Guernsey Press

Paperwork and safety plans ahead of early years restart

EARLY YEARS providers must complete paperwork and consider various safety requirements before they can return to work from next week.

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Childminders, pre-schools and nurseries are classed as education providers and will be able to reopen from Monday.

An Education spokesperson said that the requirements for a Covid risk assessment and checklist are not unreasonable given the circumstances.

Support is also available through the States Early Years Team.

Personal bubbles for childminders will follow Stage 1 bubbling guidelines, so they can join with one other household in Stage 1 and four in Stage 2, the Education spokesperson said.

‘As a childminder, professionally, when they are open they are operating as one work bubble like they are in all other Education providers.’

Children can now be collected by childminders from school in Stage 2, with children allowed to attend up to two education providers.

Pre-schools and day nurseries are required to operate in bubbles of up to 15 each day in Stage 2.

‘A provider can have more than one bubble operating each day but this will depend on their physical space,’ the Education spokesperson said.

For example, one provider may have four bubbles in place each day to cater for 60 children.

Other providers which cannot divide their physical space easily can operate one bubble on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and another bubble on Tuesdays and Thursdays to effectively enable safe operations.

‘In early years provision the mitigation of social distancing between children to children and children to practitioner is removed, so the size of the bubbles was reduced from the school requirement (class bubbles of 30) to 15 children by Public Health.’

Childminders cannot take on new clients and can care only for children that they have previously looked after, but this will be permitted in Stage 3.

‘In Stage 2 we are not permitting settling in visits for parents as that requires the parent to be present when other children are.’

Parents cannot enter the premises when dropping off their children, with handovers being done outside or at the door.

‘To expect a child to do this when they haven’t attended before is unfair and potentially distressing.’

While working childminders create a provider bubble with the children they work with, as children will in their nursery, pre-school or school class bubble.

‘This would not exceed 15 as they are working within statutory ratios for children.’

  • For more information visit: gov.gg/SEYT.