Dear Parents and Carers,

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It was lovely to speak to you all and to know that you are all keeping safe and well at home.

 

As you are aware, Pre-schools have been asked by the Government to start planning for reopening on June 1st at the earliest. The challenge for all Pre-Schools is to put all the measures and guidance in place to keep both the children and staff safe. This will be different for each Preschool but one thing I can assure you of is that “safety is my number one focus”.

 

We have been open for the past few weeks for children of key workers and therefore have many of the measures in place already but with the increase in numbers these are to be reviewed.

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As I hope that you can appreciate trying to comply with social distancing measures with young children will be challenging but we have clear guidelines to follow set out by the Government and vigorous risk assessments will be carried out be ensure that these are being followed. The Preschool day will be not be the same as it was before.

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With this in mind, I want to limit the amount of children at one time in the setting to 5 per day and so therefore children will be attending for one day a week to start with (the exception being key worker children). Children aged 3-4 years will be accommodated first, in line with the guidance and then the under 3’s who currently attend Explorers.

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We can only do 1 day a week for children attending for now due to the following:

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· We have a reduced staff at the moment.

· We need to follow all the strict hygiene measures and continue to carry out all the ongoing cleaning throughout the day.

· To ensure that social distancing can be adhered to as much as possible.

· To ensure that the planning of the curriculum and observations can continue in line with the EYFS.

This may well change as the weeks progress and more Government guidance is released. Once I have confirmed which children will be attending, I will send out a separate letter.

 

Drop Off and Pickup will be different as we also have to adhere to the measures set out by Mrs Shearer (Head Teacher of St Nicholas School)

 

· No parent is allowed on the school site. The main gate area of the school and the grassy area next to it, is our new waiting area for parents – 2m social distancing at all times.

· Children can only be brought to Preschool and collected by one adult.

· A staff member from Explorers will meet you and your child/ren at the gate and take the child/ren down one at a time unless they are in the same family. This is so that the remaining member of staff can make sure that handwashing is done, lunchbox, water bottle, and bag is cleaned and the child safely in the playroom before the next child comes into Explorers.

· At 3.10pm a member of staff will start bringing the children up to the main gate, again one at a time, unless they are in the same family.

· It is very important that parents and carers maintain social distancing when dropping off and collecting your child.

· Children should wash their hands once home and their clothes changed and washed.

· Children should also have a full set of clean clothes to wear to Explorers every time they attend.

 

Other measures and routines:

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· Only children who are symptom free will be able to attend.

· No toys are to be brought from home, however if comforters are needed, they are to remain in the child’s bag.

· We ask that you ensure that there is plenty of spare clothes in your child’s bag as we will not be able to use the spare clothes from Pre-school. Also plenty of nappies, wipes and nappy sacks if applicable.

· Frequent handwashing- on arrival, before and after snack, before and after lunch, after playing outside, after coughing or sneezing, after using the toilet.

· Frequently cleaning door handles, toilet flush handles, computer screen and mouse.

· Frequently cleaning sinks and toilet areas.

· Frequently cleaning tables and chairs.

· Limiting the number of toys available so that they can be easily cleaned after being played with.

· Being outside as much as possible, again limiting the number of toys to be played with so that they can be easily cleaned.

· Removing toys that are not easily cleaned e.g cushions, soft toys, dressing up clothes.

· Changing the layout of the room to manage social distancing where possible.

· Snacktime and lunchtime will be organised as to adhere to the 2m social distancing.

· For intimate care, staff will continue to use disposable gloves and aprons with the addition of a mask.

· Deep clean at the end of every day.

 

This is just an outline of the measures that we will be putting in place at Explorers and as you all know keeping your child at home is the safest place for them. However, if your child will be attending Explorers I will ensure, along with the staff that they are as safe as possible whilst they are in our care.

If you have any questions, worries or you just want a chat, please do not hesitate to contact me on the Explorers number: 07792240804 or you can email me: explorers.supervisor@hotmail.co.uk.

 

Take Care and Stay Safe,

 

Kind Regards

 

Anna Swinburn- Supervisor