Dear Parents and Carers,
Having consulted with BCC at the end of last week, we have now agreed a compliant reopening plan. As shared previously, the government’s guidelines on grouping and keeping small “bubbles” separate are not practical for large mixed-session settings like ECCC. As such, we are limited to welcoming a maximum of 16 children back in each room until the guidance changes. Even this limited model is not operationally or financially sustainable as the complex restrictions will make staffing and other systems much less efficient, considerably increasing the Centre’s operating costs while generating little additional revenue. No additional state funding has been made available to support nurseries in providing this mandatory new service format, but we are working with various private funding bodies to cover the shortfall.
Although care inside the rooms will be largely unchanged and the children will be able to mix freely within their small groups, we need to manage adult traffic within the building to ensure that appropriate hygiene and distancing is maintained. Please follow this guidance when visiting the Centre.
The situation is slightly different for each age groups and these are detailed below. From Monday June 8th:
Tiny Stars and Tiny Tots:
Able to reopen largely as before as normal attendance is around 16 in both rooms. Babies will need the most support to resettle, so phased returns are planned and booked in with families who wished to return straight away. Some session caps will apply when needed and later returns are possible by arrangement. If you have not done so already, please contact the Centre to discuss your child’s place. No wraparounds are currently available.
Sunshine:
The 16 child cap is about a third of Sunshine’s normal numbers and we already have 12 key worker Sunshine children attending. We will look to add some private spaces once the initial restart has settled in, but this will be limited to 4 children and we have to prioritise any funded 2YOs and vulnerable children that are not already attending. Please contact the Centre to discuss any emergency circumstances that we should be aware of when considering how to allocate this small number of places. Additional returns will not be possible until the national guidance is changed – which we have been given no timescale for. No wraparounds are currently available.
Rainbow:
The 16 child cap is about a fifth of Rainbow’s normal numbers and these spaces have all already been taken by keyworkers and the school leaver families who asked for an immediate return when contacted last month. Additional returns will begin with the remainder of the school leaver cohort then the 3 year old children, but these phases will also not be possible until the national guidance is changed. No wraparounds are currently available.
We have been advised that visits between rooms and external visits with parents and carers are not allowed under the current guidance. This means that no new joiners will be accepted and any child who turns two or three will not be able to begin to move up to the next room. Children who have had their birthday during the shutdown will either return to their old room or restart directly into their new room – we will discuss these cases with families directly to agree the best way forward as the guidance evolves.
As spaces are limited, we are currently only charging for confirmed sessions. Sessions not available or not taken up will not be charged or permanently withdrawn until we are fully operational and need to return to normal occupancy. As we have significant losses to recoup and have lengthy waiting lists for all rooms, available sessions cannot be left unused and unpaid indefinitely. However, we will look to be as flexible as possible during the phased reopening process and will contact all families ahead of any changes to explain their options for retaining their place.
I will shortly also be contacting all families who will be in Rainbow during the 2020/21 academic year to discuss session requirements and availability – as this room is now persistently oversubscribed. Thank you all again for your patience and flexibility during these challenging times. We cannot currently reopen beyond the limited offering detailed above, but look forward to welcoming every single child back as soon as it is possible.
Kind Regards,
James.