Keeping our courses and events covid-secure

What are we doing?

Dartington Trust and its two learning faculties (Schumacher College and Dartington Arts School) always endeavour to provide a safe and supportive environment for all of our course participants and visitors. We continually respond to changes in government guidance relating to the pandemic and constantly review the support offered to all of our students, staff, and visitors to maintain a safe environment by using social distancing, robust cleaning, and encouraging hand washing and sanitising across the Estate.

Testing

In order to ensure the safety for all our students and community we ask that you take a Lateral Flow Test within 24 hrs prior to the start of the course and every 4 days if the course is of a longer duration. Tests are readily available and free – click here for info. Please order in advance as they may take 2 or 3 days to arrive. If you receive a positive result please do not attend the college and immediately report the result to us via email at covid@dartington.org Similarly if you have any Covid like symptoms but have a negative LFT test result we would ask that you get a negative PCR test prior to coming to the estate

Social Distancing

We will follow social distancing guidelines in place at the time of the event. In some cases, we will provide specific information on our event pages about what to expect on arrival.

Teaching Rooms/ Studio space

Rooms will be thoroughly cleaned in advance of your arrival at your event. Once cleaned, the rooms will not be accessed by any member of the public or staff until your arrival.

Where possible we will have a separate entry and exit to help to reduce cross over of participants and maintain social distancing. Hand sanitising stations will also be set up.

We will make use of our beautiful outdoor spaces where possible and when weather allows! Communal toilets, spaces and touch points will be cleaned three times a day.

Overnight stays (where applicable)

Access to accommodation will be controlled and rooms will be deep cleaned and aired between use. We ask that you take an LFT test within 24 hrs prior to the start of the course. You will be asked to self-declare that you haven’t felt ill in the
48hrs prior to arrival and asked to sign a waiver in advance of your arrival. Details will be on our website: www.dartington.org/stay

Food & Drink

• If numbers are such that we can’t maintain physical distancing in the dining area, participants will be split into groups with staggered meal times.
  Participants can eat outside weather permitting.
• Self-service of meals is not possible.
• Catering staff and volunteers will wear masks / disposable aprons / gloves when preparing or serving food.
• If you wish to visit the Green Table café, The White Hart bar or other outlets during your time with us, please check our website for opening times and safety information.

Travel & Parking

• How you travel to Dartington is a personal preference.
• We have adequate parking for you on the Estate.
• We’re a half hour walk from Totnes Train station, a short bike ride or 5 mins in a taxi.

What if someone falls ill?

• Should a participant fall ill whilst here we would immediately support the student to get a PCR test and ask that arrangements are made to return home and to enter self-isolation.
• Whilst arrangements are made the participant will be asked to remain isolated in their room.
• The room will remain unused for a minimum of 72 hours and then professionally cleaned.
• If a staff member should fall ill they will be sent home immediately to test, self- isolate and cover will be in place as soon as we can.
• You should not join a course if you’ve had coronavirus symptoms in the last 2 weeks unless you have had a new negative PCR test.
• If you need to cancel you’ll be able to transfer to another course or given credit.

Should I wear a mask?

We request that you bring your own masks to wear in public areas and indoor teaching spaces. Some elements of your course might involve being 1m plus rather than 2meters, for short periods, and if so or if you are travelling on a field trip in a minibus etc. you will be required to wear a mask.

What if the situation changes?

We are monitoring the situation daily and will refund or reschedule participants if courses have to be cancelled. This information is subject to change in line with government guidance.

If you have any further questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to drop us a line at boxoffice@dartington.org.

Welcoming you back to watch films together…in a safe space: we want everyone to feel as safe and relaxed as possible as we all venture out and get back to doing the activities we love best. With that in mind, The Barn has several safety measures to make you feel confident to come back to the big screen!

NHS test and trace app

We encourage visitors to ‘check in’ on arrival – look for the Test and Track poster and barcode. Details on the app can be found here.

Socially distanced seating

We have a new seating plan that allows for one meter+ between each customer booking. We have accounted for different numbers of booking groups (up to 4 people), so you can book a seat with friends and family. However, if you are having trouble finding a space that works for you please call our Box Office, open from 1- 8 Tue – Sun. If you are booking solo, please do feel free to book any of the seats allocated for two people (as long as one is not already booked).

We do ask our customers to respect the two-meter distancing advice and to leave the cinema by their closest exit and only when it is safe to do so at a two-meter distance from other customers.

A clean and fresh cinema

Keeping the Barn clean and fresh is our top priority. We have a (locally-made) hand sanitiser, which we ask our customers to use before they come into the cinema. We also have a salt-based disinfectant to spray down the seats after each performance. The Barn’s uses an air circulation system that takes fresh air from outside and circulates it into the cinema. To be doubly sure of fresh air flow between performances, we will leave the doors to the cinema open.

Face coverings in the cinema

We will ask our customers to respect the safety of our staff and their fellow film watchers and keep their masks on during the performance. If you believe you are exempt from wearing a mask, please do talk to our box office staff or front of house team who can make sure you are seated at a two-meter distance from the nearest customer.

We will be continually reviewing our policies and listening to new guidance and feed back throughout the duration of the pandemic.

Changes to ticket purchasing

We are currently not able to accept cash payments and encourage booking tickets online. This system will allow us to get customers through to the cinema faster and have any que outdoors, avoiding any crowds or congregation in our indoor foyer space. Do have your e-tickets ready on your phone or printed out so it can be scanned or checked by one of our front of house team. Dartington also have a brand new Welcome Center, on the opposite side of the archway to The Barn’s entrance, where our Box Office is now situated. You can buy tickets on the door there, but please make sure you can access your emails.

Our Team

We are delighted to be re-joined by our amazing team of volunteers who will be there to help and support you through your experience at The Barn, and who aim to make your visit as simple and relaxed as possible.

Program

With the film industry being very much thrown into flux by the pandemic we are not able to book films as far in advance as we would ordinarily. Due to this, and a desire to minimise points of contact, we will no longer be printing our program. We will continue to offer an online program and to display  information on posters in the local area. We are grateful for your understanding in this.