As of week commencing 29th June 2020 we will be creating three new Bubbles to group the children as they begin to return to nursery.
Rainbow Bubble One - in what was Nest
Rainbow Bubble Two - in the what was The Bumble Bee Room
Rainbow Bubble Three - in what was The Ladybird Room
You will be sent information about which Bubble your child will be in when they return to nursery by the end of next week
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What is a bubble?
A way of grouping children at our nursery, keeping children and staff safe during the time of coronavirus by organising them into ‘Bubbles’. During lockdown children and adults were in a bubble in their home, within their home bubble they didn’t need to socially distance from the other members of their household. The concept of a nursery bubble is an extension of the home bubble. In a nursery bubble a group of children and staff are grouped together every time they are in the nursery and their interaction and contact with other bubbles is restricted as much as possible.
Why have a bubble?
A nursery with for example, 45 children and 13 staff members, could be split into three bubbles reducing the number of children and staff members each child and staff member comes into contact with.
Reduce risk of transmission in children and adults.
Effectively manage instances of COVID-19 in the nursery.
Reassure parents as to the control measures you are using.
Reassure staff that their health & wellbeing is being planned for.
Provides organisation and clear responsibility for staff in guiding children.
Our new Bubbles MUST:
Not exceed 16 children (from the DfE guidance)
Contain the same children for a minimum of one week (Monday to Friday) and ideally longer with at least a weekend between new bubbles
Adhere to the guidance on child to adult ratio as set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework and the subsequent disapplication guidance for the period of coronavirus
Our new Bubbles should:
Contain the same staff members where possible. Where additional staff support is required for a bubble we have considered the following o How ratio requirements are being met over the building as a whole o How any supernumerary, ancillary or support staff are deployed o How shifts are planned. Longer and fewer shifts, where practical, reduces commutes and changing over of staff during the day o If staff need to provide cover across bubbles we will provide PPE if they wish to use it.
Group members of the same household together e.g. siblings/staff with their own children where possible
We will be together for as long as possible before new bubbles are formed,
We will consider when children might have been due to transition between age phased rooms as this will no longer take place until September at the earliest.
Therefore children could be transitioning earlier or later than usual or not at all, or vertical grouping of children to bubbles moving onto new rooms together.
Everything will be documented so if there is a case of Covid-19 we are able to readily identify which children and staff have potentially been exposed
We will provide clearly-defined, easy-to-manage spaces as possible.
Our Environment and Routine:
We have ensured resources are appropriately cleaned before being passed from one bubble to the next
We have split resources between bubbles where possible
We will not share resources between bubbles which can not be easily cleaned e.g. malleable materials
Where bubbles are not able to be separated by physical separation in separate rooms consider furniture placements to support separation considering: o We have reducing pinch-points where bubbles could mix o We have Influenced the flow and/or focused activity stations for children through carefully thought out Flow of the Day routines We will deploy our staff to subtly direct ‘traffic’ and non-bubble clusters
We have utilised the outside space as much as possible, coordinating its use to avoid unexpected mixing of bubbles
We will be having lunchtimes outside as much as possible.
We will talk to you about the new Bubbles at collection time next week and on your tour of the nursery next Saturday.
We look forward to seeing you soon
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