Coronavirus Case Update

Dear All,

I write to confirm that after a quiet few months, we have had an additional confirmed case at the Centre. The possible exposure day was Friday Feb 5th and 7 staff and 22 Sunshine children are required to self-isolate until the end of Sunday Feb 14th.

Staffing limitations mean that we are operationally unable to offer a viable service in Sunshine this week, so the room will remain closed until Monday Feb 15th, impacting a further 17 children. All affected families have been contacted directly and no further action is required if the contact group remain asymptomatic.

Kind Regards,

James.

January Lockdown

Hi All,

Just to confirm, Early Years settings are specifically exempt from the new Lockdown. Although we are aware than some local nurseries have closed completely or limited service, we currently intend to continue providing normal service for as long as this remins operationally possible.

If staff absences due to loss of childcare, sickness or contact group exlcusion change our ability to offer normal service, we will contact all impacted families individually.

As with Lockdowns 1 and 2, the contractual position is that available sessions are invoiced regardles of attendance, but no fees are changed for sessions when a room or the whole Centre is closed.

Kind Regards,

James.

Update and Contact Protocols

Hi All,

I’m delighted to not have had anything to post here for the last month! Although a number of children and staff have required tests, we have had no additional confirmed cases and so have been able to keep all rooms operating fully. Hopefully this trend will continue until we break up at the end of next week.

Please ensure that we continue to be notified of any precautionary isolations or confirmed infections during the two-week break. The Centre’s phones won’t be answered and voicemails may not be picked up until January 4th, but my e-mail (jrideout@eastonccc.org.uk) will be monitored throughout. We will contact you as normal if we become aware of any required isolation for contact groups.

We remain unable to restart the 5-5:50 wraparound session, as this is only possible if children from the 4 rooms can be safely combined into a single group. As such, it is unlikely that this service will be offered until the distancing requirements are completely relaxed. We thank you for your patience and understanding.

We hope all families have a relaxing break and wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah and cracking Kwanzaa.

Best wishes,

James.

Coronavirus: Important Update

Dear All,

I am pleased to be able to say that we have no further positive cases since the now long-expired exclusions in Sunshine Room and the Centre has remained fully open throughout. Most staff were able to return as soon as they were allowed - and we are working with those who remain unwell to arrange a phased return to their duties.

However, new guidance published this week has resulted in a few changes to our approach. The Public Health focus has moved to preventing transmisson between adults, so:

  • Parents & carers are now required to wear face coverings in all areas of the Centre. Please ensure that your mask is in place before entering the building and do not remove it until you are outside again.

  • Parents are reminded that in order to maintain workable traffic within the building at peak times, staff cannot engage in conversation at pick-up or drop-off and parents must leave the rooms as quickly as possible at all times. Please do not stop to speak to other parents inside the building. We ask that you contact us by telephone (0117 9392550) or e-mail (enquiries@eastonccc.org.uk) with any queries or updates.

  • All external visits and showrounds are paused until further notice. This effectively means no intake will be possible before the new year.

Best Wishes,

James.

Case Update

Dear All,

We have now had an additional case (1x Adult in Sunshine) confirmed.

The possible exposure day is limited to Monday 19/10 and all directly exposed children (15) and staff (4) have been excluded until Monday 02/11. Enough regular room staff happened to not be in on Monday to mean that we are able to continue operating the room as normal next week.

The trend appears to be clear that confirmed cases amongst children are rare, with 5 of the 7 total cases being among adults. Both cases in children were in older, preschool children who exhibited very mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. Even suspected cases are highly disruptive to families and centre operation, with the vast majority of required exclusions for symptomatic individuals proving to be false alarms. This means that the recent delays in obtaining test results is keeping both staff and children off for much longer than necessary. We have spoken to our MP and joined a growing call for priority testing for all levels of education. Faster testing wouldn’t avoid contact group exclusions when a case is confirmed, but it would reduce the amount of time suspected cases need to spend off awaiting results - allowing more consistent attendance for children and helping us have enough staff active to keep the rooms open.

I therefore also need to reiterate the request for families to keep unwell children away from nursery whenever possible - if just to avoid large number of others needing to test and isolate if they then catch and become symptomatic with something that isn’t Coronavirus. Staffing is now precarious enough that adults catching colds from attending children could close rooms to everyone for days or even weeks at a time.

Hopefully the recent surge will abate over the half-term. I will continue to post updates about all developments.

Kind Regards,

James.

Case Update (Additional)

Dear All,

This afternoon we received confirmation of a further postive Coronavirus test in Rainbow Room (1x Child). This case is likely directly linked to the original Rainbow case as there was direct exposure between the two children, but assesment is complex as the symptom thresholds for requesting a test were not met so there is no basis date for calculating exposure periods and resulting exclusions - even though the test result was then positive.

As such, a full consultation with a practitioner from Public Health England was completed this afternoon. Their decision in this case is to deem the potentially infectious period as two days prior to the test date (16/10) - which falls inside the period that the child was already excluded. This means no additional exclusions of children or staff are required at this time. Children already excluded can return on their originally advised date.

We will keep you informed of any additional cases.

Kind Regards,

James.

Case Update

Dear All,

Here’s an update on Coronavirus cases at ECCC.

Over the weekend we received confirmation of two additional positive test results:

1x Staff Member in Tiny Tots - resulting in wider child exclusions over the same period as the existing restrictions. Results were slower in this case as it was a postal test. All impacted families have been contacted and can return later this week.

1x Staff Member in Sunshine - who did not attend the Centre during their potentially infectious period, so this case does not require any exclusions or restrictions.

All rooms remain open, but maintaining appropriate staffing is becoming increasingly difficult as we currently have 15 staff excluded due to both self-isolation from possible exposures here and at home where a family member is awaiting test results. We will endeavour to remain fully functional at all times, but please be aware that if required levels of qualified staff cannot be provided, some room closures will be necessary and these decisions may have to be made at very short notice.

We also ask that all families are extremely vigilant in ensuring that unwell children do not attend the Centre. Although we understand that balancing various priorities is very challenging for parents right now, it is vital that the number of cases (even false alarms) is reduced if the Centre is going to remain open through the winter and Spring terms.

Kind Regards,

James.

Coronavirus Update

Dear All,

We now have a confirmed Coronavirus case in Tiny Tots (two cases in total across the Centre). DfE/PHE have excluded children and staff exposed through direct contact last Friday (09/10/2020) only. As such, your child is only excluded if you have been directly contacted to request collection and self-isolation for the the child. Excluded Tiny Tots staff and children cannot return until Friday October 23rd, although this date may get pushed back due to individual family isolations or confirmation of additional positive tests here with later last exposure dates.

The majority of Tiny Tots staff are also now excluded, but we intend to continue operating the room to allow ongoing childcare for those not currently excluded. We will keep you updated with any changes.

Kind Regards,

James.

Coronavirus Confirmation / Statutory Exclusions

Dear All,

We now have a single confirmed Coronavirus case in Rainbow Room. DfE/PHE have excluded children and staff exposed through direct contact last Thursday (08/10/2020) only. As such, your child is only excluded if you have been directly contacted to request collection and self-isolation for the the child. Excluded staff and children cannot return until Thursday October 22nd, although this date may get pushed back due to individual family isolations or confirmation of additional positive tests here with later last exposure dates.

The vast majority of Rainbow staff are also now excluded, but we intend to continue operating the preschool to allow ongoing childcare for those not currently excluded. We will keep you updated with any changes.

Kind Regards,

James.