Covid-19 Operating Procedures at Acorns Nurseries
The COVID-19 pandemic is changing daily with lots of information and guidance to understand and implement, more frequently with the introduction of local lockdowns within specific areas. The guidance in place for local lockdown areas does not have an effect on our nurseries.
We have put together the following information explaining the effective measures Acorns Nurseries has in place to protect the children, parents and staff.
We appreciate this is a very anxious time for you, we hope the information answers your questions, however, please feel free to contact Becca Rees our Placement and Parent Liaison Manager, or Carly Phillips our Operational Manager.
They can be contacted on 029 20382009 or alternatively on becca.rees@acornsnurseries.co.uk or carly@acornsnurseries.co.uk
The symptoms of COVID-19 are:
• A new continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
• A high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back/temperature reading of 37.8°C or higher
• Any loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you’ve noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal.
If a child develops symptoms whilst at Nursery
Unfortunately, you will be contacted to come and collect your child as soon as possible.
We kindly ask that you arrange for your child to have a COVID-19 test and they should self-isolate, along with all members of the same household, until the test result has been received. If the test result is negative, your child will be able to return to nursery.
Please note that if your child has had a temperature and received a negative test result, there needs to be a period of 48 hours following the fever before they are able to return to nursery.
Should your child or a member of your household develop any of the above symptoms whilst at home, your child must not attend nursery. The above process should be followed where the symptomatic individual is tested and the whole household self-isolates until the test result is received.
Where an individual is identified as a contact of someone who has confirmed COVID-19
We would expect families to follow all advice provided by Test and Trace which would normally involve only the contact(s) self-isolating for a period of 14 days providing they are symptom free. We would like to remind you that any confirmed contact(s) must not attend nursery for any reason. Should the contact(s) then develop any symptoms of COVID-19, the above process should be followed whereby they arrange for a test and the whole household self-isolates until the test result is received.
We understand and appreciate at times it can be frustrating for our parents to be contacted to collect their child from nursery or being asked to keep their child away from nursery for what can be an unknown period of time whilst arranging for a test and awaiting the test results. From experience, we know that children have temperatures for a number of different reasons, and we are approaching the Autumn and Winter season where there will naturally be an increase in coughs and colds.
We must follow the guidelines and procedures as set by the Government to help mitigate the risk of COVID-19 within the nurseries.
We ask that parents inform the nursery as soon as possible should their child or a member of the same household develop any symptoms of COVID-19 or are identified as a contact by Test and Trace to enable us to implement any measures as required. It is imperative that we are informed of any test results as soon as possible also.
We would like to reassure you that the same measures are in place for our staff.
Grouping of Children and Staff / Referred to as Bubbles
Within our nurseries we have always implemented a Key Carer group system. We will continue to adopt this approach where children and staff will be organized into small, consistent Key Carer groups and allocated one base room within the nursery with their own resources to use.
Where a room cannot be allocated, as much as possible, the environment will be altered to provide areas to minimise contact and mixing (i.e. using equipment to separate areas).
Drop off and Picking up Time
Whilst we would normally operate an open-door policy, we have taken the difficult decision to not allow parents to enter the nursery unless absolutely essential to help limit the transmission of the virus at nursery. Parents should be reassured that they and their child will continue to receive a warm welcome from a member of staff at the nursery entrance who will help to transition their child into nursery with reassuring hugs and lots of smiles.
Face Coverings
We kindly ask that parents wear a face covering when dropping off or picking up their child from nursery to help minimise the risk of transmission. Our staff will also wear a face covering at this time.
Due to the preventative measures we already have in place and in line with current guidance, we reassure you that face coverings will not be used within the nursery.
We understand that some of our staff and parents may be exempt from using face coverings.
Administration of Medication
We would like to remind parents that children should not attend nursery if they have had paracetamol/ibuprofen in the last 24 hours.
We understand that there may be occasions where children have had medication for extenuating reasons and we kindly ask that you contact the nursery prior to making the journey to discuss with the Nursery Management Team.
Due to the nature of COVID-19, a key symptom of which is a high temperature, non-prescribed medication (Paracetamol/Ibuprofen) will not be administered unless in emergency situations (with prior written permission from parents).
There are some cases where consideration will need to be given for non-prescribed medication (Paracetamol/Ibuprofen) depending on individual children’s needs, such as health care plans, and the reasons for the medication. This should be discussed with the Nursery Manager.
We are happy to administer medicine prescribed by a doctor such as antibiotics, creams etc.
If your doctor has advised Calpol or similar fever-reducing medication for eg, after immunisations, we will ask for a written record of this from a medical professional due to a high temperature being a symptom of Covid-19.
We must follow the guidelines and procedures as set by the Government to help mitigate the risk of COVID-19 within the nurseries
Prospective Parents Coming to View our Nurseries
We understand the importance of prospective new parents and children being able to visit the nurseries and have a look around to help them to make an informed decision when choosing a nursery.
Under normal circumstances, we would encourage parents and children to visit the nursery at a time which is convenient for them without making a prior arrangement as part of our open-door policy. However, at this time, we are taking appointments for outside of nursery opening hours and weekend viewings.
If you would like to arrange a viewing at one of our nurseries, please contact Becca Rees, our Placement Manager, on 02920 382 009 or becca.rees@acorsnurseries.co.uk.
There are many videos on our website or social media platforms for you to look through, also there are virtual tours available on our website.
Social distancing and hygiene measures will remain in place, and time spent inside the nursery will at this time be limited. Face coverings will need to be worn by the member of staff and parents.
