At Heartwood, it is our mission to provide outdoor play and learning environments that nourish the mind, body, and soul of all participants. It is understood by both the participant and caregivers that the Heartwood Behavior Expectations and Guidelines are essential for us to maintain a safe environment. Caregivers are required to read the following information with class participants.  

 

Respect Yourself 

• Dress for the weather and bring changes of clothes so that you are comfortable no matter what the weather. 

• Wear waterproof layers (raincoat and rain pants) when it is raining. 

• Eat your own food – your family created your snacks and lunches to keep you healthy, energetic and strong. 

• Bring and drink water, dehydration can catch up with you quickly. 

 

Respect Others 

• Do not eat food from others lunchboxes/packs – every class participant has food packed just for them and their unique nutritional needs, which may include serious food allergies, and health-based or faith-based food restrictions. 

• Include friends in activities, say “yes” when someone asks to join. 

• Safe Touch Policy: Ask and get consent before touching others. 

• Respect other’s projects and artwork, treat it gently, and only destroy it if given consent.   

• Respect other’s safety boundaries, if someone doesn’t feel safe, respect them when they say “no” or want to stop. 

• Consent matters. No means no. 

• No gun play. 

• No horseplay on the trails, remember that we share these spaces with hikers, walkers and bikers of all ages and abilities 

• No screaming unless you’re hurt or need immediate help, screaming can feel scary to teachers, friends and the general public 

• Leave toys and electronics at home so that your friends and teachers can focus on class activities 

 

Respect Nature  

• Do not kill or harm living things. 

• Do not feed or leave food waste for wild animals, animals are healthiest when eating food from nature. 

• If animals/insects are moved from their home for observation, they must be put back. 

• Animals should be placed in a bug box for observation, rather than held in a hand. 

• Animals may be gently felt with one finger at the educator’s discretion.   

• Forest materials/treasures/creatures stay in the forest.  

• No digging deep holes in the grass/fields and fill human-created holes with dirt when you see them. 

• Stay on trails when on hikes to minimize your impact on the wild spaces at the park. 

 

Be Safe 

• Be always within sight and/or hearing distance of an educator so that if you have a safety emergency, help can reach you quickly.  

• Give dogs space: No petting.  Dogs can’t speak but not all dogs feel comfortable being touched by strangers. 

• Sticks/branches/logs used for shelter building may be longer than one arm’s length as long as one end of the stick is in contact with the ground at all times or 2 kids are working together as a team to move a heavy stick, one on each end of the stick/branch 

• Sticks used for imaginative play may be no longer than one arm's length.  Walking sticks must be shorter than one’s shoulder.  Sticks are not allowed on hikes due to the close proximity of the kids and the potential for accidents.  

​

Touching Policy

Physical contact is appropriate if it: 

• Occurs during light touch tag games. 

• Occurs when holding hands. 

• Occurs when giving a kind and gentle hug. 

• Occurs when helping a peer/participant if they need a hand getting up or off something.  

• Includes safe touches (consent is required) These are touches that keep children safe and are good for them, and that make children feel cared for and important. Safe touches can include hugging, pats on the back, and an arm around the shoulder. Safe touches can also include touches that might hurt, such as cleaning a cut or removing a splinter. 

• Consent is always required except where staff need to intervene and believe a participant may be in immediate harm. 

Physical contact is inappropriate if it:  

• Includes touching the groin, genital area, buttocks, breasts, or any part of the body that may cause distress or embarrassment. 

• Is non-consensual 

• Frightens, distresses, or embarrasses other class participants. 

• Includes unsafe touches. These are touches that hurt class participants' body or feelings (for example, hitting, pushing, pinching, and kicking).  

• Includes unwanted touches. These are touches that might be safe but that a child does not want from that person or at that moment. It is okay for a participant to say "no" to an unwanted touch, even if it is from a familiar person.  

 

The Disciplinary Process for On-Going/Disruptive Behaviors 

*To ensure the quality of this program and safety of participants, everyone must follow program rules and expectations. We reserve the right to bypass one or more steps in the process if a situation warrants it, example: physical violence towards others is grounds for removal. 

​

• As soon as the educator becomes aware of an on-going behavior requiring attention, staff members will discuss the issue/collaborate with the participant to identify the problem and form a plan to address it. The educator will check in verbally with the families after class to make all involved aware of the problem and the plan, will ask the caregiver for ideas and input and will ask families to help support behavior goals at home.  

• After the initial conversation with the class participant and family, if the behavior occurs again, the educator will fill out and send home a FIRST Behavior Communication Slip describing the behavior and actions taken in class to address the behavior. 

• If the behavior occurs again, the educator will send home a SECOND Behavior Communication Slip. At this time, the Educator will create a Behavior Support Plan that includes the following information: 

  • Description of behavior 

  • Interventions and supportive strategies taking place in class 

  • Ideas from families to support the student in class and at home 

  • A clear plan including goals for expected behavior and consequences  

  • Depending on the severity of the on-going disruptive behavior, a consequence may include removal from the program 

  • Heartwood reserves the right to suspend or expel any participant from the program who poses discipline problems, regardless of whether all steps in this discipline procedure have been completed 

• No refunds will be issued if a student is removed from the program due to behavior