Farm visits do carry a very small but real risk of infection to humans.
Mead Open Farm urges all teachers and parents to follow simple hygiene procedures, as you would with your own pet.
If you have any questions not answered below, please contact us on [email protected].
To help you plan your day out, we recommend the following health and safety procedures.
Please inform children before you arrive that they must always wash their hands after touching the animals and that they should avoid putting fingers in their mouths.
Please also ensure all existing open cuts, scratches and grazes are covered with a plaster before you visit the Farm.
If you are bringing a group or school trip, we encourage the trip organisers to visit in advance to do a health and safety risk assessment.
Please click here to download our risk assessment document.
Children must wear closed-toe shoes when you visit as these must be worn on the Sky Trail and Sky Tykes courses and on the Giant’s Rock climbing wall.
Please note that children must have their arms and legs covered to ride on the slides in Shaggy’s PlayWorld, and socks must be worn at all times while playing in the PlayWorld.
Children should not wear gloves when feeding or touching the animals.
Sky Trail and Sky Tykes Course
Please don’t forget to wear closed-toe shoes when you visit as these must be worn on the Sky Trail and Sky Tykes courses and we don’t want anyone to be disappointed!
Children over 1.2m tall can use the Sky Trail course unaccompanied, while those between 1m and 1.2m tall must be accompanied by an adult. Smaller children can use the Sky Tykes course.
Shaggy’s PlayWorld
Please note children need to be over 0.9 metres to use the giant red and blue slides in Shaggy’s PlayWorld, and must have their arms and legs covered.
Smaller children can still use the yellow/orange wavy slide and the slides in the special Under 5’s area.
Socks must be worn at all times whilst playing in the PlayWorld.
Giant’s Rock Climbing Wall
Children need to be over 1.1 metres to climb Giant’s Rock and must be wearing closed-toe shoes.
Shaggy’s On Road Adventure
Children must be over the age of 2 and be able to sit unsupported. All children must ride with an adult.
The following are some basic rules to follow to ensure good hygiene when visiting Mead Open Farm.
Please do not eat food within the animal contact areas. Food can only be eaten in designated picnic areas, or The Grain Store Kitchen.
After contact with animals (and before children eat their lunch), please ensure that hands are washed with running water and antibacterial soap and dried properly.
Young children should have adult supervision to ensure that hands are washed properly.
When children are petting or feeding the animals, please warn them not to place their face or mouth against the animals or put their hands in the animal’s mouth.
Before you depart, please ensure all children wash their hands thoroughly one last time.
Throughout the Farm, you’ll find hand-washing facilities with warm water, antibacterial soap, push button taps and paper hand towels at child height.
There are hand-washing points across the farm as well as sinks within all of the toilets.
After each animal activity, children should wash their hands.
All the hand-washing points at Mead Open Farm have warm water, antibacterial soap and hand towels. Please note that disinfectant creams and gels are not sufficient and cannot replace hand-washing with soap and running water.
