COVID-19 Safety Plan

Dear Students,

I know this year will be very different than what we are used to, but I am hoping that by being creative, flexible and by working together, we can make it a fun and rewarding experience for everyone. The first step in doing this is to understand the things we can all do to keep each other safe and healthy so that our school year is not interrupted by COVID-19.. 

Health & Safety Plan

I sincerely hope that you treat and respect our Handsworth dance studio as your home. In my experience, students and teachers alike love a clean and safe environment to dance in. The following health & safety procedures have been put in place, for stage 2 of the B.C. restart plan, for us to feel safe and comfortable when learning together in the dance studio. We all play a part in this as members of the Handsworth Dance community. Let’s do this for each other’s wellbeing! 

  • Self-monitor for illness symptoms before coming: Stay home if feeling ill or unwell, regardless of how mild your symptoms may be. Email or send a message on MS Teams to your teacher daily to connect if staying home.
  • Social distancing: Remember that the best way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is social distancing. Keep 2m apart when possible.
  • Non-medical mask: Students and staff are required to wear a mask when outside their learning cohort and while in all school common spaces including hallways.  When in the dance studio, face masks are always required as well.
  • Coughing or sneezing: Cover mouth and nose with a tissue to cough or sneeze OR do so into the bend of your elbow.
  • Avoid touching your mouth, nose, and eyes.
  • Hand washing: Students & staff must wash their hands or use hand sanitizer/wipes before entering and when leaving the dance studio.
  • Avoid physical contact whenever possible. The curriculum, activities, and choreography given will respect social distancing measures and duets or dances with physical contact will not be permitted.   Physical contact must also be avoided in your personal interactions in the dance studio as well.
  • Entrance: Students are required to enter the dance studio through the main staircase, indoors, below the science aisle. No one is permitted to enter by the back door (from outside, by the ravine).
  • Shoes: Students & staff will need to remove their street shoes before entering the dance studio and leave them outside the door. For Crew dancers, bring a pair of clean shoes to be kept in a cubby (or brought to class every time)  in the dance studio for you to use. Shoes are necessary for this class (no flip flops or slippers permitted).
  • Personal belongings: Each student will be given their own cubby in the dance studio.  No personal items are allowed on the dance floor at any time and must remain in your personal cubby for the duration of class.
  • Floorwork: Floorwork will be minimal, except for our discussion circles and warm-up & stretches.
  • Dancewear: Students must arrive to the dance studio wearing dance appropriate clothing to dance/sweat/stretch. There will be no access given to the changing rooms as social distancing is not possible.
  • Water: Students must arrive to class with their personal water bottle already filled.
  • Washrooms: Only access the washroom dedicated to the dance studio zone within the school. There is no washroom in the dance studio.
  • Ventilation: Weather-permitting, every effort will be made to keep the back studio door open as well as the main studio door to allow a constant air flow through our space.
  • Personal computers: Students are highly encouraged to bring their personal laptop or tablet to class to facilitate work on projects & assignments.  No sharing of personal devices will be allowed.
  • Music: There will be no student access to the main studio sound system or studio computer.  All class wide music will controlled by the teacher with content based on student requests.  If you are connecting your phone to one of the portable speakers, you may only control your own phone and you must sanitize the speaker when you are finished using it.  Also, sharing of headphones and and ear buds is not permitted.
  • Office and kitchen and access: Students are not permitted in the studio office, kitchen or the hallway that accesses these spaces except in the event of an emergency evacuation or school lock down.
  • Costumes: Opportunities to perform in class and virtually will be explored where ever possible. In the event that costumes from the Dance Department wardrobe are used, sharing is not permitted unless garments are washed according to district guidelines between uses.