Risk Management and Parent Responsibilities
Wild Oak Nature School aims to balance children's desire to experience and navigate risk in the natural environment with a concrete safety plan that has clear boundaries and emergency procedures. Being able to recognize risk, experience risk, and learn how to manage risk is a very important part of healthy child development. Therefore, in many instances, we at Wild Oak Nature School will strive to co-assess risk with the students and work together to formulate a plan to manage it. Some of the risks inherent to Nature School and outdoor play in general include, but are not limited to:
• Scrapes, bruises, blisters.
• Stings and bites.
• Injuries resulting from a campfire.
Wild Oak Nature School responsibilities:
• Before each session, Wild Oak educators will do an examination of the spaces utilized to assess any potential risks, and mitigate or remove the risks that are found to be present.
• Attend to the physical and emotional safety of all participants by assessing and co-managing risk on an ongoing basis so that all participants feel comfortable and can learn effectively in their surroundings.
• Ensure parents are aware of any changes or adaptions to programming or policies and update all families with such changes.
• To remain first-aid and CPR certified.
• Our role differs from a traditional classroom teacher in that Wild Oak educators act as a guide for learning, and aim to spark curiosity and a desire to learn various skills by prompting with questions, deepening conversations, introducing self-guided projects, encouraging group projects, adventuring alongside the children, and voicing our observations aloud.