With the goal of providing a learning environment that is safe and supportive, both physically and emotionally, we have developed this short list of Community Agreements. These agreements are one of the first things we discuss with the children on our first day of each program:

 

Safety: both for yourself and others
Respect: for yourself, other people, plants and wildlife
Participate: give every activity at least a try before deciding whether or not you want to continue

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Once all the children understand the importance of each of these and have agreed to abide by them, we then explain the consequences if they choose to break any of these agreements:

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1st time: a verbal reminder(“Remember our agreement about Safety?”)
2nd time: sit out(3-5 minutes) to cool off and think about the agreement
3rd time: sit out again, this time with an Instructor, to talk about why they are having difficulty keeping their agreement. At this point one of the instructors will also communicate with the parents at pick-up or via email to discuss the child’s behavior and work together to develop a strategy for helping their child keep their agreements.

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The final two consequences are shared with the child once they’ve reached 3 times:

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4th time: on returning to the program the next week, if the child again breaks the agreement 4 times an instructor will again communicate with the parents and the child will be asked to take a day off of the program.
5th time: on returning after their day off, if the child again breaks the agreements their parents will be asked to remove their child from the program for the season, with no refund provided.