ventilated Isolation room in place with a teacher or qualified adult to supervise at a distance, who will also be provided with mask, visor and gloves. Here the member of your group feeling unwell will be asked to wear a mask. We will require your team to work with us to implement the procedures as per government guidelines.

As per GDPR guidelines we will not have access to the contact details of any of the members of your group. As a result the onus is on the school to contact the family members of the person feeling unwell and provide us with the relevant details required for contact tracing purposes. In as much as it is the responsibility of the school to contact public health we will also contact as a matter of best practices.

Step 12 Contact Tracing

Should a member of a visiting group or a member of our staff or team contract Covid19 we will contact public health and get guidance from Public Health on next steps.

Should a member of our staff contract Covid19 we will be retaining a record of each group our leaders interact with on each day. We will inform public health and follow their guidance as to whether it is necessary to contact your school.