On Tuesday 2nd June we opened our doors once again to welcome a small number of children back to Little Echoes Day Nursery. Since then it has been a great success for all. The children say goodbye to their parents at either the main door or Bouncing Bunnies gate, initially we had a few wobbly lips but they were soon easily distracted. The children are now familiar with the routine of washing their hands upon entering, visuals help support them with this.
We have tried to keep the daily routine and rooms as familiar to the children as possible. We have also created a new room in the indoor garden to allow two ‘bubble groups’ of children into the pre-school room. The indoor garden is set up as a mirror image of the pre-school room.
Clever cats room is still very much the same, we have taken out some chairs, soft furnishings including our carpet time mat and soft toys.
As per guidelines we have had to limit the number of books in our book corner and removed cushions, the children still really enjoy sharing stories with others.
In order to allow for additional cleaning we have taken over the baby room as a sterilising room, all toys that the children have finished playing with are taken here to be submerged in Milton solution and then allowed to fully air dry before being returned to the room.
Tissue stations have been set up around the nursery in the various rooms to promote the ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ procedure. The children have got really got at this, its also a great way to promote their independence skills.
During meal times children are socially distanced, with no more then three children at any one table. Adults wear aprons when serving food and wash their hands frequently throughout lunch time.
In the sleep room, childrens sleep mats are socially distanced apart.
All the staff fully understand the importance of promoting the children’s emotional wellbeing during this time. We have introduced yoga into our sessions to support them further.
We wanted to gain a little bit of feedback from parents who have sent their children back, we had an overwhelming response from those parents, here is a selection of them:
“I felt quite apprehensive about my son returning to Little Echoes, but the team have been absolutely wonderful in many ways. The way they have adapted the setting to meet government guidelines made me instantly feel at ease and my son doesn’t seem to have noticed much change either, apart from he is now greeted at the door every morning by his teacher which he seems to quite like. He has also become an expert in handwashing and inspects our technique every time we now wash hands at home.”
“At first we were a little anxious to send our son back. However, the thorough organisation and friendly welcome has quickly put our minds at rest. While at home our son had started to lose some of his shine, which was a concern for us, but since being back at Little Echoes we have got our happy little boy back who runs in enthusiastically each day to see his friends and teachers. We would like to thank the Little Echoes team.”
“We are very happy with the arrangements the nursery has made for keeping all children and the staff safe. The nursery has a comprehensive risk assessment policy in place which gives us confidence that our daughter will be in safe hands and enjoy her time at the nursery. All children have been allocated a specific drop off and pick up times with social distancing measures, and they are kept in bubbles within their group with allocated staff minimising contact with other children and staff members. With all of this in place, we are very confident of sending our daughter to the nursery and she remains in her group of Bouncing Bunnies during her time at the nursery. We have noticed that she is very excited to go the nursery and comes home a happy child, so thanks to Little Echoes for the safe keeping measures in this extraordinary times.”
‘We were initially apprehensive about sending our son back to nursery due to being worried about how he would find it with all the changes however we couldn’t be happier with how it has turned out. He is enjoying nursery even more than he was before and runs to the front door every morning when it’s time to leave! He seems to be really enjoying being around his peers again and the staff have been amazing at making him feel welcome. With a newborn at home and both of us working having him back at nursery has been a huge help and the fact he has been enjoying it so much has made everything so much easier. Thank you Little Echoes!’
We are now planning a wider opening and the tricky task of conducting socially distanced settling in visits. These past few weeks have been a great success and if anything the children have taught us how resilient we really are and adaptable in these strange times.
