How Cherubins Day Nursery in Ladywell supported key workers during COVID-19: an interview with Nursery Manager Shermin Arkut
How has the Council supported the nursery during the Covid-19 pandemic?
The Council have been very supportive. We received a Small Business Support Grant which has helped us immensely.
They kept us up to date of government guidance changes and provided us with safety guidelines so we feel confident that we have put the necessary measures in place to keep staff, parents and children safe. The Early Years department also supported us with producing risk assessments for our most vulnerable children so we could welcome them back safely.
How has Covid-19 affected your business?
The nursery remained open during lockdown. We worked closely with the Council’s Early Years department so we could support key workers across the borough who needed a nursery place whilst their local nursery was closed.
Unfortunately we’ve had to furlough a lot of our staff because demand for nursery places have dropped since the start of the pandemic. With many parents working from home or being on furlough themselves many or our regular children didn’t return after lockdown was eased.
What adaptations have you had to make?
We’ve had to make a lot of changes to the way we operate. We take the children’s temperatures when they are dropped off in the morning and parents aren’t allowed to come into the nursery they have to drop children off at the door. High contact areas are cleaned regularly throughout the day, and we’ve adapted some of our usual activities such as messy and water play. We’ve purchased PPE to keep staff safe.
Children and staff are kept in groups called ‘bubbles’ so the number of other children they come into contact with is reduced. Unfortunately because of the complexity of maintaining bubbles we’ve had to cancel our after school club. It would be impossible to manage this with children attending from a number of different schools.
What are your plans for the immediate future?
We are proud to be a community nursery offering funded places for eligible parents, so anyone regardless of their financial situation can access our services. We’ll continue to support parents so they can get back to work and gain some normality in their lives.
On a positive note we’ve had some new children start and we hope to welcome more children in the future. We are also doing everything we can to provide our staff with the training and support they need to work safely and confidently during these challenging times.
How has the Council supported the nursery during the Covid-19 pandemic?
The Council have been very supportive. We received a Small Business Support Grant which has helped us immensely.
They kept us up to date of government guidance changes and provided us with safety guidelines so we feel confident that we have put the necessary measures in place to keep staff, parents and children safe. The Early Years department also supported us with producing risk assessments for our most vulnerable children so we could welcome them back safely.
How has Covid-19 affected your business?
The nursery remained open during lockdown. We worked closely with the Council’s Early Years department so we could support key workers across the borough who needed a nursery place whilst their local nursery was closed.
Unfortunately we’ve had to furlough a lot of our staff because demand for nursery places have dropped since the start of the pandemic. With many parents working from home or being on furlough themselves many or our regular children didn’t return after lockdown was eased.
What adaptations have you had to make?
We’ve had to make a lot of changes to the way we operate. We take the children’s temperatures when they are dropped off in the morning and parents aren’t allowed to come into the nursery they have to drop children off at the door. High contact areas are cleaned regularly throughout the day, and we’ve adapted some of our usual activities such as messy and water play. We’ve purchased PPE to keep staff safe.
Children and staff are kept in groups called ‘bubbles’ so the number of other children they come into contact with is reduced. Unfortunately because of the complexity of maintaining bubbles we’ve had to cancel our after school club. It would be impossible to manage this with children attending from a number of different schools.
What are your plans for the immediate future?
We are proud to be a community nursery offering funded places for eligible parents, so anyone regardless of their financial situation can access our services. We’ll continue to support parents so they can get back to work and gain some normality in their lives.
On a positive note we’ve had some new children start and we hope to welcome more children in the future. We are also doing everything we can to provide our staff with the training and support they need to work safely and confidently during these challenging times.