These
guidelines are based on Public Health England and Department for Education
guidance for educational settings and their key workers.
The
fundamental principle of this guidance is to ensure physical distancing between
identified groups and to implement good hygiene practices. The design of
settings as relatively small communities with subdivided rooms, this greatly
assists our ability to create physical distance between groups and cluster
children into specific cohorts or ‘bubbles’.
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Focus
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Areas
for Consideration
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Actions
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Children
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Attendance
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Only children who are symptom free or have
completed the required isolation period will attend the setting.
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Questionnaire for parents of children
returning after sickness
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Weekly Health Questionnaire for children
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Parents of children who attend 2 settings
(including a child minder) will be asked to choose 1 setting only during this
period of time.
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Temperatures of children will be taken if they
become ill at nursery
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Children or family members who have been
identified and ‘Clinically Vulnerable’ should not return to nursery at this
moment in time.
•
A phased approach to opening the setting will
be adopted, priority will be given to
o
Vulnerable
children
o
Children
who access the private childcare provision
o
Children
going to school in September 2020
·
The intake of more children and new children to
the setting will be reviewed in July 20
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Physical
Distancing/grouping
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Children are organised into separate rooms
relating to sessions attended rather than age groups. Wherever possible these
small groups or ‘bubbles’ will not mix during the day
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Children will stay in groups of no more than
16 at any one time.
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Care
routines including provision of meals, nappy changing and toileting is be
within the space allocated to each ‘bubble’
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The use
of communal internal spaces is restricted,( dining room, hallway, quiet room)
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Outdoor
spaces are used by different ‘bubbles’ at different times of the day.
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Distancing of beds/cots should be
facilitated wherever possible
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Well
being and education
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Children will be supported in age appropriate
ways to understand the steps they can take to keep themselves safe including
regular hand washing and sneezing into a tissue etc
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Children will be supported to understand the
changes and challenges they may be encountering as a result of Covid-19 and
staff will ensure they are aware of children’s attachments and their need for
emotional support at this time.
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Staff
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Attendance
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•
Staff should only attend the nursery if they
are symptom free, have completed the requires isolation period or achieved a
negative test result.
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The temperature of staff will be taken if they
become ill
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A questionnaire for staff returning to work
after sickness risk assessing with regular health questionnaires for
returning
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Weekly Health Questionnaire
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Consideration will be given to limiting the
number of staff in the nursery at any one time to only those required to care
for the expected occupancy levels on any given day (reduced sessions days
will apply)
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Physical
Distancing/grouping
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•
Wherever possible staff will remain with the
small group of children, the ‘bubble’ of children who they are allocated to
and not come into contact with other groups.
•
The nursery will operate a 4 day week, until
the risk of spreading COVID19 is dramatically reduced, This will
o
Reduce the number of staff required to care
for the children
o
Give consistency for the children by having
the same staff member caring for each ‘bubble’
•
Emergency revisions to the EYFS have been
implemented which provides some flexibility on ratios and qualifications to
make this feasible.
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Social distancing must be maintained during
breaks. This may be achieved through a range of strategies including the
staggering of breaks and subdivision of spaces allocated to team breaks where
possible
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Staff members should avoid physical contact
with each other including handshakes, hugs etc.
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Where possible, meetings and training sessions
will be conducted through virtual conferencing
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Training
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All staff members will receive appropriate
instructions and training
o
in infection control
o
the standard operating procedure
o
risk assessments
within which they will be operating
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Parents
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Physical
Distancing
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•
Only parents who are symptom free and or have
completed the required isolation periods will be able to drop off or collect
their child
•
Parents should aim to limit drop off and pick
up to 1 parent per family.
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Only one parent allowed into the building at a
time. (distancing whilst waiting outside will be required)
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Parents are asked to arrange drop off and pick
up at the nursery corridor to avoid parents entering the nursery
unnecessarily
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When parents are waiting to drop off or
collect their child, physical distancing should be maintained outside of the
entrance to the building.
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Communication
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All parents will receive communication
regarding the role they play in the safe operating procedures and measures
being taken to ensure the safety of their children, themselves and others.
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Parental Agreement to follow the COVID 19
measurements placed within the setting and at home
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Visitors
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Visits
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Attendance to the setting will be restricted
to children and staff as far as practically possible and visitors will not be
permitted to the nursery unless essential (e.g. essential building
maintenance).
•
Where essential visits are required these will
be made outside of the usual nursery operational hours where possible.
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Travel
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Travel
Associated with setting operations
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Wherever possible staff and parents should
travel to the nursery alone, using their own transport
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If public transport is necessary, current
guidance on the use of public transport must be followed
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Parents should be encouraged to ensure they do
not leave travel accessories including buggies, car seats, scooters at the
setting premises
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Outings from the setting into the local
community will not be carried out.
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Hygiene
and Health and safety
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Hand
washing
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All children and staff must wash their hands
upon arrival at the nursery
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Children and staff members will be encouraged
to wash their hands frequently at east every 2 hours, after playing outdoors,
after toileting, before eating, after wiping noses
•
Paracetamol (Calpol) will not be administered
to children who are attending nursery due to its ability to reduce
temperatures which is a symptom of Coronavirus.
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Cleaning
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An enhanced cleaning schedule will be
implemented that includes furniture, surfaces and children’s toys and
equipment
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Communal area, touch points and hand washing
facilities will be cleaned and sanitised regularly throughout the day, at the
end of each day and the start of each day.
•
The nursery will operate a 4 day week, until
the risk of spreading COVID19 is dramatically reduced, This will ensure the
COVID19 virus will die over the 72+ hour period of closure from Thursday to
Monday
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Waste
disposal
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All waste will be disposed of in a hygienic and safe manner
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Tissues bins are located within each room
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Children are encouraged to ‘catch it, bin it,
kill it’
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Laundry
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All items within the setting requiring
laundering will be washed in line with NHS laundry guidelines
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Items such as towels, flannels and bedding
will not be shared by children
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Risk
assessment
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All activity will be risk assessed and due
consideration given to any adaptations to usual practice. It is expected that
would include, but not be limited, to the suspension of learning experiences
involving materials which are not easily washable such as malleable materials
and the suspension of the sharing of food and utensils.
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Fire
Evacuation procedure
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There will be a change to the assembly points
for the evacuation of the building. ‘Bubble’ of children and staff will
remain together and not mix with other groups from the nursery.
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PPE
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•
Government guidance is that PPE is not
required for general use in early years settings to protect against COVID- 19
transmission.
•
PPE will be used by the member of staff
dealing with a child who becomes ill during the nursery day
•
PPE will continue to be worn as normal for
nappy changing and the administration of first aid
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Premises
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Building
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•
During the closure of the nursery, Health and
safety checks have been carried out in relation to regulations eg legionnaires checks
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A thorough clean of the nursery prior to
re-opening has been carried out
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Windows will be kept open during operational
hours to ensure ventilation
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The lift will not be used by staff or children
and discouraged by nursery parents unless absolutely essential (WF)
•
The nursery will operate a 4 day week, until
the risk of spreading COVID19 is dramatically reduced, This will ensure the
COVID19 virus will die over the 72+ hour period of closure from Thursday to
Monday
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Resources
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Children will not be permitted to bring items
from home into the setting.
•
All resources required for play and learning
experiences of children will be regularly washed and/or sterilised
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Equipment used by staff such as stationary,
tablets etc. will be allocated to individual staff members where possible and
cleaned regularly.
•
Soft furnishings within the play environment
will be reduced to a minimum.
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Supplies
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Procurement
and monitoring
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•
The nursery will ensure an adequate supply of
essential supplies and contingency plans are in place to minimise the impact
of any shortages of supplies.
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The nursery will not be able to operate
without essential supplies required for ensuring infection control
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A monitoring system for the usage of PPE is
essential and will ensure that a supply of stock is available to all who
require it as and when required to meet the operational needs of the setting.
When stocks are low, other options may be considered, such as the use of
washable tabards. These items will be washed at a high temperature and
separate to any other nursery washing.
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In the case the supply of food is interrupted,
changes to the regular menus will be required, procedures will be implemented
to ensure the appropriate food alternatives are sourced and normal food
safety and hygiene processes are followed.( As well as Allergies)
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Deliveries for the nursery will be accepted at
the back door to the building.
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Responding
to a suspected case of COVID19
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In the event of a child developing suspected
coronavirus symptoms whilst attending the setting, they should be collected
as soon as possible and isolate at home, parents will be asked to contact 111
and request a test
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Whilst waiting for the child to be collected
they will be isolated from others in a previously identified room or area. If
possible, a window should be opened for ventilation
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The member of staff looking after the sick
child will be required to wear PPE until the child has been collected
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The area will be thoroughly cleaned,
immediately if the area cannot be left unvisited
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The person responsible for cleaning the area
will be required to wear appropriate PPE
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In the
event of a staff member developing suspected coronavirus symptoms whilst
working at the nursery, they should return home immediately and isolate at home,
contact 111 and request a test
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Any staff member or child who have attended
the setting can access the government testing programme through the 111 NHS
helpline to confirm COVID or not.
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If it is negative
result from the COVID test, the individual may return to nursery once they
are feeling well again.
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If it is a positive result from the COVID test, the rest of the immediate
group within the setting will be sent home and advised to self-isolate for 14
days, it is not necessary for all other household members they live with to
self isolate unless the child/staff starts to display signs of COVID.
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A positive result will be reported to Public
Health England and RIDDOR (Health and Safety Executive) immediately.
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The Local Authority and OFSTED will be
informed by the nominated individual of a positive result.
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As part of the national test and trace
programme, if other cases are detected within the setting. Public Health
England’s local Health protection teams will conduct a rapid investigation
and will advise settings on the most appropriate action to take.
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