Greenfinch

Hi - please point me to where the old forum was! I want to ask what devices/ cameras are now being used by settings for Tapestry. Looking to buy better devices than old phones ... Also - I know I should probably have read about changes etc but has the old forum disappeared? Thank you x

Hi - would anyone mind sharing links or passing on the best recipes you've used for homemade slime or anything else that's fun and messy? Much appreciated, I've been looking on Pinterest but there are so many, I thought I'd ask to see which ones you've found to be tried and tested as it were! Thank you

Hi everyone. I hope you have had or are still enjoying depending on where you live, a lovely Easter. I'm looking into the possibility of investing in some transportation for our youngest so that we can go further afield so either buggies for multiple children (either 3 or 4 children) or possibly a larger pushalong cart. They are expensive... Do any of you have experience of using /owning these and would you recommend? For example, can you actually push any of these with ease or do you need to be very strong?!🙄 Appreciate any input, thank you x

Hi - We have had a cull of our outside equip. recently and are looking at purchasing some new ride ons/ first trikes etc for our youngest children so suitable from about 15 months plus. What do you have at your setting? We don't have a large budget but hoping to purchase a few additions rather than one pricey item. Can anyone recommend anything that seems value for money without breaking after a few uses ?! Would also be interested if you think not to bother and invest in more expensive items, what would you recommend purchasing instead? Thank you

We are a small setting too and are doing twice weekly. Staff are happy to screen shot and send their negative results to me each week.

Agree 👏xx

Hi. Don't know if this helps. When you notified Ofsted re. Covid closure did you email them ( I did) or complete a significant events form? Ofsted phoned me and I had to give extra details as I hadn't completed the form. It would have been helpful if my advice from LA had told me this rather than just 'you need to notify Ofsted' as it was stressful enough as it was, trying to do everything right...btw the phonecall was very friendly.

Thank you Dennie - that is really useful 🙂

Thank you Dennie 😊

Hi - does anyone know if I can pay my staff SSP for the days they couldn't work as we had to close due to a child testing positive for Covid? I've looked it up and it's not completely clear (to me anyway) as it mentions households and Track and trace etc. Thank you

No, a different child. However, now that I have closed nursery and dealt with following the correct protocol re. contacting all the relevant agencies and sending emails to each child and staff member informing them whether they are a close contact or not etc.plus having time to think about it, and reading your responses, there is no question in my mind that my decision to withdraw this place for now, is the right thing to do.

Thank you. I feel the same. Sadly, having drafted an email ready to send withdrawing the place, I didn't get chance to send it yesterday as we had to close by the afternoon due to receiving devastating news that one of our children has tested positive. Quite a traumatic day yesterday to say the least! We are now self isolating.We are a small setting and this is the first case we have had, I cannot imagine how some of our colleagues out here are managing where positive cases are happening regularly. Sending love and respect to everyone.Stay safe x

Hi lovely people. I hope you are all doing ok. So - I have a situation that I feel I need to address quickly. I have just had it brought to my attention that one of our parents has been blatantly breaking all Lockdown and Social distancing rules by posting about how she spent last weekend drinking at her house with her new boyfriend from another city, and her friend and boyfriend on FB. I feel so angry as we are all being so careful to stay safe through our practise. We are a small setting so one bubble, and are putting ourselves at risk looking after other people's children as it is and this parent obviously has no regard for anyone elses health at all. The child comes one day a week and whilst on the one hand I don't want the child to stop coming, I do feel I can't trust her to keep our nursery safe anymore (presuming it is not already too late) so feel like asking her not to return. Thoughts please? Thank you

We are also as above but a lot of our children have little bottles attached to their bags too which the parents use when they are out and about.

Schools in our area always start the new starters in small ‘batches’ so some children don’t start until mid September at least properly. Normally we will still have leavers back for this period if we can as it’s a difficult enough process anyway and we always feel for working parents who can’t just take half of September off! However, I’ve been considering this and don’t think I’m going to offer it this year sadly.

Thank you for replies - interesting isn’t it! Leading on from this - if a member of staff says they don’t feel It’s safe to come back (ppe or not...) am I able to offer unpaid leave until they feel more confident? (Even though I know this person has actually been visiting and staying at bf house - she’s told me and I suspect she’s hoping to remain longer on furlough but we are reopening so ...

Hi everyone. I hope you are all well and enjoying your weekends. Apologies if this is in another thread - please move this if it is or feel free to redirect me. I’ve been lazy and not checked through as I seem to spend all my time reading guidelines etc at the moment. We are reopening on 29th. A small manageable group of 10 children (babies and preschool age) shorter sessions 9-2 . Not cooking lunches so all providing own.Parents hand over outside - we are lucky to have different doors for safe handover of babies and preschool. I feel happy with what I’ve set in place - handwashing regularly, cleaning surfaces regularly and allowing for 1 hr deep clean when children leave at 2. Staff will be able to socially distance, parents will have to sign an agreement re. understanding symptoms of Covid and all the safeguards we have put in place which many of you have mentioned.I have usual ppe gloves, aprons and have also purchased disposable masks, reusable masks and visors. My question is - do any of you wear masks and gloves all the time? I am anticipating being outdoors a lot but I’d considered masks mainly for intimate care, baby feeding,Mealtimes, comforting and close up contact (rocking to sleep). I have a member of staff who thinks we should wear masks all day long.Obviously I want everyone to feel safe and happy but I hadn’t anticipated us wearing masks all the time as part of our safe practice which is why I’m asking what other settings are doing, particularly those who have been operating throughout this period. I also wonder whether to give her the option to start back later (unpaid) if she wants to see how we are all working and feels more confident to return.Any advice welcome! Thank you.

Thank you both very much 😊

Hi- I hope everyone is ok.So much has been focused on parents. We have not reopened yet but had anyone written a staff audit /declaration /agreement re. returning to the setting re. agreeing to understanding social distancing, reporting illness/ symptoms etc?

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 😊

my money's on 27th .... That sounds about right timing!!! Would anyone please mind sharing where they are purchasing masks etc from? Sorry if I’ve missed this elsewhere.Do we just go for anything on Amazon? How do we know if what we choose is ok? Thx

😳😳😳

Same

Morning! We are currently closed too. We are a small nursery and take babies up to school leavers. What are others like our nursery thinking of doing? (I noticed a lot of discussions may be talking just about 3-4 year olds?) I’m really not sure if/how it’s manageable having our babies and under 3’s in and 3-4 year olds - we would have to almost operate how we normally do but how can we without putting safety measures in place re. group sizes, distancing staff from another etc.? I have thought I could operate largely outdoors/slightly reduce offer/opening hours etc but on the other hand, safety and health issues put to one side, it’s almost all or nothing I feel, to not financially run at a loss. I’ve even considered not taking funded children back and ‘giving’ them early to school (I really don’t want to do this) as we don’t have many leaving this summer ... Or - a phased reopening - maybe the young ones first and the preschool a few weeks later? I don’t know?Another coffee required!!

I’m glad it’s not just me feeling a bit shocked! Well, we’ll just have to hope it never becomes an issue - we’ve all got enough to worry about as it is! Take care everyone x