Q.  Whether all children could be accepted before June 1 (or just key workers).

A.  From June 1 other 3-4 years old can be accepted alongside vulnerable children and those of key workers.

Q.  Support for critical worker families who may need childcare and must settings open on 1 June will be a priority?

A.  Support for children of critical workers continues to be a priority. We ensure risk assessment was done before opening on 1 June and it is on-going.

Q.  Will partnership working across settings be possible if numbers aren't sufficient to open each setting?

A.  Yes this is possible our Willesden Green branch children will be accessing the Pitfield way branch for safety. This was agreed with the parents/carers

Q.  Do we have to take only children who are 3 and 4 first or does nursery decide

A.  we can take 20 children as our risk assessment shows and can manage safely. We are at the moment managing this in small groups/bubbles consistently so children mix with a small number of other children and consistent adults. We may not be able to take all children or may have to reduce attendance time as time goes on. Our priorities now are children of critical workers, vulnerable children and 3/4 year olds first. (June).

Q.  Is there any estimate date that when all children should back in the nursery?

A.  There is no estimated date for all children to be back, at present. This depends on the risk management in our setting and the numbers of children we feel we can safely accommodate presently is 20 following the social distance guideline of 2m as recommended by the government.

Q.  Concerns about which children to target first as they settle back in- e.g. children whose parents need to go back to work, SEND children etc. And then children whose parents are at home, perhaps not working.

A.  the above lists are of priority to us and we are following it as advised by the government

Q.  Are parents allowed to have re-settling in time at the nursery. As they have been away from the nursery for so long.

A.  No we have to discuss this with the parents as it will jeopardise everything we are trying to do right. However, there will be frequent feedback to the parents via phone about the child’s progress during the settling-in process.

Q.  Do parents have choice of not bringing their children to Nursery, if they don’t want to so

A.  Parents of course have a choice but attendance for vulnerable children is encouraged and if declined any concerns will be reported to the Social Worker or the Brent Family Front door (02089374300).

Q.  What are we going to do if some of the staff depending on their current situation would prefer to work in September 2020 instead of July because of the high infection rate? If I was to open and all the parents wanted childcare I would not be able to provide care for all of them.

A.  We would need to prioritise according to the list at (Answer e) which states; children whose parents need to go back to work, and SEND children. This will depend on our risk assessment review and management will decide how many children we can take safely-20 at the moment

Social distancing

Q.  Our setting have unlimited space to start with, we are therefore confident of implementing social distancing at lunch time, rest time and free play with 2, 3 and 4 year olds, if we control slot times.

A.  the DfE acknowledges that each setting’s circumstances are unique. They provide suggestions for how to implement social distancing measures in limited space in their guidance documents. As above, risk assessment should be conducted. A précised approach we have already implemented and following currently.

Q.  Do we have a rotation of children on a daily basis?

A.  we required to keep children in small groups/bubbles hence can rotate these groups through

Q.  How are we going to keep children two metres apart- especially our younger children?

A.  We are currently required to adapt our space for small groups of children to be together through different activities. The DfE understands that the youngest children cannot be expected to socially distance. We are therefore following the expected hierarchy of measures (e.g. regularly hand washing/sanitising/staff wearing plastic shield when in less than 2m proximity etc.).

Q.  How do we stop children mixing with other different age group? Do we stop them playing all together?

A.  yes, we will need to stop all children playing together as one group. The DfE suggests using key worker groups as a basis to keep children in a small consistent group of which we are doing. Children can play together in their groups and appropriate rotas will need to be put in place for the groups to access different activities.

Q.  What is the government understanding of DISTANCING

A.  Children in small groups should be kept 2m away from other groups.

Q.  Although we work in a building which is Very spacious, how are we supposed to protect ourselves and the children on daily bases?

A.  We are following Public Health England’s clear instruction on early years settings needs to implement infection control measures, such as hygiene and social distancing, this will help to lower the risk of transmission.

EYFS/Ofsted/EYFS disapplications

Q.  Staff and parents would also like to known if the normal rules governing ratios will be re-instated as of the 1st June.

A.  The EYFS requirements around ratios continue to apply. This guidance outlines the temporary changes that came into force on 24 April 2020 and will last throughout the COVID-19 outbreak or until government stipulate otherwise. The long end date of the legislative changes is shown in regulations as 25 September 2020, but these will be reviewed on a monthly basis and modifications may be lifted earlier, for instance if government advice on self-isolation and social distancing is amended. Check for government update.

Q.  Can the EYFS department help us with format for covid-19 policies

A.  The Early Years and Quality Improvement teams will be able to support with guidance around risk assessments which is what our setting is using as a guide for 1st June opening. We have completed the risk assessment for our provision based on local need. Policies are unique to the setting however the EYQI team are available for us to continue to seek advice and guidance as usual

Q.  Are due for Ofsted inspection In September, 2020. When will Ofsted be likely to do an inspection?

A.  Ofsted have not announced when their routine inspection cycle will be restarted. However we understand urgent inspections where specific concerns have been raised are still going ahead.

Wider funding questions

Q.  What have the government said about the financial arrangements for NEG 2/3/4 from September, as we may not have anywhere near our usual numbers admitted by headcount date?

A.  There is no update on this issue as yet. Current guidance is based on expectation that the government will continue to pay local authorities for free early years entitlement places for 2, 3 and 4 year olds. This funding will continue to be paid even if the setting is closed or the child is unable to attend due to the impact of the pandemic

Q.  If there is no government information, what is Brent intending to do, e.g. via DSG?

A.  At this stage Brent early years continued to follow the guidance above to fund places based on estimates, however the position will be reviewed and settings will be updated.

Q.  What if a child in our care has asthma would they not be classed as a child who could be at a higher susceptibility from Covid-19?

A.  this depends on the severity of the asthma. Families should contact their GP if they need advice on the clinical vulnerability of their children. We are incorporating staff and children with long term illnesses incorporate this into our risk assessments.

Q.  Children are being admitted to hospital with Kawasaki’s syndrome which is as a consequence of covid-19 and are testing positive to having antibodies do we as a sector not need to consider this?

A.  Kawasaki syndrome is a very rare condition. It is important to remind parents of the importance of seeking medical attention for any illness.

Q.  Example- a child turns up at nursery with a runny nose mother says child is fine but nursery concern due to bodily fluid -what advice would be given in this scenario

A.  as a setting we are going to continue to remind families of the symptoms of the virus and that no child or staff member should attend when they have symptoms. Our setting’s usual policies are used around children who are unwell with non Covid related symptoms and continue to apply. The symptoms of COVID now include: a high temperature, a new, continuous cough, a loss of, or change to, your sense of smell or taste. We will not allow no child or staff member to attend the setting if they are experiencing these symptoms

Parental enquiries

Q.  Most of our parent has received calls regarding the reopening from 1st of June; some of the parent does not feel comfortable sending two and half year old to go back to the nursery from June because of social distancing. Some of them are not working at moment and happy to keep the child at home. What shall we do?

A.  LA makes it clear that childcare for under 5s is non-statutory, parents have the option to keep their child at home. If the child is vulnerable, they should be encouraged to attend.