Policy

This policy is intended to inform staff, participants and any organisations Biodiversity and Environmental Education Society (BEES) may be working with about the measures BEES has put in place in response to COVID-19. 

 

We will be advising both staff and participants to follow the most up to date government and NHS guidance including: 

• Regular hand washing 

• Wearing face coverings in enclosed spaces 

• Social distancing 

 

For up-to-date guidance please visit https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus and https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/symptoms/#symptoms 

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In order to ensure the safety of our staff and participants, we have restructured the Course programme to remove all indoor face-to-face sessions. Most of our subjects will now consist of an outdoor guided walk, combining practical and theoretical components, followed by an online session covering the rest of the theory. A small number of the subjects will be online only. However, if the scheduled outdoor practical sessions take place whilst we are in tier 4, we will run an online theory session on these dates instead, with outdoor practicals to follow post-tier 4.

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If the situation changes in a way which will impact our approach, the charity’s trustees will hold a meeting and discuss the best way forward. We will alert staff and participants as early as possible to any changes in scheduled activities and details on the reasoning behind the decision. 

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Note to our Participants registered on the Course

We appreciate that the current situation of ever-changing government guidelines makes planning difficult. In these uncertain times our normal Booking Terms and Conditions continue to apply. However, we will endeavour to accommodate your needs as best as possible. For our first Course due to be launched in January/February 2021, we will waive our usual requirement to pay within 30 days of booking a place on the Course, and instead accept payment any time prior to 2 weeks before the Course start date.  

 

In the event you need to self-isolate during the Course because you show COVID-19 symptoms or someone in close contact with you tests positive for COVID-19 or if it is simply a precaution that turns out to be negative, we can discuss ways to continue your learning opportunities if that is your choice.  

Should you wish to make an alteration to your booking, please contact us in writing to discuss it at contact@beeanatureguide.org.uk. 

 

In the event one of our teachers needs to self-isolate when they are scheduled to lead an outdoor practical session, we will endeavour to either: 

• Arrange an alternative teacher to take the session (where we have more than one teacher for a subject) 

• Re-arrange the course schedule to run a different session on the affected date 

• Postpone the practical session to an available date later in the course programme 

• Move the practical session to an online session (if feasible) 

 

In the event of another national lockdown forcing us to make changes to our Course, we will inform you as soon as possible. You will have the opportunity to decide what is most convenient for you as mentioned in our Booking Terms and Conditions. 

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Note to our Partner Organisations

If your organisation has kindly agreed to allow our outdoor practical sessions to take place at a site you manage, please be reassured that we will ensure our staff and participants are aware of your relevant policies and procedures and will follow them at all times alongside the measures outlined in our own COVID-19 policy and risk assessment.  

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Risk Assessment

Please click on the BEES logo below to read our COVID-19 Risk Assessment:

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