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Terms and Conditions....

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Dear Customer,

All of our classes offer huge amounts of fun however we do have a serious side and we do have rules which we urge you to read before booking. 

The beauty of forest schools, is we have a high staff to child ratio, because of the content of the classes e.g bow sawing, making fires. There is a huge amount of work involved in our lesson plans, we spend a lot of our time collecting resources and preparing the activities and we allocate our staff based on the booked figure.

We take huge pride in offering a variety of activities to all of the children, week after week, year after year. If someone books and then for whatever reason wants to change their plans, it is likely we have already allocated the team and prepared and met the cost of our lesson plans and maintenance of our sites. It is not always possible to refund you, so please be mindful of this before booking. We will try to be as accommodating as possible but we hope you understand we work very differently to many other toddler classes because we purchase different materials every season, to make our sessions really inspiring and educational. Willow's would not be half of what it is, if it wasn't for all the activities we provide,  so we use the funds raised to give the children the very best, in a safe environment and we meet this cost by using our customers fees, therefore we cannot always refund customers when their circumstances have changed. We will do all we can to help but we ask you not to book with us, if you do not agree with our policy.

Of course, if there is someone willing to take your place before the term starts, we will refund your fees minus a £5 admin fee but we cannot just offer refunds at the drop of a hat, however you are very welcome to transfer your booking to the following term or you can have a voucher and use the funds at a different time. The same principle applies when you ask to switch between different classes that may have a different value.  

Please be aware if you book using Tax Free Childcare Vouchers or Tax Free Childcare, you are agreeing to our T&C;s below.      

When you use our booking system we ask that you have read our T&C's, so if you click yes, we will assume you have read this page and are fully aware of our policies and procedures.  

We value your custom and thank you for taking the time to read.

Regards

Willow's Forest School Team   

   

Insurance

Willow’s Forest School is a limited company and holds full Public Liability Insurance and has Legal Protection. Please be aware that activities take place over rough natural ground and although we take every precaution to ensure safe play, accidents may occur. The staff are all First Aid Trained, DBS checked and we risk assess our site and put boundaries in place to ensure a safe experience for the children. Be prepared that your child will sometimes come home muddy and wet but they will have had a great day!

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Bookings

When you book with us, you will find the kit list, maps, directions etc on the booking system or you can visit our website www.willowsforestschool.co.uk You will not receive this information by email. You will however receive a reminder 48 hours before your child attends with us. It is a requirement to fill in all the fields when using our booking system.  Please refrain from booking other peoples children. The reason for this is we work off the information given to us and we cannot be liable if we have not been given the correct details. It is vital we have the correct contact details and accurate information about all of the children. 

 

Ages

Our Parent and Toddler Classes are for walkers up to 4 years old. These sessions are accompanied. Our holiday camps are for children aged 4 - 11 years - we are more than happy to accept older children too.

 

Clothing

We cannot stress enough how important it is to dress your children for a full day outside in the forest, so they can have a positive experience with us. We reserve the right to refuse entry and no refund will be granted if your child is not dressed correctly for a day in the forest. Please see our kit list. You will be given the option to return your child, dressed in the correct clothing for a fun day outside. Please note that even if it has not been raining, water proofs are essential for the activities the children participate in. In the summer months the children need to be wearing long sleeved t-shirts, long light weight trousers, protective footwear (no open toe sandals or crocs) and a summer hat. Please also apply insect repellent and sun cream lotion to your child before the session starts. Our teams are not authorised to apply lotions so please ensure they have a generous amount applied before you meet us. 

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Handwashing

We have hand sanitiser at the entrance of our sites, please use as you enter and depart. Please bring your own for the duration of your time with us. We have tippy taps located around the site and we have a contained bin for used hand towels. 

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Behaviour 

We promote kindness and having a positive approach and we reserve the right to remove your child from our premises if negative or unkind behaviour persists. A refund will not be granted and we reserve the right to withdraw your child from future lessons at Willow's Forest School. We have a duty to protect all of our children and staff. We reserve the right to cancel your booking if a parent / guardian behaves in an unacceptable manner towards our staff, other parents or landowners.

 

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Refunds & Cancellations

We will offer a refund if Willow's Forest School have to cancel a session due to staff sickness.

Once you have booked onto any of our classes, we allocate staff based on our booked figure, we purchase resources based on the booked figure, so we are not in a position to refund you unless another customer can take your space before the course / camp starts. We are happy for you to give your friend your booking and we will change free of charge. 

We are not able to offer a refund if your child cannot attend, as we will still be running the session and have costs to meet. We do not refund if we have to cancel due to circumstances out of our control like adverse weather conditions, high winds exceeding 39 mph or a pandemic, however we will offer you a transfer. We do not refund if you have paid with Childcare Vouchers or Tax free Childcare - your booking can be transferred.   

 

Charges

Any changes requested by the parent / guardian before the start of a class, will incur a £5 admin fee. 

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Toilets

We have toilets and hand washing in the woodlands. At our camps we do expect all children to be able to manage without supervision please. 

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Food

Children attending any of our holiday camps need to bring their own nut free healthy snack, a packed lunch and two drinks please. Lunch times start at 1200. Please pop a healthy snack into your child's coat pocket, so it is easily accessible. Parent and Toddler classes, feel free to bring in a healthy, nut free snack to be eaten when we are sitting. Always bring plenty of drinking water.  

 

Nuts

We have a NO nut policy so please do not allow your children to bring ANY foods containing nuts. The staff now check all packed lunches to prevent any risks. Foods that state "may contain nut traces" cannot be accepted. We all love pesto pasta, but it contains nuts, so please refrain from bringing, so we can protect those who have allergies against nuts.  

 

Sickness

Please do not bring your child to attend forest school if he/she has been sick or has had diarrhoea within the previous 48 hours. We do wish your child a speedy recovery. If your child has either of the symptoms whilst at forest school, we will call you so you can collect your child. 

Covid 19 - will be updated when we reopen

 

Insect repellent / Medication

Please ensure insect repellent is applied before they attend Willow's. Our staff are not authorised to give any medication to your child / children however we are able to assist with epipens and inhalers at holiday camps. Please ensure the 2 epipens are in date and are handed to the staff in a clear named plastic bag. We will ask the parent to sign them in and out. We regret we cannot accept the child unless they have 2 epipens that are in date. Please advise the team leader about the use of inhalers and insure the booking forms have all the details we require.   

When a child is being accompanied by a parent, we will assume they will administer an inhaler or epipen.   

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Drop off and Collection

We require your child to be at our registration point, 10 minutes before our start time. Please ensure you know which venue you are attending as Willow's Forest School operates from many sites.  A charge of £5 will be charged for every 5 minutes you are late, as our team have commitments too e.g their own childcare arrangements. 

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No Social Media

When you complete a booking form please indicate whether your child can appear on social media. If yes, we may post on our website, Facebook and Instagram pages. If no, for us to be 100% sure we do not take photos we give the child a tabard to wear, this then indicates to the staff that no photos are to be taken. We can have many children all at one time, so to avoid any mistakes this system works really well and the children get to wear lovely tabards at our camps! If you decide you would like to see your child on our posts but you have opted for no, please contact us in writing to ask us to update your booking to say yes and then the next time we will be able to take photos. Without written consent, the teams will work off what the booking system says.    

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Landowners

We have a fantastic relationship with all of our Landowners. Some of our sites have speed limits in place. Please abide by these when entering their land. They are there to protect the safety of yourself, other people, children and animals. If you ignore their requests they reserve the right to ask you to leave and not return.

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Foxhill's Members

We offer a Foxhill's Junior membership discount on our classes that run from Foxhill's. We ask for you to add your child's junior membership number, so we can verify the discount with Foxhill's membership office. We will confirm the booking once this process has been actioned and we will only cancel if Foxhill's cannot confirm the Junior membership number that has been used to receive a discount. 

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Vouchers

If you receive one of our gift vouchers, you can use the whole value against any of our privately run sessions e.g term time classes or school holiday camps.. If your child attends our classes through their school, our gift vouchers are not transferable and cannot be used. Please contact us to book and we will give you your booking reference.

 

Tax Free Childcare and Childcare vouchers

Please see the relevant page and visit the drop down box. We do not offer refunds but we do offer a transfer. 

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Additional T&C's for Parents and Toddlers

If your child attends term time classes and then wishes to attend the holiday camps when 4 years old, please note the structure of the day is very different to the 2  hour sessions and could possibly be run by different staff. We advise for smaller children who are attending holiday camps for the first time to come along with a friend if you feel they may not adapt well. 

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Additional terms for our Parent and Toddler Classes

These classes run from 1000-1200. Please be at our entrances 10 minutes prior to our start time. 

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Ages

  • Our Parent and Toddler classes are for children who are steady on their feet to 4 years old. All children are to be accompanied. Baby siblings of the paying child must come in a carrier or pram if attending free of charge.

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Refunds & Cancellations

We will offer a refund if Willow's Forest School have to cancel a session due to staff sickness.

Once you have booked onto any of our courses, we allocate staff based on our booked figure, we purchase resources based on the booked figure, so we are not in a position to refund you unless another customer can take your space before the course starts. If we have a waiting list but the space is not taken up, we are happy for you to give your friend your booking and we will change this free of charge. Our admin department is closed over the holidays, so if you wish to request a swap please give us plenty of notice and request this by the last Thursday of the end of term. We will do all we can to help you but please not if you request over the holidays, we will be in touch at the start of the following term.

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Payments / bookings

We offer Early Bird Offers, we offer options for you to pay the full term but in instalments. If you opt for the 2 instalment scheme, please be aware you are committing to the full term but we are allowing you to pay in 2 stages, with no additional admin costs. If you decide not to continue, you still need to pay the outstanding balance, as we allocate our teams per term. If you do not pay on time we will charge a £5 admin fee for every time we have to chase you. Continuous chasing may result in cancelling your booking and you will not be offered this privilege in the future.  You click the offline option at the end of your transaction and then email info@willowsforestschool.co.uk and we will send you two invoices. Stripe will send you a reminder but if we do not receive on time we will charge a £5 admin fee and we will decline your request next time you wish to pay in instalments. If you have booked an Annual discounted ticket, you are booking all 3 terms. We are offering this deal to those who book the same day with us every term, so with little admin involved and a way of thanking you for your custom, we are able to give a discount on every session. If your circumstances change we are not able to offer you a refund unless someone else is able to take your booking at the start of the academic year, we cannot offer this once the offer starts, as you would have already received some of the annual discount. We do prompt you to read our T&C's at the time of booking.     

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Food

We offer a plain biscuit and marshmallow during the 2 hour session. We discourage lunches being brought to our classes as it is a distraction to the other children. 

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Swap requests

If you have booked a course or our holiday classes and you are unable to attend a class, we cannot offer an alternative session. We are not able to refund you. 

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Our classes

We run a 1 hour class within the 2 hour class at some of our classes. This is something that we started due to our customers request. Many children were too fidgety at the fire circle, which we run at the end of the end of the session, so we were requested to run a  shorter session for those who want to experience forest school but for a shorter time. The 1 hour sessions run at the start of the 2 hour class and includes an introduction, activities and free play, which is a great introduction into our 2 hour classes.          

 

Change of location     

Occasionally we may have to change our location, this may be if the site is being risk assessed or if we have issues that occur that are out of our control. We will do all we can to offer an alternative location within 10 miles of the booked location.                                 

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Taster Classes

Our Taster Classes run from 1000-1200. These classes are discounted and are non refundable and non transferable.  

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Siblings

Siblings aged 12 months and under, attending our Parent and Toddler classes attend for free. Any additional child aged 12 months and over needs to pay for a space. We have reintroduced our sibling rates from September 2021.   

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Sickness

Please do not bring your child to attend forest school if he/she has been sick or has had diarrhoea within the previous 48 hours. We do wish your child a speedy recovery. Covid 19 updates or on our website.

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