Update 6 for Parents - Coronavirus

***** INFO RE OUR POTENTIAL RE-OPENING FROM MONDAY 1ST JUNE *****

16th May 2020

Dear Parent / Carer

Re: Phased re-opening of Playgroup

As you will be aware, Government has now announced the potential re-opening of nurseries, pre-schools and schools from Monday 1st June 2020, providing the five Government tests are all satisfied at that stage. This has raised many unanswered questions for us all that need further clarification about a possible phased return to Playgroup for all children.

Playgroup’s staff and parent committee have been working hard behind the scenes, in partnership with the Department for Education (DfE), Early Years Alliance (EYA), and Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC), to assess the official guidance that has now been released and continues to be regularly updated (see below). This will enable us to develop a plan for a proposed phased re-opening of Playgroup. We expect to receive further information over the coming days to help us with this process.

Guidance for Education Settings - General

Guidance for Education Settings - Protective Measures

All education settings are seeking clear guidance to plan for social distancing to keep our children, staff and families safe, how we might start to phase groups of children returning and what this looks like. Please be assured that we will not re-open until Playgroup is fully prepared. Our key priority is the safety of our children, staff and families.

At the moment, for us in Playgroup, there is no change to the guidance. We will continue to provide care ONLY for children of parents whose work is critical to the Covid-19 response, and for any children who are classified as vulnerable. The message to families is that it is still safer to stay at home.

We will continue to keep you informed as the situation becomes clearer, but for now, stay safe and please do not worry. Once we know a bit more from the Government, we can put our action plan together and take questions from parents that we can answer via a post on our website – www.tollertonplaygroup.com .

If you are able to do so at this stage, it would be immensely helpful if you could answer the questions on page 3, which will help us start the planning process. We appreciate you may not be able to yet, as your own circumstances may not be clear. If this is the case, please do not worry – just keep in touch so we can help if you need it.

Finally, we would like to say to all our families that we miss you and look forward to seeing you all when the time comes. We would also like to thank our staff and all keyworkers for the vital role they are playing during these challenging times. We are hugely grateful for their dedication and think they are doing an amazing job!

Take care and stay safe!

Best wishes,

Clare, Carly & Tracey

Clare Farley, Carly Hood & Tracey Owen

Joint Chairs Parent Committee / Playgroup Manager

Questions for parents to help us plan for the potential phased re-opening of Playgroup from 1st June 2020.

Keyworker families:

If you are a keyworker, and we have already been looking after your child during lockdown, please use the space below to tell us what you require over the coming weeks if it is likely to be different to what we have already been providing:

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If you are a keyworker, and we have not been looking after your child during lockdown but are likely to need our help in the coming weeks, please use the space below to tell us what you require:

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Non-keyworker families:

1. I will / will not (delete as appropriate) be sending my child back to Playgroup from 1st June for the same number of sessions as previously planned.

2. I will / will not (delete as appropriate) be sending my child back to Playgroup from 1st June for a reduced number of sessions (please specify your wishes / preferences).

3. Any additional comments or thoughts you might have at this stage

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Please remember, it is entirely your decision to send your child back to Playgroup if we can re-open from 1st June. We fully understand that some parents may chose not to do so for the time being. There is no right or wrong decision! We fully support you in whatever you decide to do. If your child does return to Playgroup, please rest assured that we will, as we always do, continue to look after them as we would one of our own children.