Coronavirus
UPDATE - April 2022
With effect from 1st April, Department of Education guidance regarding Coronavirus states:
"If a child or young person has a positive COVID-19 test result they should try to stay at home and where possible avoid contact with other people for 3 days after the day they took the test. The risk of passing the infection on to others is much lower after 3 days, if they feel well and do not have a high temperature.
Children and young people who usually attend an education or childcare setting and who live with someone who has a positive COVID-19 test result should continue to attend as normal."
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When children and young people with symptoms should stay at home and when they can return to education
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Children and young people with mild symptoms such as a runny nose, sore throat, or slight cough, who are otherwise well, can continue to attend their education setting.
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Children and young people who are unwell and have a high temperature should stay at home and avoid contact with other people, where they can. They can go back to school, college or childcare, and resume normal activities when they no longer have a high temperature and they are well enough to attend.
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All children and young people with respiratory symptoms should be encouraged to cover their mouth and nose with a disposable tissue when coughing and/or sneezing and to wash their hands after using or disposing of tissues.
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It can be difficult to know when to seek help if your child is unwell. If you are worried about your child, especially if they are aged under 2 years old, then you should seek medical help.
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UPDATE - January 2022
We continue to be grateful to those parents, families and staff who have helped to keep us all safe during the pandemic by adhering to our guidance.
Now that Coronavirus restrictions have been eased, we want to reassure you that the safety of our staff and families remains a priority and therefore, our procedures from January are as follows:
Staggered drop off and pick up times - Buttsbury Bears (2-3 year olds) 8.40am-11.40am or 12.10pm-3.10pm, Risers (3-4 year olds) 8.45am-11.45am or 12.15pm-3.15pm.
Coronavirus symptoms - The main symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are:
a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
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 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 you/your child have any of these symptoms, please get a Lateral Flow Test (LFT)/PCR test (test that is sent to a lab) to check if you have coronavirus and stay at home until you get your result, even if the symptoms are mild.
If you/your child's Lateral Flow Test/PCR test is positive, please contact NHS Test and Trace for further guidance and advise the pre-school.
If your child's LFT/PCR test is negative and they feel well enough to return to pre-school then please do so.
Positive case in your household - If someone tests positive for Coronavirus in your household, please arrange PCR tests for everyone else and contact NHS Test and Trace for further guidance. Your child cannot attend pre-school until you have advised us of the outcome of their test result and guidance from Test and Trace.
During the current period, if your child feels unwell for whatever reason, we would be grateful if you would keep your pre-school child/ren at home. Please feel free to email/telephone the pre-school if you are unsure what to do.
We have robust systems of control in place at the pre-school minimising the risk to our children and staff and ensuring the pre-school remains clean throughout the day and at the end of each day.
We will continue to encourage the children to wash their hands frequently and cough or sneeze into a tissue/inner elbow.
Remember to clothe your child warmly as we will have windows and doors open to ensure good ventilation.
Finally, to reiterate when you should keep your child/ren home from pre-school due to Coronavirus symptoms or testing. In order to keep all 'bubbles' open and us all safe, can we please remind you of the following:
* If your child/children have any Coronavirus symptoms – please keep them at home, get a test and inform the pre-school.
* If anyone in your household develops symptoms – please keep your child at home; get the relevant person tested and inform the pre-school.
* If your child or anyone in your household has a test and is waiting for the result – please keep your child/ren at home.
* If they or anyone in your household receives a positive test – please keep them at home for the required isolating period and follow guidance from NHS Test and Trace.
UPDATE - August 2021
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Over the last 18 months, we are truly grateful to those parents, families and staff who have helped to keep us all safe during the pandemic by adhering to our guidance.
Now that Coronavirus restrictions have been lifted, we want to reassure you that the safety of our staff and families remains a priority and therefore, our procedures for September are as follows:
Face masks/coverings - please feel free to wear a face covering if you wish to. Some staff members may be wearing one.
Staggered drop off and pick up times - Buttsbury Bears (2-3 year olds) 8.40am-11.40am or 12.10pm-3.10pm, Risers (3-4 year olds) 8.45am-11.45am or 12.15pm-3.15pm.
Group 'bubbles' in the playroom/outside area - the children will be split into the red and blue team in September while we assess the ongoing infection rates among staff and children. This will be reviewed later in the Autumn term and we will let you know as soon as we propose to return to one cohort.
Coronavirus symptoms - The main symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are:
a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
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 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 you/your child have any of these symptoms, please get a PCR test (test that is sent to a lab) to check if you have coronavirus and stay at home until you get your result, even if the symptoms are mild.
If you/your child's PCR test is positive, please contact NHS Test and Trace for further guidance and advise the pre-school.
If your child's PCR test is negative and they feel well enough to return to pre-school then please do so.
Positive case in your household - If someone tests positive for Coronavirus in your household, please arrange PCR tests for everyone else and contact NHS Test and Trace for further guidance. Your child cannot attend pre-school until you have advised us of the outcome of their test result and guidance from Test and Trace.
During the current period, if your child feels unwell for whatever reason, we would be grateful if you would keep your pre-school child/ren at home. Please feel free to email/telephone the pre-school if you are unsure what to do.
We have robust systems of control in place at the pre-school minimising the risk to our children and staff and ensuring the pre-school remains clean throughout the day and at the end of each day. Each ‘bubble’ will also have its own set of play resources to minimise the risk of contamination by touch.
We will continue to encourage the children to wash their hands frequently and cough or sneeze into a tissue/inner elbow.
Remember to clothe your child warmly as we will have windows and doors open to ensure good ventilation.
Families returning from holiday abroad - please ensure you have followed Government guidance before returning to pre-school.
Finally, to reiterate when you should keep your child/ren home from pre-school due to Coronavirus symptoms or testing. In order to keep all 'bubbles' open and us all safe, can we please remind you of the following:
* If your child/children have any Coronavirus symptoms – please keep them at home, get a test and inform the pre-school.
* If anyone in your household develops symptoms – please keep your child at home; get the relevant person tested and inform the pre-school.
* If your child or anyone in your household has a test and is waiting for the result – please keep your child/ren at home.
* If they or anyone in your household receives a positive test – please keep them at home for the required isolating period and follow guidance from NHS Test and Trace.
If you have any concerns or questions regarding the above, please do not hesitate to contact the pre-school, from 1 September, where we will be happy to talk through any queries you may have.
January 2021
Further to the Prime minister's briefing on 30th December, the pre-school remains open to all children with effect from 4th January 2021.
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Remember to clothe your child warmly as we will have windows and doors open to ensure good ventilation.
Please continue to adhere to our social distancing rules and wear a mask (where possible) on site too.
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If you do not plan to send your child back into pre-school yet, we completely understand but would be grateful if you could let us know by email so that we can update our registers.
September 2020
Due to COVID-19 we have needed to make some changes to our provision to ensure the safety of our children, staff and yourselves. The following is advised for our opening in September onwards but may be subject to immediate change so, please bear with us as we all settle back into some kind of ‘normality’ and please note these changes are there for a reason and it is imperative that everyone abides by our new rules and routines.
Our procedures will be reviewed regularly as time goes on and we will keep parents/carers up to date, by email, with any new changes put in place.
We will need every parent/carer to agree to this declaration before bringing their child into the pre-school.
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DECLARATION
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Before entering Buttsbury Pre-school, please confirm that you, your child or anyone in your household does NOT have any of the main symptoms of Coronavirus:
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a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
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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)
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a loss or changed sense of smell or taste (also called anosmia)
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That you have not been into contact with any individuals who are unwell
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Your child has not been given any medication in the last 24 hours
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You/your child has not been into contact with anyone with Coronavirus within the last 14 days.
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You/your child will carry out a test, if you/your child has any of the symptoms above, please see details below.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-getting-tested
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Please be vigilant regarding anyone with possible symptoms – it is important that you share the results of the test with the pre-school urgently.
Steps to help reduce the risk of Coronavirus spreading in the pre-school
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Please teach your child good cleaning hands practice by washing hands thoroughly for 20 seconds (sing Happy Birthday twice) with running water and soap and dry them thoroughly ensuring that all parts of the hands are covered.
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Ensure good respiratory hygiene - promote the ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ approach. By catching coughs and sneezes in a tissue or on the inside of your elbow. Then throw the tissue in a bin and wash your hands immediately.
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On advice from the Department of Education and Essex County Council, we are splitting our year groups in session to ‘bubbles’, Buttsbury Bears and Risers, which we will try to keep consistent where possible.
UPDATED 26th June, 11.00
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Following the Prime Ministers announcement on the 28th May, we have partially reopened the pre-school to our children leaving for Infant school first. These children will attend in small, consistent 'bubble' groups with the same staff members (we cannot guarantee your child will be with their original keyperson).
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With regard to reopening to our 'Buttsbury Bear' children, we have emailed you all today to advise that we will not be reopening the pre-school to our ‘Bears’ for the rest of the summer term.
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We are already looking ahead to September and what our plans may be when we re-open on Friday 4th September. We will continue to monitor any changes in Government guidance, with regards to the number of children that can return, and will keep you updated via email with any changes.
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UPDATED 4th June, 08.30
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Following the Prime Ministers announcement on the 28th May, we have partially reopened the pre-school to our children leaving for Infant school first. These children will attend in small, consistent 'bubble' groups with the same staff members (we cannot guarantee your child will be with their original keyperson).
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With regard to reopening to our 'Buttsbury Bear' children, we emailed you all, week commencing 1st June, to update you on our plans to re-introduce your children when we can, without risking the possible infection of current children and staff.
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UPDATED 31st May 2020, 11.30
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Following the Prime Ministers announcement on the 28th May, we are now preparing to partially reopen the pre-school to our children leaving for Infant school first. These children will attend in small, consistent 'bubble' groups and parents will be updated week commencing 1st June of our plans going forward.
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With regard to reopening to our 'Buttsbury Bear' children, we will be emailing you all, week commencing 1st June, to update you on our plans to re-introduce your children when we can, without risking the possible infection of current children and staff.
UPDATED 11th May 2020, 14.00
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We appreciate the uncertainty that yesterday evening's Prime Ministers announcement may have brought. It will be a very unsettling few weeks whilst we try and wade through the guidance from central and local government and try to find a plan that we feel will keep both our staff and children safe. We are sure you can imagine this will be a huge task and one that will require careful planning.
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We will update our website again once we are in a position to provide you with further details.
UPDATED 16th APRIL 2020, 18.00
In line with Government guidance announced today, the pre-school expects to remain closed for a further three weeks.
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UPDATED 23rd MARCH 2020 (14.33)
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The pre-school is currently closed until further notice.
The latest government guidance can be found here - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers
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The most recent advice on how to continue to limit the spread of COVID-19 is clear:
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* If children can stay safely at home, they should, as this will limit the chance of the virus spreading.
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* Parents should not rely for childcare from relatives or friends who may be at greatest risk due to their age of having underlying conditions.
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* Parents should also do everything they can to ensure children are not mixing socially in a way which can continue to spread the virus. They should follow the same social distancing rules as adults.
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That is why the government has asked parents to keep their children at home, wherever possible, and asked schools and early years settings to remain open only for those children who absolutely need to attend.
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This means children who are vulnerable and children whose parents are employed in roles that are
critical to the Covid-19 response.
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The Department of Education have now released the list of key workers, this is below. Please note that the guidance is for anyone in the below categories who cannot keep their child safe at home. If it is possible for your child to be at home, then they should be.
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Health and social care
Frontline health and social care staff such as doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, as well as support and specialist staff in the health and social care sector. In addition, it includes those working in supply chains including producers and distributors of medicines and personal protective equipment
Education and childcare
Nursery, teaching staff and social workers
Key public services
Those required to run the justice system, religious staff, as well as those responsible for managing the deceased, and journalists providing public service broadcasting.
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Local and national government
Administrative occupations essential to the effective delivery of the Covid-19 response or delivering essential public services, including payment of benefits.
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Food and other necessary goods
​Those involved in the production, processing, distribution, sale and delivery of food.
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Public safety and national security
Police, support staff, Ministry of Defence civilian staff and armed forces personnel, fire and rescue staff, and those responsible for border security, prisons and probation.
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Transport
Those who will keep air, water, road and rail passenger and freight transport modes operating during the Covid-19 response.
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Utilities, communication and financial services
Staff required to keep oil, gas, electricity, water and sewerage operations running. Staff in the civil nuclear, chemical and telecommunications sectors. Those in postal services and those working to provide essential financial services.
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Many parents working in these critical sectors may be able to ensure their child is kept at home. Every child who can be safely cared for at home should be.
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This offer is for those parents and carers who need to find childcare to enable them to continue to work in the areas set out above, but there is no requirement for parents and carers to send their children to school or an early years and childcare setting if they do not need or wish to do so.
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If your child has a social worker, they will work with you to assess the best option for your child.
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Please talk to your child’s school or childcare setting about the arrangements they are making in the first place. You may need to be able to provide evidence that your job fits into the criteria set out above. If they are unable to stay open or offer you the level of support you need, please contact the Essex Family Information Service either by -
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* email at family.informationservice@essex.gov.uk
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* or phoning 0800 055 6874
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and we will work with you to try and find alternative arrangements.
UPDATED 18th MARCH 2020 (18:57)
Following the Prime Minister’s announcement this evening, we want to reassure you that we will be working to solidify the pre-school’s approach to the updated advice in relation to the pandemic.
We know this is an anxious time for everybody and fully respect your family’s decision around attending sessions until Friday however, the pre-school will remain open until 3.15pm on Friday.
We will clarify the pre-school’s position thereafter by 5pm on Friday.
UPDATED 16th MARCH 2020 (19:17)
Buttsbury Pre-school is taking the Coronavirus (COVID-19) seriously. Our number one priority is the safety and wellbeing of our staff, children and their families.
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If your child has a fever (high temperature over 37.8 degrees centigrade) or a new, continuous cough please keep them at home (self-isolate) for at least 14 days. Anyone living with someone who has symptoms also needs to self-isolate for 14 days. This also applies to staff, visitors and anyone dropping off or collecting your child.
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Also, if you do feel the need to give your child a paracetamol/ibuprofen based medicine in order to attend pre-school then our advice is to keep them at home too.
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Please call the pre-school on 01277 631816 if your child is self-isolating. Please be specific about symptoms in your message and also whether your child is well but self-isolating due to a family member showing symptoms.
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Any staff member who is worried they have the symptoms of Coronavirus (COVID-19) is encouraged to stay at home in line with the latest Government and Public Health England guidance.
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We continue to be stringent around hygiene and cleaning regimes including thorough, frequent handwashing by all in session, including the children.
We are closely monitoring the situation to make sure we are taking all precautions to protect staff and children. The pre-school remains open for the time being. Should we need to close, parents will be updated via email and our Facebook pages.
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For further NHS information about Coronavirus (COVID-19), please click this link:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
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For further guidance about whether your child should attend pre-school, please click this link:
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/
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