A cautious re-opening of nurseries
Please allow nurseries to present their ideas on how they plan to operate in the ‘new future’. We all know things can’t go back to what they were, however kids shouldn’t be kept home from nurseries for an excessive amount of time. Nurseries should be allowed to put ideas in place (staggered drop off times for children in different nursery groups, a queuing system, parents not allowed in the building, a smaller number of children per key workers - I’m sure nurseries will have many more ideas!). Parents can then make their own decisions on whether they send their children back full time, part time or not at all and make payment arrangements with nurseries as appropriate. Perhaps trials can be made where certain groups of children are allowed to come in first and the numbers of perceived infections monitored before the next group. Please also consider the case for families where one parent is not a key worker working with Covid-19: they are likely to have to singlehandedly care of the child(ren) as well as try and work from home while their partners are out working shifts away from home. Families such as this should be allowed to send their children to nursery if they wish to.
Why the contribution is important
Many young children benefit from the attention and socialisation they receive at nursery. While some may be only children with parents able to fill the gap left by nursery being closed, some may be in multiple child families with both parents trying to work from home, or possibly even where one parent is s key worker working away from home leaving the other parent to manage both childcare and work on their own. This is before considering the long term effects of the stress these situations cause, particularly where there are money worries, existing mental health problems etc. Allowing nurseries to implement new measures and offering parents the choice of whether to send their children back to nursery alleviates some of this pressure. It also allows children to see their friends and continue invaluable learning in a setting that is primed for it, especially if many other places children could be taken to such as soft play, museums, pools, and play parks are to remain closed.
by RitaH1981 on May 05, 2020 at 06:46PM
Posted by ProtestTheHero May 05, 2020 at 19:02
The epidemiological benefits of persisting with the blanket closure of nurseries are so weak as to be negligible by comparison.
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Posted by annefran May 05, 2020 at 19:04
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Posted by Pandamamma May 05, 2020 at 19:26
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Posted by Laura89 May 06, 2020 at 01:04
You only have to look at a chicken pox outbreak in a nursery to see how quickly things would spread.
At one point there were o ly 5 children in my childs nursery who weren't off with chicken pox
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Posted by Carmelite May 06, 2020 at 10:18
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Posted by LornaA May 06, 2020 at 20:37
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Posted by LMC May 08, 2020 at 11:13
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Posted by TAR27 May 08, 2020 at 17:25
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Posted by Cerins May 08, 2020 at 18:02
We are working full time and raising young children without any support.
Two weeks in to lockdown I was depressed to the point of having suicidal thoughts. Clearly this was detrimental to both me and my child.
Even a few hours a week at a nursery would have given us both the support we need to get through this.
Trust nurseries and parents to make the right decisions for themselves.
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Posted by lmp123 May 09, 2020 at 05:57
Nurseries generally operate to stringent procedures and those operating for key worker children are currently operating to different procedures such as those above and these are working effectively.
It is crucial to the well being and development of young children that they have opportunities to play and socialise, the longer we remain in full lock down the more harm we may be causing to the future generation.
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Posted by JuliaM May 11, 2020 at 08:27
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Posted by Daisyh May 11, 2020 at 19:32
Why would it be okay reopen nurseries but not schools? Yet again the Early Years sector isn't viewed in the same professional light as school education. And why is this? This is where the Early Years Sector needs to step up and make themselves heard. Difference is, school aged children will have a better understanding and comprehension around social distancing and it would be so much easier to implement at that age. How are you meant to implement social distancing with children under the age of 5? Where is the care, nurture, attachment and everything else that is crucial at that age? Sorry, but that will be pretty impossible to implement. Where's the nurture in just dropping your wee one at the door and not allowing parents in?
And has anyone thought about the impact it would have on these young children seeing practitioners in PPE equipment? How scary must that be for them? How would it be a safe, nurturing, welcoming, secure, inviting, stimulating and fun environment for children when they are faced with practitioners in PPE?! Can you imagine the impact that level of stress will have on children? It's massive!
Absolutely understand working parents are overwhelmed and stressed but I think it is important to understand the risks Practitioners will be facing too. They too have families, underlying health conditions etc.
This is impacting everyone.
I completely agree when the spread of chicken pox can go like wildfire imagine the impact COVID19 could have.
Those who believe it only attacks the older generation is mistaken.
I think it is absolutely vital to make sure it is absolutely and utterly safe for children, Practitioners and parents to return to have the least negative impact on our children.
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Posted by AL80 May 11, 2020 at 20:10
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