Managing Covid-19 at Child’s Play ELC

Preventative measures will continue.

(UPDATED January 2022) From March 2020, preventative measures have been put into place at the centres. We will continue to review and update these measures in line with advice from the State Health Department. An overview of the current measures in place are listed below.

• Sanitiser – We have hand-sanitising stations set up in the reception area (next to the iPads) for visitors to use when entering and exiting the centre. Please make use of these as sanitising and handwashing are some of the most effective ways to limit the spread of COVID-19.
• Face Masks – As per Government requirements, face masks need to be worn in all indoor settings. Therefore parents MUST wear a face mask at all times when in the building. In 2022 we are implementing a NO MASK NO ENTRY rule. If you do not have a face mask we will not allow you to enter the service and instead, we ask that you drop your child off outside your service and one of the management team will take them down to the rooms.
• Temperature checks – We will be reintroducing temperature checks for ALL children attending Child’s Play. They will be administered in your child’s room by the room staff using our in-ear thermometers and each child will have their own thermometer cap. We find these give a far more accurate reading compared to the infrared forehead thermometers. Any child with a temperature will be required to be collected immediately, and monitored at home.
• Staff – All staff at Child’s Play ELCs, including volunteers and contractors are fully vaccinated and are required to be by the Department of Education. There are no exceptional circumstances or provisions which enable Child’s Play to employ non-vaccinated staff.We will try to maintain staff consistency and our child to educator ratio (4 to 1) as much as possible during this time, however staffing may change frequently in response to staff members being sick, having COVID or requiring to isolate. We ask that you please be considerate to all staff taking care of your children during this time.

• Drop-offs – We continue to ask that only one parent drops off or picks up their child to help reduce the risk of transmission and keep our communities safe. We also recommend that you limit your time spent in the centre and interacting with children and educators to 2 minutes. If there is a message you need to pass on to an educator we ask that you use the OWNA app to communicate with them.
• Social Distancing – We will be maintaining a 1.5 distance between families. To assist with this measure additional sign-in stations have been set up so that social distancing can be adhered to by families at drop-off and pick-up times.
• Check In – We ask that all visitors check in to the service using the QR code and check in their child using the mobile app during this time to limit the amount of high contact areas within our services. All of our centres will keep up to date records of staff, visitors and child attendance should we need to notify families as being close or casual contacts.
• Cleaning Regimes – In 2022 we have introduced new cleaning checklists which staff will execute every two hours in our centres. They include new hygiene stations and surface cleaning of all high touch zones as well as cleaning and disinfecting your child’s room. To accompany these measures we have also added additional ventilation to our services and will attempt to have a full day indoor-outdoor for all rooms in our centre to limit gatherings, if weather permits.Where possible we will also not be combining rooms at this time to limit transmission should there be a positive case. This may change if we face staffing shortages. Other hygiene measures such as handwashing and hand sanitising will remain in place as well.

• Education – We will continue to teach the children about germs, how they are spread and prevention methods (coughing, sneezing, handwashing, social distancing, etc.). We have also provided pamphlets in reception which explain some of this information and could be helpful if you require further information to explain to your child at the moment.
• Meditation and Sensory Spaces – In addition to practical education, we are also providing children with safe spaces to express their feelings towards the lockdown and where we can practice relaxation techniques so that all children continue to feel comfortable coming to childcare during these difficult times.