We realize that the Covid 19 Guidelines laid down by the Ministry of Health, CDC & WCB in September 2021 have changed over the past year and will continue to change as the pandemic changes, and we will continue to follow the changes as they occur. This document now serves to let parents know what basic safety precautions are in place in our Centres.
We don’t want your child to get sick, we don’t want to get sick, and we want everyone to be as safe as possible. To this end all our staff are fully vaccinated and wear masks when in our Centres.
This document is obviously generic to cover all our Centres however Centre specific information will also be sent to you as and when needed. So, to start us off, the most important thing we ask everyone to do is:
Please inform us of their absence
Parents and caregivers must assess their children for symptoms of common cold, influenza, COVID-19 or other infectious respiratory diseases before sending them to School.
If a child is ill with a fever, has a cold, influenza or infectious respiratory symptoms of any kind they must stay home. They cannot come to any of our Centres.
A child may come to us if a member of their household has a cold or influenza symptoms providing the child is asymptomatic.
Anyone, child or adult, with symptoms can and should be tested for COVID-19. If anyone is at all unsure of their status, the online assessment tool can help to assess whether they should stay home or not.
Anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 must stay home, and self-isolate until they have been assessed by a health care provider to exclude COVID-19 or other infectious disease, and their symptoms have resolved.
Staff will assess themselves daily for the presence of symptoms of common cold, influenza, COVID-19, or other infectious respiratory disease prior to coming to work. Staff must stay at home until they have been assessed by a health care provider to exclude COVID-19 or other infectious diseases, and their symptoms have resolved.
FEVER OR COUGHING
If a child or a Staff Member is showing symptoms of what could be influenza or COVID-19:
· The Staff Member must leave the Centre immediately.
· The parent will be called to pick up their child immediately.
· The child will be isolated until a parent comes to collect them
· If anyone, Staff Member or child, leaves the workplace due to symptoms of COVID-19, the areas that individual was in, including surfaces they may have touched, will be cleaned and disinfected immediately upon their departure.
· They must then, stay home, self-isolate and consult a health care provider and must inform the Centre immediately about any results they get.
· Once the symptoms have resolved and they have been assessed by a health care provider to exclude COVID-19 or other infectious disease, they may return to work.
LIMITED ACCESS
In all cases the School’s rules regarding Site accessibility must be adhered to at all times.
Parents, caregivers or guardians or any other adult will not be permitted to enter the Centre at any time. Anyone wishing to do so must make an appointment and, upon arrival for that, must wash their hands and wear a mask.
Nobody can enter the Centre if they have symptoms of COVID-19 or have travelled outside of Canada in the last 14 days or have been identified by public health as a close contact of a person with a confirmed case of COVID-19.
PHYSICAL DISTANCING
Understandably, physical distancing is challenging in a childcare setting. However Staff Members will do what they can to assist the children to keep physical contact between them to a minimum at all times.
In keeping with the Schools grouping the children in cohorts we too will put the children into small Groups, and where practical, will maintain the school groupings, both inside the Centre and out of doors. Once set these groups will remain the same each day. There will be no children from other schools in any of our Centres and Drop–in care will not be available.
· The outdoor space will be used as much as possible for various activities, including snack time, while adhering to physical distancing and hygiene principles.
· At snack time children and Staff will sit at a social distance apart (except for siblings)
· There will be no sharing of food.
· A number of separate play areas will be formed in order to space the children apart.
· Staff will keep direct physical contact with the children to a minimum, whenever possible.
· Staff will practise physical distancing from each other at all times.
· A Staff Member will accompany a child leaving the group to go to the washroom if it is practical to do so. If not the buddy system will be used.
HAND HYGIENE & RESPIRATORY ETIQUETTE
Staff will ensure that all the children wash their hands for at least 20 seconds (Sing Happy Birthday/ Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star/ABCs) with soap and warm water then dry them with a paper towel and throw the towel in the garbage can, throughout the day as follows:
· When they arrive at the Centre.
· Before and after eating and drinking
· After using the toilet
· Before and after playing outside
· After sneezing or coughing
· After picking their nose
· Whenever hands are visibly dirty
Children must also:
· Cough or sneeze into their elbow sleeve or a tissue.
· Throw away used tissues and immediately wash their hands.
· Not touch their eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands.
If soap and water is not immediately available a Staff Member will provide the children with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer to use instead.
All Staff will practise the same hand hygiene with the addition of wearing disposable gloves when handling food, First Aid & dealing with ‘accidents’.
USE OF PPE
COVID-19 Public Health Regulations state that masks are mandatory in all schools for Grades 4 – 12 and for K- 3 they are strongly recommended especially if they are unable to maintain an appropriate social distance from another child for any length of time. This will be adhered to in Child Care Settings as well. Gloves are not needed beyond those used by Staff as part of regular precautions for the hazards normally encountered in their regular course of work. Staff Members are required to wear a mask at all times inside the Centre. Outside masks are optional but social distancing must be maintained at all times.
CLEANING & DISINFECTING
No toys are allowed to be brought to the Centre from home.
Items in the Centre that have surfaces which are not easily cleaned, such as cushions, Stuffies and Dress-Up clothes, have been withdrawn from play.
In addition to all the areas that are normally cleaned daily (washrooms, kitchen, carpets, tables, chairs and toys) frequently-touched surfaces (e.g. door knobs, cupboard handles, light switches, telephones, faucet handles etc) will be cleaned and disinfected twice a day.
If a Staff member or child leaves the workplace due to symptoms of COVID-19, the areas those individuals were in, including surfaces they may have touched, will be cleaned and disinfected immediately upon their departure.
If a case of COVID- 19 has affected any of our Centres, the Centre will immediately be closed until professional cleaning and sanitizing has been carried out and the Centre has been deemed safe.
MORNING DROP OFF
Each day, upon arrival at the Centre before school, your child will be asked the mandatory health questions at the door before being allowed to enter.
If you are accompanying your child to the Centre’s door in the morning we will greet you and your child outside the door and will ask you about your child’s health. You can say your goodbyes there and we will bring the child inside and assist them as needed. Please wear a mask if social distancing is difficult.
GOING TO SCHOOL
Those children attending before school care will be released at their specific School arrival time and must go directly to their designated meeting place. A Staff Member will take the Kindergarten and Grade 1 children to their meeting places at their appointed entry time.
ARRIVAL AFTER SCHOOL
Arrivals from school will automatically be staggered because of the Schools dismissal times. A Staff Member will collect the Kindergarten and Grade 1 children from their teacher/meeting place and bring them to the Centre.
As soon as the Grade 2 – 7 children have been dismissed from School they must come directly to the Centre where they will be signed in by a Staff Member. That Staff Member will then ask each child how they are feeling (health wise). It should be a daily “yes/no” verbal confirmation that they do not have symptoms of common cold, influenza, COVID-19, or other respiratory disease. The child will not be accepted if the answer is yes, and the parent will be called to remove them from the Centre immediately.
If they do not arrive the Staff Member will call the school or the parent to determine their whereabouts.
If your child is not coming to us after school for any reason you MUST let us know by 2:00pmThe children will be asked to line up (distanced) and patiently wait outside the door until they are instructed to go in. They will then:
· Put their backpacks in the cloakroom, and hang up their jackets.
· Go straight to the washrooms and wash their hands well for at least 20 seconds with warm water and soap.
A Staff Member will supervise this.
· Once finished the Staff Member will direct them where to safely wait until their Group is complete.
PICK UP
As already stated, Parents, Caregivers or Guardians will not be permitted to enter the Centre at any time. The Staff will assist the child as and when necessary. When we are outside on the field, at the playground or in the under-cover area and a parent comes to collect their child they may not enter the Centre to get their child’s belonging before getting their child. They need to go directly to where the children are playing to collect their child and accompany them back to the Centre to get their belongings. The parent must remain outside. The children will be reminded to take all their belongings with them. When parents arrive at the Centre to pick up their child, they need to let us know that they are waiting outside. When possible, Staff will watch for parents arriving, however at the Centres where the Parents cannot be seen, they must call us to say they have arrived and are outside. All parents should be mindful of keeping a social distance from other parents who may also be waiting for their child and masks are recommended in case social distancing is not possible.
Club West: 604-926-0609 La Maison: 604-913-0609 Holly House: 604-922-1404 Camp Ridgeview: 604-926-9142
If needed, or cannot be done by phone, any Staff communication with a parent will be done at a suitable social distance outside the Centre, with masks worn by both parties.
MEALS & SNACKS
This year we will not be providing snack for the children after school so please provide a nutritious picnic-style snack each day for your child (one that is easy to eat outside). Please remember that they are sometimes quite hungry after school…
· Staff will ensure that every child has a full water bottle when going outside.
· Staff will ensure that all garbage is brought inside and disposed of at the Centre.
· When eating snack outside, if handwashing is not possible, hand sanitizer will be used to clean the children’s hands before and after eating.
· The children will all eat snack together at the same time when they are outside.
· Staff will ensure that all the children sit at a suitable social distance from each other. When inside they will each be assigned a seat with appropriate social distancing at all times.
· Sharing of food or drink is not allowed (even between siblings.)
If used the Centre’s reusable dishware, glasses, and utensils will be cleaned and sanitized after each use as usual.
DRESS FOR SUCCESS
There is a saying that “There is no bad weather – just bad clothes!”
As we will be spending as much time as possible outside you need to make sure your child comes to school, and to us, dressed appropriately for the weather. Waterproof rain gear with hoods (they can’t play in the playground holding an umbrella) and warm coats, hats, gloves & boots for colder weather. During the winter months it would be advisable to bring an extra sweater to wear indoors as the windows will be open for ventilation. Coats /Jackets will not be worn inside. Staff will check that the children have brought their coats from school, if not they will be sent back to get them. Also they will be expected to wear them when they go out – so those children who don’t like to do that will have to learn to like it as we cannot risk, or be responsible for them getting sick as a result.
STAFF
The same Staff will be at each Centre each day. They will not be switching between Centres. The only exception would be if a Staff Member is off sick and another Staff Member needs to take their place. A 10:1 Child: Staff ratio has to be maintained at all times.
TRANSPORTATION
We will not be transporting the children in our Camp Ridgeview vans this year unless it is an emergency and a prior arrangement has been made with the parents. If we do, appropriate social distancing will take place to ensure everyone’s safety. Children will not be transported to another Centre from other Schools this year.
PRO D DAYS, NON-INSTRUCTIONAL DAYS & HOLIDAYS
We will still offer care on these days and a Registration Form will be emailed to you approximately 10 days beforehand. There is an additional fee for these days.
On these days Care will only be given at Camp Ridgeview and spaces will be limited, so registration will be done on a first come basis. Holly House, La Maison and Club West will be closed. So that means that children requiring care from these Centres will also be at CR on these days. However, the children will stay in their School groups, and our Groups, where practical, throughout the day. All the COVID-19 rules and safety measures in place will apply. Please note that if there is insufficient enrollment for these days they may be cancelled.
On Pro D Days and holidays parents will need to provide a morning and afternoon snack as well as lunch.
EARLY DISMISSAL DAYS
COMMUNICATION