enuffsenuf Posted June 4, 2020 Posted June 4, 2020 Well almost the end of the first week back...for those of us who did . So how are we all coping? Any issues ? We arrived to open on Monday all a bit scared to be honest, worried about how things would go but we soon realised we had made the right decision when we saw the joy on the faces of our four year old's as they arrived. We also realised some of our best laid plans weren't going to work (individual bubbles and tool sets etc) so we just decided to go with the flow. Tuesday they were all a bit grumpy (tired from the previous day). Weds we had to remind ourselves that we needed to remember why we were working like this because it was so easy and comfortable we thought we might get a bit complacent. Today was quite frankly bl**dy freezing outside having been used to the hot weather for so long and despite our plea for "appropriate warm clothing" when we saw the forecast some of our children came in in their skimpy clothes....so I have had to read the riot act to parents about that, following the one way system and keeping to their time slots...and no you can't come in and use the toilets! .😝. The children have asked questions like "do you have Covid?" and "Is lockdown finished" which we have answered as honestly and carefully as we can. We are hoping that the gazebos will still be standing after the forecast winds this coming Saturday, our hands smell of Milton and we have all felt like we have needed a nap on returning home...we forget how much energy it takes! but all this has been outweighed by the hugs I have had from some of the children this week and yesterdays game of tag. Glad to be back you betcha!🥰 5 1
Steve Posted June 4, 2020 Posted June 4, 2020 Lovely conversation starter enuffsenuf! I'm going to stop immediately as I'm not on the front line (thank goodness, for the children's sake) but I look forward to seeing what other people's experiences have been! 😀 1
finleysmaid Posted June 4, 2020 Posted June 4, 2020 I can completely concur with the tiredness.....and we're working 3 hours a day less!! I think its the stress and remembering the new ways of working thats done it. None of our have said anything about covid.....and several of them have NO idea how to wash their hands which i suppose means they haven't been anywhere and they haven't been spoken to about it,which actually i don't mind. In general its been really positive, the ones that have come back do seem to have needed us and the pre-school support and the parents seem grateful for a bit of respite, they have all been rather charming (long may it continue😅) the cleaning is driving me barmey but we are getting very slick at it . We have had to find new ways to do accident books and prior incidents etc. We are only taking bank transfers no cash and we asked for snack donations online too which has been really easy . The children in the most have not missed anything ...in fact one of ours said he thought the pre-school looked beautiful! 🤗 (it certainly looks empty!) they are also much better at tidying up and absolutely fine about it....lack of mess or more practice at home i wonder? We have had some who have definitely benefitted from having more time with parents and some who haven't . Certainly an interesting social experiment (one not to be repeated hopefully) 4
enuffsenuf Posted June 5, 2020 Author Posted June 5, 2020 9 hours ago, finleysmaid said: we asked for snack donations We have been lucky there we decided to go back to good old "biscuits" with our Milk & Water as we thought we could open a new packet each morning and no hand needed to touch anything and the children could eat these without making too much mess or having anything spat out like we sometimes get with fruit etc. Then one of our parents mentioned they were a Manager at Morrisons and would we like anything we said the only thing we really needed would be biscuits and a bottle of washing up liquid (which we had forgotten about) the next day they turned up with whole box of washing up liquid, a whole box of hand sanitisers and three giant boxes of biscuits! 4 1
louby loo Posted June 5, 2020 Posted June 5, 2020 46 minutes ago, enuffsenuf said: We have been lucky there we decided to go back to good old "biscuits" with our Milk & Water as we thought we could open a new packet each morning and no hand needed to touch anything and the children could eat these without making too much mess or having anything spat out like we sometimes get with fruit etc. Then one of our parents mentioned they were a Manager at Morrisons and would we like anything we said the only thing we really needed would be biscuits and a bottle of washing up liquid (which we had forgotten about) the next day they turned up with whole box of washing up liquid, a whole box of hand sanitisers and three giant boxes of biscuits! Sometimes the parents can really surprise you, and whilst it is nice to have wine and chocolate at the end of term- it's the little unexpected thoughtful gifts that make you know you are truly appreciated. 😍 5
Mouseketeer Posted June 5, 2020 Posted June 5, 2020 3 hours ago, enuffsenuf said: We have been lucky there we decided to go back to good old "biscuits" with our Milk & Water a We talked about that this week too, I don’t think a plain biscuit will harm them 🙂 2 hours ago, louby loo said: Sometimes the parents can really surprise you, and whilst it is nice to have wine and chocolate at the end of term- it's the little unexpected thoughtful gifts that make you know you are truly appreciated. 😍 Isn’t it ....I’ve had random things left on my doorstep whilst closed which has really brightened my day ...a rainbow windmill, a handmade card, a picture and biscuits and some lovely messages from parents just to say they hope the team are keeping well ❤️ First week went fantastically, children clearly happy to be back, staff have been brilliant, my worry was for my bubble leads being with the same set of children with no escape route but they have 2 staff so can shoulder the more challenging between them, the extra cleaning hasn’t been such a chore as expected either (sure the novelty will wear off though), all of this has only been with 1 bubble though so not too much of a challenge space/resource wise, now for planning on bringing in the 2nd bubble and how to manage and staff that and I really think how well you promote free flow will now be our nemesis as they won’t be able to be where they want to be, when they want to be there 🙈 3
louby loo Posted June 5, 2020 Posted June 5, 2020 We actually changed to plain breadsticks only a few years ago when we had a child with severe allergies. We never got round to changing back!
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