Special Booking Conditions CV19

The following booking and safety conditions are special for summer 21 to reflect the unpredictable natural of current travel and need for safety measures. Please note unless stated differently here, all other normal conditions exist. Below the special reservation conditions you will also see information on safe learning CV19 protocoles.

CV 19 Conditions

• Students can book up for any summer programme without the need to pay any deposit until June. Spark promises to hold this student a place until this moment but does reserve the right to ask for a booking deposit earlier if travel and global health situation has improved or become more clear before this date. Likewise within this agreement Spark reserves the right to cancel any reservation by this date if it seems unlikely the minimum course numbers can be met.
• From 1st of June a 25% deposit of the total programme price would be needed to guarantee the course place. This 25% would be no-refundable from this point with the following exceptions in which a full desposit (minus bank fees) would be provided:
  • Travel to Spark was made illegal (only relevant government authorities can decide this) from student’s destination to Spark, or within Spain from one point to another, then Spark would issue a full refund minus any banking fees.
  • Sickness of quarantine due to Cv19 which coincides with the contracted course dates.
• Spark would only ask for remaining 75% of the programme price to be paid 2 weeks before course start date. The same conditions as bullet points above would exist from this point.

CV Safety Protocoles

Spark has run a safe academy and safe summer camp in last year. Hence we have established active system of protocols for dealing with CV19 prevention in our academy and residence. These protocols follow the current guidelines from the Spanish Ministry of Education and relevant Health Authorities. They were elaborated in partnership with our sister companies: TECS (summer camps) and El Centro Inglés (bilingual school) and cover all areas of our operations to guarantee the safest set up possible. We regularly check relevant parts with our cleaning company – Sodexo – and risk prevention company, Cualtis. We form part of the “academia segura” and “campamento seguro” network of academias and summer camps having successfully implemented the needed safety and prevention protocols to best provide a safe learning environment for students. Of course all protocols adapt to the ever changing legal requirements and regulations and the continuing evolving situation of the virus.

Spark’s protocols include the following:

• Adherence to all current legal requirements to do with prevention.
• Rigorous disinfecting of the building and implementation of other prevention cleaning protocols, including extra cleaning of contact points and extra ventilation.
• Providing hand sanitizing gel in all required areas and establishing a hand washing system for students between activities.
• Control of flow of people in the Spark building to prevent accumulation of large groups of students and to maximise the adherence to the required distancing. This could include the rotation of eating times or staggered entry and exit of students.
• Set up of classroom and bedrooms to ensure the required distancing is adhered to. This includes respecting the legal aforo limits in place at the time.
• Training of our staff in all required prevention measures and implementation of these measures with any student for which we are responsible.
• Temperature checks of staff and students and prevention isolation of staff or students if required.
• Action plan in the effort of CV19 case. Following all current legal requirements and advice.
• Periodic testing of our staff for CV19 plus a rapid test response in case of need.
• Adaption of class and cultural activities to ensure a safe prevention environment but done without taking away from learning or fun.
• Adherence to necessary requirements for any transportation needed during an activity
• Frequent communication with clients to ensure the safest environment possible for a tour and are aware of all current requirements.
• Updating our system of protocols to match any new legal requirement or advice.

General Protocol Information

Before Arrival

1. Before arrival, the student’s bedroom and other communal areas are disinfected following the current requirements and advice.

2. Spark staff are trained in the needed measures in CV19 prevention and have experience implementing them both in an academy and summer camp setting.

3. Daily checks are done of staff temperature and staff showing symptoms of: cough, fever, loss of smell/taste, or that have been required to quarantine by the authorities due to contact with an infected person, are not allowed to come to work.

3. Clients will be asked to follow similar protocols before attending a spark course in order to ensure no person showing symptoms or having had recent contact with an infected person attends a spark course during this period.

4. This protocol is made available to clients before their trips and on arrival.

General Information on Regulations in Spain

1.  The use of a mask is obligatory in Spain and should be worn at all times, except whilst sleeping, eating or doing an activity requiring physical exertion or contact with water. Spark will have reserve masks in case of need but it is responsibility of clients to bring enough masks for their stay.

2. 1.5m is the legal distance in Spain that should be attempted to be maintained at all times: including off site. Onsite: class tables, beds, canteen tables would all be spaced in order to help ensure this and when moving around the building students should also do their best efforts to maintain this distance. However as said, regardless Spanish law is that masks should be worn at all times when not in the bedroom setting.

Spark Measures to help prevention

1. Entry to Spark residence will strictly be for clients only. No other people are permitted in the residence.

2. Parts of the programme could be run on a rotational basis in order to prevent large groups of students, this could include eating, showering and class times. Also staggered entry and exit to and from the build could exist. Class spaces may also be adapted to fit foro requirements. We have a large building so have no problem doing this.

3. Temperature checks of all students and teachers could be carried out morning and night if deemed needed.

4. Students will not be allowed to share materials or food and activities will be adapted to prevent activities that encourage this.

Cleaning and other hygiene measures

1. Hand-sanitizing gel will be made available throughout Spark. It should be used on entering the building, or between activities,  if hands are not being immediately washed. All spark staff will carry gel with them on activities done off site. Students and schools should also bring their own.

2. The whole building will be disinfected completely once a day. All following the existing legal requirements.

3. Bathrooms/showers will be revised a further 2 times. Soap, hand towels and bins will be checked regularly.

4. Bathrooms, classroom and bedrooms doors and windows  will, where possible, be left open in order to allow ventilation.

5. Classrooms will be wiped down after each turn over of a class.

Set Up of Classrooms/Bedrooms/Canteen and other

1. Classrooms are set up to maintain the required distance of 1.5m between students. Also during activities these distances will also be maintained. 

2. There will be 1.5m2 between each bed and the number of students per room will respect the existing aforo limit.

3. The canteen space will be set up to respect 1.5m distance and also larger groups will eat in rota turns in order to reduce large gatherings of students.

Actions in event of symptoms of CV19 or a diagnosed case

1. Students with a temperature would be immediately isolated. If they also showed symptoms they would be moved to alternative accommodation. Spark staff showing symptoms would not come to work.

2. In the case of a diagnosed case of a student during their trip, Spark and the student would follow all legal requirements in Spain. The same would exist in the case of proven contact with someone who had CV19.

3. In all situations Spark would commit to supporting the student to the maximum extent possible.

4. Spark and the student would commit together to carrying out all these protocols.

We have a complete company protocol in Spanish but the above covers the main relevant elements. We remind students that these protocols will adapt as the situation and legal requirement evolve.