Bubbles

[spiceye]

Evening All,

Can I just ask how nurseries are actually arranging there space/splitting staff/children into bubbles?  I have 2 rooms (baby & toddler and preschool room) to start with I was think I will have 10 children in the baby/toddler room and maybe 10 - 12 in the preschool room.  I was going to (somehow) half the room so that each side would have 5 or 6 children and 2 staff (maximum of 8 people each side) but this seems very over staffed (total of approx. 21 children with 8 staff - not very cost effective).  I need 2 staff each side to cover staff going to the toilet/lunch etc (we are opening 8am - 4pm).

Now wondering if I should leave the room open (and free flow with limited resources) with 10 - 12 children and 3 staff - staff keeping 2 meters apart from each other and following the guidance of staff sitting/standing behind children/keeping a distance etc

These bubbles are really hurting my head!

Good luck everyone - I'm not opening to 15th so have some time to think about it :)!

[Mouseketeer]

I think I’d go with the 2nd option to start with then you have an option if you need to start a 2nd bubble, we’re one room and haven’t split for 1st bubble, not sure I’m going to split for the 2nd bubble either, just 1 in, 1 out, clean and rotate resources.

I wish I’d left till the following week as have now spent the whole half term preparing 😠

[spiceye]

Thank you Mouseketeer - that is the option I have gone with, going to keep the same 12 children in my preschool room all week (meaning 8 children will initially miss out) with a max of 12 but min. of 8 (depending on days they attend) and see how I go after the 1st week....already had few parents of those who are missing out saying they are not happy.....but what can one do!

xx

[Rebecca]

I've split my staff shifts to 6 hours maximum so that they don't need a lunch break. I have only one or two each day needing a break and these are covered by people doing 1/2 days (so a 12.30 lunch will be covered by a 12.30 -6.30 shift person while a 7.30-1.30 shift person is still there)

I'm like you I have different children on different days I've worked it like this:

bubble 1 - all my children under 2.5yrs

bubble 2 - 2.5yrs to 3.5 yrs

bubble 3 - 3.5 yrs+

Each bubble has potential to be split in 2 groups on  a day (I have 6 play spaces)

Chid stay in same bubble and Child stays with same group all day

Child might be in a different group on another day but will always be with children from same bubble.

I've match staff shifts to group start/finish times and have max 6 hour shifts. Staff will take snack breaks with children. Managers will support one bubble for loo breaks etc and will do so as much as possible without going into the classroom - so reading a story in the garden for example. Once manager goes into one room they are not permitted to go into a diffeent room on that day unless dire emergency.

I'll let you know how it goes - if you want to see what it look like on paper let me know!

[Greenfinch]

Hi Rebecca - I hope all is going ok so far for you with your plans and your bubbles! I am reading your comments with interest as I also have different children in on different days for all age ranges.(not reopened yet - still not sure how to do it safely) I only have a few staff and usually we are completely integrated. Do your staff all stay with the same children all week ?Are your staff all full time? 

so for example : you have bubble ABCD  and some children may be in bubble A for 2 days, some for  4 days etc so the bubble may change slightly depending on the register but the children will always be in same bubble.
Staffing this does Staff members 1 and 2 only ever meet Bubble A all week Staff members 3 and 4 only ever see Bubble B etc? 
As a small setting with only a few staff, no one is full time, I’m struggling to see how to organise this. Usually I’ll have staff seeing different children in the morning/afternoon or on different days depending on shifts/requirements so all staff see (mix with) all the children which I know is now the point of the bubbles etc.
I hope this is making sense!
Presumably I cannot therefore staff so that I have Staff 1&2 with A on Monday all day then B on Wednesday all day whilst Staff 3&4 are with A for example and so on?! I can see how it would be easier to staff if all children were the same age or all did full days but we tend to have family groupings for parts of the day/week.
Uuuuugh! Head hurts! Basically I don’t think I can do it without some children and staff having to belong to more than one bubble! 
Very grateful to hear from any of you with similar problems! Thank you 😊 

 

[GFCCCC]

On 29/05/2020 at 10:52, Rebecca said:

 

I'll let you know how it goes - if you want to see what it look like on paper let me know!

Could I possibly see how this looks on paper. I have bubbles going round in my head all day and night! Most of our children are part time and we have completely different groups of children every day so I am trying to come up with a way of doing this; In addition, the majority of staff are part time - what a headache.

[zigzag]

Is anyone else actually beginning to despise the word bubble!! I haven’t even had to start thinking about bubbles just yet as haven’t got enough to fill one bubble but I know come September I am going to be bubbled out!

[sunnyday]

1 hour ago, zigzag said:

Is anyone else actually beginning to despise the word bubble!! I haven’t even had to start thinking about bubbles just yet as haven’t got enough to fill one bubble but I know come September I am going to be bubbled out!

Clever use of language isn't it 'bubbles'/'protective bubbles' - I'm really hoping that we won't need 'bubbles' in September, am I being overly optimistic?

 

[Mouseketeer]

2 hours ago, zigzag said:

Is anyone else actually beginning to despise the word bubble!! I haven’t even had to start thinking about bubbles just yet as haven’t got enough to fill one bubble but I know come September I am going to be bubbled out!

Yep along with furlough! ....will never be able to eat bubble & squeak again without thinking coronavirus 🥺

[louby loo]

3 hours ago, zigzag said:

Is anyone else actually beginning to despise the word bubble!! I haven’t even had to start thinking about bubbles just yet as haven’t got enough to fill one bubble but I know come September I am going to be bubbled out!

I'm sticking with my original idea -  sheep pens.

I've been asking again about starting. Still looking  too low on numbers so far.

I guess a lot depends on demographics. We are a town with a forest literally on the door step,  only three families live in (large) flats and these three have given a definite no. Our three working parents are all on maternity leave now anyway. It seems most of ours are enjoying a slow pace family life at the moment.

[finleysmaid]

5 hours ago, GFCCCC said:

Could I possibly see how this looks on paper. I have bubbles going round in my head all day and night! Most of our children are part time and we have completely different groups of children every day so I am trying to come up with a way of doing this; In addition, the majority of staff are part time - what a headache.

do you need to offer the children what they had before? or could you make life a bit easier and see what the parents want/need and then plan for that scenario? similarly with staff offer them alternatives (take it or leave it!)

[Rebecca]

 

Sorry for delay

We sorted children into 1 of 3 bubbles

0-2.5yrs, 2.5yrs-3.5yrs, 3.5yrs+

We allocated 3 staff to each group with shifts approximately as follows 7.30-1.30, 12.30-6.30, 8.30-5.30 - staff do a rota of long and short days. short days cover lunches for the long day. Short days don't need lunch. Staff having snack and cold drink with children.

We then have a couple of staff who work in more than one bubble - but on different days and as far as poss with 72 hours in between  - not always possible. All staff wear clean clothes daily and if that mean they don't wear their uniform I've said that's OK.

So today looks like this:

On 04/06/2020 at 15:36, GFCCCC said:

Could I possibly see how this looks on paper. I have bubbles going round in my head all day and night! Most of our children are part time and we have completely different groups of children every day so I am trying to come up with a way of doing this; In addition, the majority of staff are part time - what a headache.

 

 

Edited June 11, 2020 by Rebecca