COVID-19 Health and Safety Plan
Since we postponed all Wild Wine School classroom courses, we have been busy researching the safest way to welcome you back. We know there are many of you whose course plans have been disrupted by the pandemic, so thank you for waiting patiently to begin your educational journey with us.
We can now confirm that Wild Wine School will be reopening for in person courses from Autumn 2020. Below, we’ve outlined our plan to keep you safe, and how we'll keep things fun and interactive during your time with us. But first, here is the one thing we ask for your assistance with, to help us ensure that you and your fellow students have a safe and enjoyable learning experience.
- Don't take risks with your health
If you're not feeling 100% fit and well, please stay at home. If you have any concerns or feel something coming on, err on the side of caution. Even if you are feeling fine, but you have come into contact with someone with COVID-19 symptoms in the last 14 days, get in touch and we’ll transfer you to the next available course (either online or in person).
There won’t be any financial repercussions if you can’t attend a booked course for any of these reasons. Your safety is our top priority.
Our COVID-19 Health & Safety Plan
Below we have summarised our plan, with all the information you need for an enjoyable and safe classroom learning experience. We'll update these procedures here as things change and evolve, so please see below our most up to date guidelines. If you have any questions that aren’t answered here, please contact us.
General procedures
Social distancing
- Floor markers to aid social distancing will be in place throughout the venue.
- Class sizes have been limited to allow ample space between desks.
- The number of courses being delivered has been carefully managed to ensure that social distancing can be respected.
- Allocated individual stations which allow social distancing will be ready in the classroom for your arrival onto the course each day. You can help us with managing this by arriving promptly (not late but not too early) for your class, and then respecting social distancing whilst queuing to enter.
- During breaktimes, we encourage you to take advantage of the open spaces that are located around the venue. Please dress according to the seasons to allow for this, however if you are unable to go outside due to any extreme or unexpected weather, we’ll ask you to stay in the classroom area to restrict the number of people moving around/gathering in any small spaces such as any corridors or bathrooms.
Sanitisation
- All venues will undergo a thorough deep clean prior to hosting Wild Wine School courses.
- Extra sanitisation will take place throughout each day of frequent contact spaces including entrance doors, handrails, bathrooms, tables and seats.
- Our team will use cleaning products and protocols which are approved to effectively fight against viruses, bacteria and pathogens on all equipment and surfaces. We’ll continue to explore additional sanitation tools and stay abreast of the most effective methods and products to use.
- Hand sanitiser will be available in every room
- Glassware for tastings will be provided by Wild Wine School and washed in our anti-bacterial glass washers.
- Where possible, learning will take place in outside areas, or if inside any doors and windows will remain open to increase air flow.
Keeping you, and our team safe
- The only people in the building will be those who are integral to the successful running of your course or exam.
- All venues hosting our courses have been checked to ensure they meet the criteria set out in Wild Wine School’s COVID-19 Health & Safety Plan.
- Our team will undergo regular training on COVID-19 safety and sanitation protocols.
- Appropriate PPE will be provided to anyone who needs it.
- We are here to support you, so please feel free to ask any questions throughout your course. All we ask is that you follow social distancing guidelines when speaking to us, particularly before and after sessions when there can be a temptation to gather in larger groups.
In the classroom
- Our classroom has been rearranged to meet social distancing guidelines and our class capacities have been adjusted to reflect this. Upon arrival, we will point you to your allocated individual station, so please take a seat there. Just because you have a desk to yourself, don’t let this stop you saying hello to the people around you!
- We ask that you bring your own writing materials (please note: for examinations you will need a pencil and rubber)
- We will provide all the glassware you need for the course/exam (you do not need to bring in your own glasses).
- We will also provide disposable recyclable spittoons – you’ll just need to dispose of your spittoon in one of the bins provided at the end of the session.
- All wine, spirits or sake samples will be poured by your educator or a member of our resources team, so you won’t need to pass bottles between one another.
- We’ll display the bottles on a table at the front so that you can take a look at the labels, but we’ll ask you not to pick up/handle the bottles.
How will we keep things fun?
We really hope that this plan has reassured you that we’ll be providing a safe environment for your course. But we also know that many of you have chosen to study with us purely for the enjoyment of learning with other like-minded wine lovers, and we really don’t want to lose that in amongst all the safety measures.
Don’t worry, the wine, spirit and sake samples will be just as delicious, the course content will be just as fresh, and your educator, Debbie will be keener than ever to share her passion for wine in a classroom full of students. We are also playing around with a few new ideas and resources to keep things fun, interactive and sociable while you learn, and can’t wait to share these with you.
This will be a new way of doing things for all of us, but we’re excited to take on the challenge of making wine, spirits and sake education more enjoyable than ever in a socially distanced world!