I asked Rachel for some notes, so I could provide you all with the inside track on what it’s been like this past week, but I think she’s sleeping this weekend!
Hahaha!
We opened up again for everyone on Monday. There was lots of frantic activity during the week before, with Rachel, the staff, Trustees and Committee all pulling together to make sure we were ready. Even I got in on the act by fully updating the website to include the latest guidance for parents and staff. Yes, we have been open all the way through the lockdown to ensure keyworkers’ children were cared for, but the measures we introduced to keep up to four of them safe at any one time (and us) needed upgrading to cater for the fourteen or so a day we were expecting.
Anyway, Monday arrived and the nervousness we were feeling, quickly melted away as parents started to bring children into Nursery. Our new post-lockdown timetable had been circulated to returning parents beforehand, so everyone knew what to do and they did it with great aplomb!
The first surprise for the children (if they didn’t notice that they were coming in ‘the wrong way’) was the garden. Rachel, Laura, Lisa C and Lisa R (Cookie) had been very busy during lockdown, but found enough time (and some of their own time) to make some new things for the garden.
All very environmentally friendly and built to last a lifetime!
And so the Nursery got back into its routine. We averaged 13/14 children during the week and, as for staff, our four builders were joined by Louise, Madde, Olivia and Shannon. Next week we’re expecting 15/16 a day. So all very manageable.
But the week did have its hiccups. I received an answerphone message from our alarm monitoring company at ten to one on Thursday morning. It was so faint I couldn’t make out what the message was, but I collared the dog and we shuffled down to the Nursery to see what was up. Not much, it turned out. Southern Electricity were doing something in the street and cut us off for a few minutes. Hence the call. So we opened up and looked around to make sure everything was OK. It was.
And then I got a call from Rachel later that same day; there was no running water! Someone had inadvertedly turned off our main stopcock when they were just trying to isolate the Community Centre (or Bat & Ball Centre, as we should now get used to calling it). They turned it back on again.
So there we are. Our first week back (for most). It went smoothly despite a couple of hiccups. The children enjoyed it. Parents enjoyed some time to themselves. The girls had a ball. Much the same as any other week really.
Our website has been updated with guidance and information for parents and staff. The NEWS pages are headed up with a ‘sticky’ for frequently asked questions and include articles about how to go about taking up your child’s place again, the safety measures we have introduced, our new Cornavirus policy etc. In fact, everything you need. There’s even a video showing children how to wash their hands properly – posted on 14th March I might add! So please take a look.
