Key points for Parents

 

KEYPOINTS FOR PARENTS AND CHILDREN RETURNING TO NURSERY

 

• Whilst we will take all measures possible to ensure social distancing, it must be acknowledged that we will not be able to guarantee social distancing at all times.  Unlike older children and adults, children in the early years cannot be expected to remain 2 metres apart from each other and staff.
• Your child may not be with their usual key worker.
• Toys and resources that can’t be easily cleaned have been removed, such as soft toys.
• The Government has temporarily disapplied and modified certain elements of the EYFS statutory framework.
• Children may see staff wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) where this is required to deal with medical or sickness situations and certain activities, such as changing nappies and feeding babies.

 

Protective measures we are taking in light of coronavirus (COVID-19)

We are working hard, following the latest government guidance, to develop and implement a number of new ways of operating. This will allow us to open as safely as possible, focusing on measures that will help limit the risk of coronavirus transmitting within our setting.

Some of the steps we are taking in readiness for reopening include:

• Asking that anyone who is displaying coronavirus symptoms, or who lives with someone who does, not to attend the setting. That includes children and staff who work here.
• Keeping our children in small groups with as much consistent staffing as possible, and minimising contact with other groups around the setting.
• The DfE planning guide says: To minimise contact between groups of children and staff, children should attend just one setting wherever possible to minimise as far as possible the number of education and childcare settings your child attends.
• Cleaning our hands more often than usual. We have developed routines to ensure children understand when and how to wash their hands, making sure they wash them thoroughly for at least 20 seconds using running water and soap and dry them thoroughly.
• Ensuring our children understand good respiratory hygiene by promoting the ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ approach and ensuring a good supply of tissues and bins throughout the setting.
• Implementing an enhanced cleaning schedule, ensuring surfaces touched by children and staff are cleaned regularly and throughout the day, including table tops, door handles and play equipment.
• We ask parents and carers to physically distance from each other and from staff when dropping off and collecting their children and to limit drop off and collection to one parent or carer per household. As you are aware, there is very limited parking and therefore to ensure that families are able to socially distance safely on the driveway, we advise walking to the nursery where possible. Parents will not be permitted to enter the nursery.
• We ask children not to bring toys or other items from home to the setting, unless this is essential to their health and wellbeing. Where this is the case, items should be appropriately cleaned on arrival.
• It has been recommended by the government that children and staff come to the nursery each day in freshly laundered clothes, to prevent the transfer of the virus via clothing.

 

What can parents and carers do to help?

There are a number of things parents and carers can do to help us make these arrangements effective, in addition to the points listed above concerning arrival and departure and not bringing toys to the setting.

1. If your child, or someone in their household has coronavirus symptoms (a high temperature; a new, continuous cough; a loss of, or change to, your sense of smell or taste) they should not come to the setting. For more guidance, please visit: COVID-19: guidance for households with possible coronavirus infection
2. Our setting will follow a protocol for responding to a suspected coronavirus case. If your child develops symptoms while at the setting, parents will need to immediately collect their child. Please inform us of any changes to emergency contacts and consider where these may need to change, for example if previous emergency contacts are in a shielded group. For more details please read: Coronavirus (COVID-19): guidance for educational settings
3. What parents and carers should do to provide reassurance to children facing changed routines. For more guidance, please read: COVID-19: guidance on supporting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing
4. For the vast majority of children and young people, coronavirus is a mild illness. Some categories of children with specific serious health conditions should not attend their early years setting. If you are unsure whether your child should attend the setting due to a health condition that they or someone they live with has, please contact us so we can discuss the details with you. If your child has a medical condition which deems them to be critically vulnerable or if another member of your household is critically vulnerable, then your child should remain at home and not return to the Nursery. For more guidance, please read: COVID-19: guidance on shielding and protecting people defined on medical grounds as extremely vulnerable

 

Testing

Once early years and childcare providers open to more children, all children who are attending a childcare setting will have access to a test if they display symptoms of coronavirus and are encouraged to get tested in this scenario. The aim is to enable children to get back to childcare, and their parents or carers not to need to self-isolate any longer than is necessary if the test proves to be negative. A positive test will ensure rapid action to protect other children and staff in their setting.

We ask all parents and carers to ensure they organise a test for their child, in the event that they develop coronavirus symptoms and notify us immediately of a positive test.

To access testing parents will be able to use the 111 online coronavirus service if their child is 5 or over. Parents will be able to call 111 if their child is aged under 5.

Those who have been in close contact with someone who tests positive must isolate for 14 days, even if they have no symptoms, to avoid unknowingly spreading the virus. Anyone with a new, continuous cough, a high temperature or a change in their sense of smell or taste will be asked to immediately report these symptoms and book a test at nhs.uk/coronavirus or by calling 119.