COVID UPDATE
We continue to monitor and evaluate our risk assessments on the COVID pandemic. We have identified a couple of problems around the amount of time it takes to collect children in the mornings and bring them out to you at the end of the day. The staff have been told to continue to be aware of safe distance on the ramp so this is taking longer than expected. We do apologise for this – we are trying really hard to keep everyone as safe as possible.
We also understand that there are a lot of people on site and even with the staggered admissions of the Infant and Junior school there are times when there are a lot of people on the paths and roads. Please use a mask to help keep everyone safe. We also understand children do not and should not be expected to wear masks at this age unless you wish them to. The government guidance on this is:
“The government is not recommending universal use of face coverings in early years education and care settings because the system of controls, applicable to all education and childcare environments, provides additional mitigating measures. PHE advises that for health and safety reasons, face masks should not be used for children under three. In addition, misuse may inadvertently increase the risk of transmission and there may also be negative effects on communication and thus children’s development.”
We know we are heading towards the flu season and we cannot take chances or be complacent with sending children home if they have any of the 3 COVID symptoms.
We do take children with mild cold symptoms but they must be well enough to attend without the aid of medication. We understand this can be very inconvenient especially when families have to self-isolate until a covid test has been taken and a negative result is given.
Please also remember that we will not allow siblings or childminded children to use the toilet facilities (unless they attend our setting). If your child is in Infant or Junior school they will need to go back to their own school. Part of our risk assessment is that we limit the amount of people in the pre-school, we are constantly reviewing this but I cannot state the importance of the minimum number of visitors within the setting. Staff are allowed to bring in their own children – due to staggered admissions on the school site but this is evaluated and all children are put in specific areas and these are cleaned down after use. The older children do not mix with the pre-school children so I can assure you they do not pose a risk. Again, this is reviewed regularly.
Please remember this is not personal – what we do is for the welfare of the children and staff of Ashurst Pre-school. It might be worth mentioning to your older children to use the toilet before they leave school. We are still the caring and nurturing setting we have always been but we are working our hardest to keep everyone as safe as possible.
Shared Care
The latest guidelines for all parents who have children with us, who use more than one childcare provider are:
“Parents and carers should be encouraged to limit the number of settings their child attends, ideally ensuring their child only attends the same setting consistently. This should also be the same for staff.
There may be situations where a child needs to attend more than one setting, for example, children attending a childminder before their nursery opens so that their parent or carer may go to work.
Settings, parents and carers should work through the ‘systems of controls’ collaboratively, to address any risks identified and allowing them to jointly deliver appropriate care for the child. This section of the guidance contains more information about the ‘system of controls’ for settings.”
Playdough and sand
Government advice is to limit the amount of messy play due to COVID-19 so we have decided to reintroduce play dough and sand. We have updated our risk assessment where we will have a small amount of sand every day which will be thrown at the end of sessions. We have also decided to have playdough but we will bin it at the end of the day and make fresh for the next group.
Absence
If your child is not coming into pre-school please let us know. Don’t worry if you forget but we will be contacting all families if children do not attend when we expect them to.
Updated guidance can be found on:
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