As Nursery World went to press (28 May), the Government was set to give final confirmation on the reopening to more children, and had just published guidance for the sector on bank holiday Sunday.
As of the same date, the total number of Covid-19 associated UK deaths had exceeded 37,000.
Two new surveys reflect the division and uncertainty in the sector (see news online).
A survey of 6,300 providers by the Early Years Alliance finds that 65 per cent of childcare providers are planning to reopen more widely on 1 June, while 20 per cent are not and 15 per cent are unsure. The Alliance’s separate survey of 4,490 parents finds that 44 per cent are planning on taking up their child’s place, 42 per cent are not, with 13 per cent undecided.
Meanwhile, a survey by Unison of 2,014 nursery nurses and classroom assistants in nursery classes found that 77 per cent did not feel they would have the resources to cope with the extra responsibility of putting health, safety and risk assessments in place for 1 June.
From the comments we have received, it seems that nursery groups that are arguably able to draw on more resources are more confident about reopening.
A survey by the Covid-19 response group – a collection of 70 small, medium and large nursery groups – found that nurseries had cared for 3,339 children during the crisis.
When Nursery World put a call out for early years settings, we were inundated with comments, including the following:
REOPENING
High Meadows Day Nursery, Bolton
The 80-place nursery is based at the Royal Bolton Hospital and has been open for hospital staff and key workers.
Owner Pamela Houghton says, ‘We have had around 20-22 children in and will have six more, hopefully from 1 June. The parents who are coming back are the ones who are working or returning to work.
‘We think with the guidelines, we will be able to offer around half, so 40 places, but don’t know if we will have that many [returning].
‘We have been working in an informal group with six other local nurseries to support each other during the crisis.
‘High Meadows and Eagley School House have remained open throughout the pandemic providing care for key workers; the other nurseries have been helping by sharing PPE and obtaining supplies.
‘We struggled with hand sanitiser at the beginning. The cost of PPE has gone up. We’ve had no extra funding for PPE or deep-cleaning.
‘Being in regular contact has been helpful in pooling ideas and anxieties, discussing policy changes, HR issues, looking in detail at the guidance and at ways grants can be obtained. The other five nurseries are reopening.
‘We have not managed to get any financial help from Bolton local authority.
‘For young children to maintain physical distance is extremely difficult. We have one way in and one way out. Staff come in their own clothes and change out of their uniforms.
‘We’ve removed all soft furnishings, cushions and rugs, apart from for the babies. We clean and rotate toys, for example using half the bricks at a time.
‘The nurseries got together and decided to introduce Wellasaurus, our friendly dinosaur whose footprints are outside the nurseries two metres apart. The children know the dinosaur is looking after us and keeping us well. Dinosaurs have been introduced at nose-wiping and hand-washing facilities.
‘We have six rooms and each has access to the outdoors. We’ve been doing lots outdoors.
‘The children have been discussing germs and how we can keep ourselves safe – “I have to wash my hands so that the germs go away” and “We open the windows to make the coronavirus go away”.’
NOT REOPENING
Rocking Horse Day Nursery, East Riding, Yorkshire
Paul Maden, company director, says, ‘We have two members of staff with children with asthma, and my father-in-law lives in a bungalow next door and is diabetic and we care for him, so we had already stopped going into the nursery [before the lockdown]. We contacted parents, and everyone who was a key worker had provision. We’ve been fully supported by parents.
‘We’ve struggled for two or three years with the funding, we used to employ nine people. It’s been hard in the last few years, we’ve certainly been squeezed.
‘We asked parents for their views [about reopening]. About 70 per cent replied: 30 per cent are not ready to return at the moment and do not believe it’s safe; 40 per cent would consider returning if we reopen but only if we think it’s safe. We can’t see it is at the moment, so they are happy to keep children home.
‘On this evidence and reason for closing in the first place we advised the LA that we’re not reopening on 1 June and now hope we don’t lose our funding as punishment – if we do, we will not reopen and our 28 years’ hard work will be for nothing.
‘I don’t believe it’s safe. We can’t see that it’s safe – we’re still seeing deaths, problems with testing, no vaccine. I don’t want to be responsible for a member of staff or a child being sick. I’m not risking my life.
‘You can’t socially distance children in this age group. I still have two members of staff with children with asthma – one whose children have been hospitalised before. Both have said they will work, but I will feel bad if they take this home.
‘We’re a term-time nursery, so we would be closing in six weeks’ time for the summer. If we do reopen in September, I think parents won’t be ready [to send their children back].
‘Enquiries have just stopped since the lockdown – we have no bookings. Maybe we can limp on until Christmas, but we could be looking at bankruptcy. I think a lot of nurseries haven’t faced up to the reality.
‘Rather than secondary schools and students, the Government is sending back the youngest – children who can’t socially distance – because they want childcare for working families. It’s all about money.
‘The whole thing’s been badly handled – we had no warning, with no information or guidance [before the lockdown was announced]. We had to ask for a mortgage holiday because the funding we receive wouldn’t cover the costs of furlough, overheads and fixed costs.
‘I do feel people are rushing to reopen. People have been complaining for years about under-funding. Shouldn’t we be asking for more financial support before we do this?’
REOPENING 8 JUNE
Claire Jarvis, childminder, Cheeky Monkeys, Peterborough
‘I have been an Ofsted-registered childminder for 13 years.
‘Since the restrictions came in, to only care for those children who are vulnerable or the children of key workers, I have been working for two families who both came to me because it was not viable for the nursery they attended to stay open.
‘My regular families, many of whom are key workers, did not require my services due to having family furloughed, on maternity leave, working from home or in high health risk categories.
‘Over the last couple of months, I have worked weekdays, weekends and bank holidays to accommodate key-working families, because as settings we were asked to remain flexible. I even gave up my regular week off at Easter. Today [22 May] is the last day with the key worker children I have looked after over the last couple of months, as both families had already booked next week off. I decided, after much thought, to delay the reopening of my setting to my regular families by a week to 8 June.
‘Before I can have the families back into the setting, I feel the need to review all contracts, policies and procedures and child record forms.
‘However, to do all of this I require the final guidance from the Government, Public Health England and all the other sectors invested in settings’ reopening.
‘One of the major issues childminders require clarity on is that of shared care where we care for children who also attend pre-schools or school.
‘It is not necessarily easy for families to shorten their working day to accommodate pre-school hours, and as it currently stands, we are having to ask parents to pick one setting – not always practical when they have two or more children [of various ages].
‘It is my belief that settings need a bigger turnaround time between the final confirmation for reopening from the Government and actual opening to finalise details.’
REOPENING
Snapdragons Nurseries
The group, based in Bath, Bristol and North Wiltshire, operates nine nurseries.
Managing director and co-founder Rosemary Collard says, ‘We’ve been part of the Covid-19 group and we worked on a set of safe operating procedures several weeks before the Government guidance, which formed the basis of how we have already been operating on the five sites that have been open. The challenge has been operating at a loss, opening for a handful of children and being as flexible as possible, but having to rota with an excess of staff in case someone was off sick or children needed space at short notice.
‘The positives were the great team spirit, the exceptionally high attendance rate – only one staff sick day out of about 30 staff – and the appreciation shown by all the parents who attended.
‘Some local authorities have been better at supporting us than others. Such support has ranged from double funding to a financial incentive per child
‘One of our LAs deducted 20 per cent from settings that were closed, and that also had an impact in helping us to get started up again.
‘I feel that we are much better placed to reopen our setting because of the continued support from other providers who are part of the Covid-19 group and also the local NDNA group. We have been talking since we closed as to what things will look like after lockdown and so feel well informed.
‘Although Government and local authority guidance has often come very late in the day, remaining open and constantly being aware of what we need to do on a day-to-day basis in order to operate safely has given us the confidence and reassurance that we are then able to pass on to our parents.
‘In June, we are operating on reduced numbers with parents having the option to reduce their hours so they can do a phased return with their children. We are expecting about 50 per cent occupancy. Fortunately, the furlough scheme enables us to maintain job security for a few months more until parents are happy to return to work and bring their children back.
‘Inevitably there could be some job losses because we will not be able to take as many children due to the restriction of the numbers who can be in a bubble, and so our staffing needs could diminish. However, we are trying to be creative with our shift and work patterns to try and minimise any such reductions. The numbers increase each month as parents return to work, but it has to be small steps to ease the staff and children back into this new normal.
‘We have always worked in key family groups and little will change for the children except for frequent handwashing, no self-serve at mealtimes, but lots of time spent outside. The environment will not look significantly different – it will still look cosy even if there are no cushions, and there will still be plenty of resources. There will still be lots of hugs.
‘It will be difficult for parents to hand over their children at the door, but the team is very experienced at settling children and we can still send parents photos to reassure and they can phone us at any time. Social distancing might turn into a game if the children are counting and jumping between markers.
‘The important thing for us is to focus on the child and their social and emotional development. This is a huge change after two months at home so we will rebuild attachments; there will be lots of play, speaking and listening and an emphasis on making them feel safe and secure and, for many, preparing them for transitions to school.’
More information
- Planning guide for settings: https://bit.ly/2ZM19BQ
- Operating guide for settings: https://bit.ly/2TItUeQ
