Nurturing young people
Nurturing young people
Returning to Nursery During Covid-19
Parents and Visitors rules:
We are putting in place several measures to reduce the number of people coming into the setting, including:
• Wherever possible, parents will not be entering the nursery building. If children are happy, they will be collected and dropped off by a member of staff at the door. Any settling in visits will happen without the parents, or with the parents in the nursery play area, where possible.
• Hand sanitiser is provided at the entrance to nursery please use this on arrival.
• Drop off and pick up will be limited to one parent per child, and parents will be encouraged to not bring siblings, unless it is absolutely necessary
• We will encourage parents to stagger arrivals where possible, and, if multiple parents arrive at once, they will need to remain in an orderly queue outside the building and maintain safe distancing (2m) protocols. We have provided markers for pickup times on the floor to guide parents
• Please can parents not socialise in the car park
• All deliveries will be dropped outside the door for staff to bring into the setting
• We will restrict access to contractors, agency workers, and other professionals/adults so that nobody is entering the setting unless it is essential. Where this is essential, access will be allowed out of hours or, if necessary, during the day but keeping to social distancing and Rascals hygiene measures.
Returning to Nursery During Covid-19
Parents and Visitors rules:
We are putting in place several measures to reduce the number of people coming into the setting, including:
• Wherever possible, parents will not be entering the nursery building. If children are happy, they will be collected and dropped off by a member of staff at the door. Any settling in visits will happen without the parents, or with the parents in the nursery play area, where possible.
• Hand sanitiser is provided at the entrance to nursery please use this on arrival.
• Drop off and pick up will be limited to one parent per child, and parents will be encouraged to not bring siblings, unless it is absolutely necessary
• We will encourage parents to stagger arrivals where possible, and, if multiple parents arrive at once, they will need to remain in an orderly queue outside the building and maintain safe distancing (2m) protocols. We have provided markers for pickup times on the floor to guide parents
• Please can parents not socialise in the car park
• All deliveries will be dropped outside the door for staff to bring into the setting
• We will restrict access to contractors, agency workers, and other professionals/adults so that nobody is entering the setting unless it is essential. Where this is essential, access will be allowed out of hours or, if necessary, during the day but keeping to social distancing and Rascals hygiene measures.
Rascals approach to social distancing
We are making lots of arrangements to keep staff, children and families safe during the day, including:
• Both children and staff will remain in ‘social bubbles’, and all interactions with others in the nursery will remain within their bubble
• We will be considering which activities are suitable to deliver, and encouraging as much time as possible spent outdoors (which is considered a safer environment)
• We will ensure all toys, resources and equipment are appropriately cleaned between groups of children using them. We will temporarily remove from the environment any unnecessary items, soft toys and furnishings, and any toys and equipment which are not easily cleaned
• Outings will not be taking place
• We are limiting unnecessary visitors to the nursery
While older children may have already learned to keep their distance from others during the lockdown, we should not expect very young children to keep any distance between themselves and adults and children in their bubble. All children in nursery will need physical contact, whether for assistance or comfort, and children need to feel relaxed and comfortable. They may need additional reassurance and comfort as their emotional needs are as important as their physical wellbeing. Measures put in place to minimise potential transmission of the virus will be done without alarming or upsetting children, and staff will be incorporating new routines such as hand-washing and constant cleaning into the normal day with as much fun and loving care as possible.
What your child will need at nursery
• Toys or other objects from the family home should not be brought into the nursery.
• Comforters are an important transitional object to help support children’s emotional security during unsettling times. Therefore, we will not be stopping children from bringing these into nursery to have them when they are needed. However, to prevent the risk of spreading the virus further, we will be putting the following measures in place: Dummies and hard surface toys will be sterilised on arrival to the setting and before returning home. Blankets and soft toys will remain in the child’s bag throughout the day and given to children at sleep times and at times during the day when needed. If children need their comforter during the day outside of sleep times they will be given to children for a period of time and removed when the practitioner feels they are able to support children through positive interactions. Parents may bring duplicate comforters to keep at the setting and these will be washed daily.
• Parents will be required to bring clean clothes to nursery each day for their children – we will not be using nursery spare clothes for children at this time.
• Parents will be required to bring a sun hat for their child to keep at nursery – nursery will not be providing sun hats at this time.
• Practitioners will safely apply sun cream to all children whilst adhering to strict cross contamination preventative measures by washing hands and disinfecting the bottle after each application.
How will we teach the children about the current situation?
Key persons will be supporting children's understanding of the new measures by using resources such as books to help children understand and by talking to them about how to keep safe and clean in ways which is understandable for young children.
In the case of a child or adult shows signs of Covid-19 policy
What happens if a child or adult show signs?
We will follow the Government guidance relating to Covid-19 at all times. We shall follow this guidance which outlines the procedures that staff will follow for any suspected cases of Covid-19 in the setting. It covers the steps to be taken regarding communication protocols, what staff will do whilst waiting for children to be collected, what staff need to do to keep themselves and other children safe, cleaning protocols, and disposal of PPE, clothing and other things that might be infected with the virus. The basic process is summarised below.
Should a person (staff or child) develop symptoms (new persistent dry cough, high temperature or loss of smell and taste) the nursery manager must be notified immediately, and the person should remove themselves from the setting – if it is a child, their parents will be contacted to collect immediately. Anybody infected will be advised to follow the guidance for households with possible coronavirus infection, and get tested as soon as possible.
Once tested, if it comes back as negative, the symptoms will be managed like any other illness absence – parents should liaise with the nursery about when it is safe to return.
If the test comes back as positive, the nursery must be informed immediately and the person who has tested positive must adhere to the self-isolation rules. If either a child or member of staff tests positive, the rest of their ‘social bubble’ at the setting will be sent home and advised to self-isolate for 14 days. However, the guidance states that the household members of those in that group do not need to self-isolate unless the children or staff member who they live with develops symptoms themselves.
What to do if a member of the household becomes ill
If your child, or anybody else in your household develops the following symptoms, you should let the nursery know immediately:
• a new continuous cough
• a high temperature
• a loss of, or change in, your normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia)
Anybody with the above symptoms will be advised to follow the guidance for households with possible coronavirus infection, and get tested as soon as possible (anybody showing symptoms is now eligible to get tested). Unless an official test returns as negative, we will be unable to accept your child back to nursery until the self-isolation periods outlined in the above guidance are over.
If a child is unwell, we ask that you contact the nursery to inform them of the absence. The nursery must be informed if the child is suffering from any contagious disease to ensure we can effectively communicate to all parents any communicable diseases in the nursery. For the benefit of other children, we ask you to withhold the child from the nursery if they are suffering from a contagious disease that could easily infect others.
We are making lots of arrangements to keep staff, children, and families safe during the day, including:
• Upon arrival at nursery, both staff and children will be asked to wash their hands, and good hand washing practices will be encouraged regularly throughout the day.
• We will be considering which activities are suitable to deliver and encouraging as much time as possible spent outdoors (which is considered a safer environment).
• We will ensure all toys, resources and equipment are appropriately cleaned between groups of children using them. We will temporarily remove from the environment any unnecessary items, soft toys and furnishings, and any toys and equipment which are not easily cleaned.
• Where possible, toys, equipment and resources will be organised into three groups and put out on a two-day rota (which means each set gets at least four days of no use and will kill the virus naturally).
• Hourly cleaning will take place on all high usage touch points such as door handles, taps, electronic equipment, keypads etc.
• Out of nursery hours a thorough clean will take place using chemicals that clean and disinfect.
Administration of liquid paracetamol
Little Rascals will be unable to administer liquid par acetamol until further notice in the case where they have a raised temperature. If your child requires this, please keep them off nursery until their temperature has returned to normal. In the case of an emergency If your child becomes unwell whilst at the setting, we shall administer one dose of medicine while waiting for you to arrive. All positive Covid-19 cases who are in self-isolation shall have no charge for absence. Other illnesses shall be charged at the standard hourly rate.
Rascals approach to social distancing
We are making lots of arrangements to keep staff, children and families safe during the day, including:
• Both children and staff will remain in ‘social bubbles’, and all interactions with others in the nursery will remain within their bubble
• We will be considering which activities are suitable to deliver, and encouraging as much time as possible spent outdoors (which is considered a safer environment)
• We will ensure all toys, resources and equipment are appropriately cleaned between groups of children using them. We will temporarily remove from the environment any unnecessary items, soft toys and furnishings, and any toys and equipment which are not easily cleaned
• Outings will not be taking place
• We are limiting unnecessary visitors to the nursery
While older children may have already learned to keep their distance from others during the lockdown, we should not expect very young children to keep any distance between themselves and adults and children in their bubble. All children in nursery will need physical contact, whether for assistance or comfort, and children need to feel relaxed and comfortable. They may need additional reassurance and comfort as their emotional needs are as important as their physical wellbeing. Measures put in place to minimise potential transmission of the virus will be done without alarming or upsetting children, and staff will be incorporating new routines such as hand-washing and constant cleaning into the normal day with as much fun and loving care as possible.
What your child will need at nursery
• Toys or other objects from the family home should not be brought into the nursery.
• Comforters are an important transitional object to help support children’s emotional security during unsettling times. Therefore, we will not be stopping children from bringing these into nursery to have them when they are needed. However, to prevent the risk of spreading the virus further, we will be putting the following measures in place: Dummies and hard surface toys will be sterilised on arrival to the setting and before returning home. Blankets and soft toys will remain in the child’s bag throughout the day and given to children at sleep times and at times during the day when needed. If children need their comforter during the day outside of sleep times they will be given to children for a period of time and removed when the practitioner feels they are able to support children through positive interactions. Parents may bring duplicate comforters to keep at the setting and these will be washed daily.
• Parents will be required to bring clean clothes to nursery each day for their children – we will not be using nursery spare clothes for children at this time.
• Parents will be required to bring a sun hat for their child to keep at nursery – nursery will not be providing sun hats at this time.
• Practitioners will safely apply sun cream to all children whilst adhering to strict cross contamination preventative measures by washing hands and disinfecting the bottle after each application.
How will we teach the children about the current situation?
Key persons will be supporting children's understanding of the new measures by using resources such as books to help children understand and by talking to them about how to keep safe and clean in ways which is understandable for young children.
In the case of a child or adult shows signs of Covid-19 policy
What happens if a child or adult show signs?
We will follow the Government guidance relating to Covid-19 at all times. We shall follow this guidance which outlines the procedures that staff will follow for any suspected cases of Covid-19 in the setting. It covers the steps to be taken regarding communication protocols, what staff will do whilst waiting for children to be collected, what staff need to do to keep themselves and other children safe, cleaning protocols, and disposal of PPE, clothing and other things that might be infected with the virus. The basic process is summarised below.
Should a person (staff or child) develop symptoms (new persistent dry cough, high temperature or loss of smell and taste) the nursery manager must be notified immediately, and the person should remove themselves from the setting – if it is a child, their parents will be contacted to collect immediately. Anybody infected will be advised to follow the guidance for households with possible coronavirus infection, and get tested as soon as possible.
Once tested, if it comes back as negative, the symptoms will be managed like any other illness absence – parents should liaise with the nursery about when it is safe to return.
If the test comes back as positive, the nursery must be informed immediately and the person who has tested positive must adhere to the self-isolation rules. If either a child or member of staff tests positive, the rest of their ‘social bubble’ at the setting will be sent home and advised to self-isolate for 14 days. However, the guidance states that the household members of those in that group do not need to self-isolate unless the children or staff member who they live with develops symptoms themselves.
What to do if a member of the household becomes ill
If your child, or anybody else in your household develops the following symptoms, you should let the nursery know immediately:
• a new continuous cough
• a high temperature
• a loss of, or change in, your normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia)
Anybody with the above symptoms will be advised to follow the guidance for households with possible coronavirus infection, and get tested as soon as possible (anybody showing symptoms is now eligible to get tested). Unless an official test returns as negative, we will be unable to accept your child back to nursery until the self-isolation periods outlined in the above guidance are over.
If a child is unwell, we ask that you contact the nursery to inform them of the absence. The nursery must be informed if the child is suffering from any contagious disease to ensure we can effectively communicate to all parents any communicable diseases in the nursery. For the benefit of other children, we ask you to withhold the child from the nursery if they are suffering from a contagious disease that could easily infect others.
We are making lots of arrangements to keep staff, children, and families safe during the day, including:
• Upon arrival at nursery, both staff and children will be asked to wash their hands, and good hand washing practices will be encouraged regularly throughout the day.
• We will be considering which activities are suitable to deliver and encouraging as much time as possible spent outdoors (which is considered a safer environment).
• We will ensure all toys, resources and equipment are appropriately cleaned between groups of children using them. We will temporarily remove from the environment any unnecessary items, soft toys and furnishings, and any toys and equipment which are not easily cleaned.
• Where possible, toys, equipment and resources will be organised into three groups and put out on a two-day rota (which means each set gets at least four days of no use and will kill the virus naturally).
• Hourly cleaning will take place on all high usage touch points such as door handles, taps, electronic equipment, keypads etc.
• Out of nursery hours a thorough clean will take place using chemicals that clean and disinfect.
Administration of liquid paracetamol
Little Rascals will be unable to administer liquid par acetamol until further notice in the case where they have a raised temperature. If your child requires this, please keep them off nursery until their temperature has returned to normal. In the case of an emergency If your child becomes unwell whilst at the setting, we shall administer one dose of medicine while waiting for you to arrive. All positive Covid-19 cases who are in self-isolation shall have no charge for absence. Other illnesses shall be charged at the standard hourly rate.