Please find our latest updates regarding Coronavirus COVID-19 and nursery closure below:
Covid Update 08/07/2020
We hope everyone is well and we look forward to having all of our friends back in nursery by the end of the month.
Since the 1st June we have been working with bubbles within each age group, this is where we split each group into smaller key bubbles and the children and staff do not mix from bubble to bubble. As you can imagine this has proven to be a bit of a logistical nightmare, thank you to all our families for your patience and understanding while we arrange their child’s return. Furthermore, our main concern has always been the wellbeing of the children as some of them have struggled with not being able to play and socialise with some of their peers within their group.
We are pleased to announce that from the 20th July we will no longer need to work within small key bubbles within each age group. Instead we can return to a more normal way of working within individual rooms and age groups.
The rationale behind the move as described in the guidance is:
“Removing the groups approach is based on the fact that the overall risk to children from coronavirus (COVID-19) is low. It also recognises that early years settings are typically much smaller than schools. Adopting the system of controls set out here in a robust way will ensure there are proportionate safeguards for children as well as staff and reduce the chance of transmission.”
What does this mean in regards of self-isolating?
Children will still need to self-isolate if they have symptoms until a negative test result is obtained. The guidance does not specifically mention the need for groups to self-isolate, as per bubbles, if we have a confirmed case. Instead it says we will be guided and advised by the Health Protection Team as to what action we will need to take if we have a confirmed case. The guidance states:
“The local health protection team will work with settings to carry out a rapid risk assessment to confirm who has been in close contact with the person during the period that they were infectious, and ensure they are asked to self-isolate.”
Are there any changes around children who normally attend two settings?
The guidance has not changed around attending more than one setting, and we are still requiring children to only attend with us. This is to help minimise any chances of exposure and the risk of COVID being bought into the nursery. The guidance says:
“Parents and carers should be encouraged to limit the number of settings their child attends, ideally ensuring their child only attends the same setting consistently. This should also be the same for staff.”
When will parents be allowed back into nursery?
Unfortunately, we are unsure of when this will be reinstated, currently the guidance says:
“Parents and carers should not be allowed into the setting unless this is essential, and children should be dropped off and collected at the door if possible.”
You can view the full updated guidance here:
This means that we will need to adapt our parent agreement to reflect this updated guidance. Please take this email as notification of change to our COVID-19 working practice parent agreement. To the effect that we will no longer be working in key bubbles from w/c 20th July. All other points within the agreement remain valid for the time being.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss, please feel free to contact me.
Parent Agreement 15/06/2020
We hope everyone is well and we look forward to welcoming everyone back into nursery soon.
Hopefully, you will have seen our previous email around how we plan to deliver childcare during the C-19 pandemic. We have had to review and amend our practice accordingly.
As we start to welcome back all of our children and families over the coming months, please could we ask all families to agree to a temporary amendment to our terms of delivery of childcare.
Please follow the link where you will be able to compete a form online:
https://orchardleachildcare.co.uk/parent-agreement-keynsham
s://orchardleachildcare.co.uk/parent-agreement-kingswood
Unfortunately, we will require a completed form for your child to be able to access their place.
COVID- Update 03/06/2020
Thank you to all our families who have replied to our email we sent on Friday, with a date to return to nursery. If you have yet to do so, please let us know which phase you would like, so we can start to plan ahead.
As you can imagine we have been inundated with emails, we are working hard to go through each email and acknowledge individually. We will then be in touch separately to arrange re-settling sessions. Please bear with us and rest assured we will reply to everyone in due course.
Some FAQ’s we’ve received from our plan to reopen:
How many children will be in a bubble?
We will, where possible, use our current childcare standard ratios as a guide for how many children will be in a bubble. These are:
Under 2’s – 1 staff and 3 Children
2 Year olds – 1 Staff and 4 children
Over 3’s – 1 Staff and 8 Children
We will also include a float staff member to help facilitate the routine. This will help with things like nappy changing, lunch times, food preparation etc. The government has advised that there should be no more than 16 children per group.
If a child within my child’s bubble tests positive for C19, my child will not be able to attend nursery for 14 days, do I still have to pay?
Unfortunately, yes. Our normal sickness policy remains, this is due to the fixed cost and planning involved in providing care regardless of whether children attend or not. Whilst we have been closed, we have managed to offer a 5% retainer, however once you child returns this will now longer be possible.
What options do I have if I do not want my child to return until September?
We have tried to provide a flexible return schedule to meet the different needs and concerns of our families, however we do need to be finically viable. Fees will be chargeable once your child returns or from the end of July onwards unless you cancel your child’s place. If you wish to defer until September, your child will be placed on our waiting list which will be subject to availability. Unfortunately, it will not be possible to continue the 5% retainer past July.
If I reduce sessions during this period will I be able to add them at a later date.
You can request to drop sessions, yes. We will assume you will no longer require the session(s) unless you specify resume date or a time frame to reinstate the sessions. If you do not specify a time frame or the period is a longer time frame, you may have to be added to the waiting list to resume the session again.
We look forward to seeing everyone again soon.
COVID Update 29/05/2020
We hope you and your loved ones are well and remaining busy. Apologies, we have gone rather quiet over the last few weeks. We have been busy planning for the return to Kingswood nursery and for the prospect of accepting more children at both of our nurseries. We have been eagerly awaiting the release of further guidance from our government which was released on Sunday.
Many of you will be pleased to hear that yesterday it was confirmed that all five criteria have been met and we can start to welcome our children back into nursery.
With this in mind we are taking a staged, cautious and pragmatic approach to try to minimise and mitigate risks for everyone involved.
We understand that many of you, like ourselves, will have reservations regarding your children returning to nursery and school. Through thorough risk assessment, social distancing where possible, changes to the nursery environment and our staged, phased approach we hope to reassure families the measures we are implementing will help to ensure a safer nursery environment.
We expect all our families to follow the government guidance and contribute towards reducing the infection rate. The latest guidance can be found:
Returning to Normal Nursery:
It is anticipated that the nursery will increase the number of children attending in a 4 phase intake cycle, each phase will be a three week cycle before the next phase begins:
Week 1 – re-settling introductory sessions into nursery. (minimum 1x 1.5 hours)
Week 2 – further re-settling introductory sessions if needed/ normal nursery sessions can begin.
Week 3 – normal nursery sessions/ review to proceed to next intake cycle.
We are currently planning to phase in the return to normal nursery over an extended period, this could change in line with any updates to the Government guidance and parental requests.
Keynsham:
Intake 1 – will be w/c 18th May. (for 1 parent key worker families and vulnerable children) this has already been planned and is in motion.
Intake 2 – will be w/c 8th June (for all children, however prioritising Keyworkers families, vulnerable and preschool children).
Intake 3 – will be w/c 29th June (for all children however prioritising Keyworkers families, vulnerable and preschool children).
Final intake – will be w/c 20th July (We envisage all/remaining children returning to nursery.)
Kingswood:
Intake 1 – will be w/c 25th May. (for 1 parent key worker families and vulnerable children) this has already been planned and is in motion.
Intake 2 – will be w/c 15th June (for all children, however prioritising Keyworkers families, vulnerable and preschool children).
Intake 3 – will be w/c 6th July (for all children however prioritising Keyworkers families, vulnerable and preschool children).
Final intake – will be w/c 27th July (We envisage all/remaining children returning to nursery.)
Undoubtedly the time scales involved may result in frustration for some of our families, as it may seem long winded and not quick enough, but the safety of our families, children and staff team will always be paramount.
Over this whole COVID period we have been providing increased flexibility for children’s sessions, this will continue at a limited level during the 4 intake phases, however from the 27th July normal timings of session will resume. Our 5% retainer fee will continue until your child returns to nursery or the 27th July whichever is sooner.
Please remember that if the current guidelines are still enforced we will not be able to operate at full capacity which could then have implications on the number of sessions we are able to offer our parents. Should the need arise, we may also need to adjust your start and finish times slightly, to ensure minimal queuing and social distancing at drop off and collection.
Please see our COVID-19 practice document attached for how we plan to deliver our childcare during this time. We will require you to sign a parental agreement prior to your child returning.
What information we now need from you:
The easiest way is for parents to let us know which phase they’d like to join.
Please email us your child’s name and what phase you would like them to start their return to nursery at leave 2 weeks prior to the start of phase.
Intake one has been planned and is already in motion.
Intake 2 – will be w/c 8th June.
Intake 3 – will be w/c 29th June.
Final intake will be w/c 20th July.
We will then confirm via email and arrange re-settling in visits with you a week prior to the start of the phase.
Re-setting in visits are free, and the 5% retainer will remain until your child starts normal nursery sessions or the 27th July whichever is sooner.
COVID Update 12/05/2020
Good Afternoon to our Orchard Lea Families
Thank you to those families who replied to our email last week and provided us with their keyworker status and information regarding their future childcare needs.
From this information we have decided to reopen Kingswood nursery from Tuesday 26th May when families that are currently accessing childcare at Keynsham will transfer back to Kingswood . We would like to thank Keynsham nursery and families for making us feel so welcome.
During this week and next week, w/c 18th May we will be offering “resettling in sessions” to families where one carer is a critical keyworker. If Tracey hasn’t contacted you as yet she will be contacting you towards the end of the week.
We would like to remind all of our families that we are not anticipating to return to “normal” from the dates suggested in many of the recent government guidelines (1st June 2020). Our plan has always been to adopt a restricted and measured process to restarting nursery, recalling some of our team back from furlough and adding children where one carer is a critical keyworker. Once this adjustment has been made and nursery is settled we will then start to offer places to all of our families who wish to return to nursery.
Here is an anticipated time table, but please remember that this is planned and may change:
W/c 12th May Some limited resettling in sessions offered to children of Critical Keyworkers who wish to access a place.
W/c 18th May Resettling in sessions offered to children of Critical Keyworkers who wish to access a place.
26th May Kingswood Nursery reopens
Keynsham nursery will “settle” this week but our admin team will start to contact all of our remaining families to offer “resettling in” sessions during w/c 1st, 8th and 15th June. This will be a planned and phased approach which will be reviewed and risk assessed on a weekly basis.
A few Q & A’s:
Do we have to return to our nursery place in June if we would prefer to wait until I need a place:
No that’s fine with us. It will support us with our gradual return to “New normal” and help us to reduce the risks for everyone.
Do you have any idea of levels of fees to be charged for the next few months:
Our May invoices have been emailed today and we continue to cap the retainer at 5%. It is envisaged that it will remain at 5% for June.
Will nursery continue to be as flexible with sessions and weeks that we need places:
As we expand our childcare offer and return more of our team from furlough then our ability to be as flexible as possible may become more unmanageable.
When will Nursery return to normal:
That’s a really hard one – potentially not for a few months. As nursery is such a social experience we have lots of things to consider : Leavers gatherings, Forest School, visits from Diddidance, Kinderama, and Press Pause with visits from carers and grandparents, and from and to the community that we live in. We will continue to try and think out of the box for new ideas.
Will Nursery continue will its keeping in touch pages:
Yes, it’s been a great success so we would like to continue with this during this continued period of lockdown.
We wanted to take this opportunity to reassure you that our priority will always be the safety and welfare of our children and our staff team. With this firmly in focus – Nursery will not be returning to normal “full capacity” despite peoples individual interpretations of recent government announcements. Everyone’s health and safety will always be our priority.
I appreciate that we all want to return to a comforting level of normality but we still need to ensure that we are all kept safe.
Thanking you for your patience and understanding.
Wishing you all the very best
Covid Update: 10/05/20 @18.00
As we eagerly await Boris’s update this evening, I thought it would be a good opportunity to send out a quick update to you.
We hope that you all continue to remain safe and well and using varying strategies to support you and your families during this strange period of lockdown.
Last week we emailed our Orchard Lea families as below:
Good Morning to all our Orchard Lea Families,
We sincerely hope that you are keeping well, safe and managing to juggle the new challenges that we are all being set.
We would like to offer our condolences and heartfelt sympathy to those of you that have lost loved ones during this time. We have been thinking of you and sending you virtual hugs.
As we approach the end of week 6 in lockdown and our government is asked to deliver an exit plan we too have begun to plan our return from lockdown.
Whilst we are ultimately guided by government policies, our most practical and logical next step would be to extend our offer to include families where one carer is a keyworker.
Depending upon take up will really decide whether we will continue to offer childcare from only Keynsham nursery or, should demand be sufficient, we will plan to reopen Kingswood nursery too.
A few Q&A’s before you respond to the below questionnaire:
What families are Orchard Lea now opening up to offer childcare for:
All families where one or more carer is classified as a critical key person as per government guidelines :https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-educational-provision/guidance-for-schools-colleges-and-local-authorities-on-maintaining-educational-provision
and for all vulnerable and SEND families.
If our family meet any of these criteria do we have to take up our place at all, in full or partially :
No, not if you don’t need or want to at this current time.
We have tried to be as flexible as possible, changing and dropping attendance on a weekly basis. We are all trying to keep safe, work from home and socially distance reducing everyone’s risks and the spread of COVID-19. We appreciate that “there are lots of differing considerations and demands during this period” e.g. changing working patterns, unavailability and availability of significant others to support families etc… which we are all trying to juggle.
When will the extended offer start:
Keynsham nursery has been open throughout our lockdown period, being staffed by our amazing core team from both of our nurseries, for which we cannot thank them enough.
If you would normally have a place / or be able to (and happy to) travel to Keynsham then, subject to “resettling in visits”, we would like to start to offer this during weeks commencing 11th and 18th May.
What about Kingswood nursery, I can’t travel or would really prefer to stay at Kingswood :
Yes, we completely appreciate this. For us this is a little more complicated and really depends on what your needs are. So please let us know. Also think about what you might need in a few weeks. This will allow us to plan.
As you can imagine, restarting Kingswood will take a little longer, but should the need be there we could look to reopen Kingswood for settling in sessions towards the mid / end of May.
We usually attend Kingswood, I can travel to Keynsham, but now I don’t know what to do …..
Tell us that please. We need to know your needs, preferences and thoughts. We will look at the demand for Kingswood and come back to you as to whether it will be feasible to reopen. This will allow you to make an informed decision.
We want to avoid the possibility of your children just settling in Keynsham and then 2 weeks later we open Kingswood nursery.
Why did you decide to use Keynsham nursery during stricter lockdown:
We had more families that needed childcare support from Keynsham nursery so we went with the majority.
Keynsham nursery is a newer purpose built building making risk management much easier. e.g. Large on site car park, physical layout of building with office being adjacent to main door, large external entrance space where parents can socially distance should they arrive at same time etc…
Why are you offering “resettling in” sessions again:
It’s been a long time and we feel it’s really important to start back near to the beginning. “Resettling back in sessions” will be an hour visit followed by an hour and a half visit after which we can then review with you and plan together.
Will nursery be safe:
During this quieter and restricted period of lockdown we have all been preparing, planning and reviewing for social distancing. Something that is very hard with young children.
We have reviewed many of our practices and procedures and managed to source varying and new suppliers for PPE, cleaning supplies and other consumables.
During this period none of our team or children attending have been taken ill.
With a controlled and measured approach to increasing attendance numbers we hope to minimise risks for all and to continue to work within our new working methods. The welfare and health of our team and our families will always be our priority.
We’re not critical keyworkers, what about our children:
Unfortunately at the moment we are restricted by government guidelines in our offer. We will update you as soon as things change. Please continue to keep in touch with nursery. It’s been lovely to see all of you pictures and the exciting things you have been up to at home.
We then went on to ask our families to complete a questionnaire regarding their childcare needs. We then continued with ….
On a further note:
Whilst we are emailing you regarding our planned increase in our services we would like to give you a bit of a financial update:
We have received confirmation from our insurers that we will be eligible to receive varying levels of support with our loss of income at Kingswood nursery for a maximum of 3 months and to a max total claim value. This will also be honoured to a lesser degree at Keynsham Nursery as it has still remained operational.
BANES council has supported us with an additional weekly payment for our children who live within BANES and continue to attend nursery. BANES council have been very forward thinking in acknowledging the additional financial pressure remaining open has caused. We would like to say “Thank You”, this payment is very welcome and appreciated.
In light of the above information we have decided to reduce our 20% charge for April 20 down to 5%. As previously mentioned our 20% charge always sat very uncomfortably with us which was why our invoices were so late in being sent to you. We have always promised to review this as more information became available.
We would like to thank you all for your solidarity and the support you showed by the unquestionable prompt payment ( and arrangements to pay) of this invoice by 99% of our families, at a time which is uncertain for us all. Your overpayments can remain on your accounts for May etc.. or should you prefer please contact us with your bank details for your repayment.
Once again our May invoices will be delayed whilst we assess our financial situation, implications of recent HMRC backtracking on Early Years furlough claims and take up of places with us during May. So that we can make an informed decision please do not expect your invoice for at least another week.
I am sure that you will all agree that it’s has been a very strange and bumpy ride that has challenged and continues to challenge us like never before.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you all , both our families and staff team for the support we have received.
Let’s hope that soon there is light at the end of this tunnel, but in the meantime, keep social distancing, washing those hands and looking out for each other.
With our very best wishes
Orchard Lea
Throughout the week our families have emailed their replies giving us an opportunity to try to plan a way forward.
In light of these responses we have decided to reopen Kingswood nursery from W/c 25th May 20 by initially returning our Kingswood families back from Keynsham. This shorter 4 day week will allow for a gradual transition for both staff and children giving us an opportunity to arrange “resettling in sessions “ for families where only one parent is a keyworker during this week and thereafter. This has yet to be formally announced to our families, so please keep this to yourselves at the moment.
In light of this increase in childcare requirements we will be contacting members of our team to return from furlough to support us with this extension of our service.
At both nurseries, any increase in numbers of children wishing to access childcare will be carefully monitored with a measured approach ensuring safe working guidelines can be maintained at all times.
The process of “returning from furlough” will be the mirror, but in reverse, of our original furlough process, where we identified members of the team who initially needed to stay / now needing to return to support their key children.
We will be in contact with you toward the middle of the week to update you individually.
In the meantime apologies for interrupting your Sunday.
Take care everyone and hoping we are all
given some clear, positive but measured next steps this evening.
Wishing you all the very best and hoping that it won’t be too long before we are returned as a team.
Stay safe, stay alert.
Covid Update: 04/05/20 @ 8.45
We sincerely hope that you are keeping well, safe and managing to juggle the new challenges that we are all being set.
We would like to offer our condolences and heartfelt sympathy to those of you that have lost loved ones during this time. We have been thinking of you and sending you virtual hugs.
As we approach the end of week 6 in lockdown and our government is asked to deliver an exit plan we too have begun to plan our return from lockdown.
Whilst we are ultimately guided by government policies, our most practical and logical next step would be to extend our offer to include families where one carer is a keyworker.
Depending upon take up will really decide whether we will continue to offer childcare from only Keynsham nursery or, should demand be sufficient, we will plan to reopen Kingswood nursery too.
A few Q&A’s before you respond to the below questionnaire:
What families are Orchard Lea now opening up to offer childcare for:
All families where one or more carer is classified as a critical key person as per government guidelines : https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-educational-provision/guidance-for-schools-colleges-and-local-authorities-on-maintaining-educational-provision
and for all vulnerable and SEND families.
If our family meet any of these criteria do we have to take up our place at all, in full or partially :
No, not if you don’t need or want to at this current time.
We have tried to be as flexible as possible, changing and dropping attendance on a weekly basis. We are all trying to keep safe, work from home and socially distance reducing everyone’s risks and the spread of COVID-19. We appreciate that “there are lots of differing considerations and demands during this period” e.g. changing working patterns, unavailability and availability of significant others to support families etc… which we are all trying to juggle.
When will the extended offer start:
Keynsham nursery has been open throughout our lockdown period, being staffed by our amazing core team from both of our nurseries, for which we cannot thank them enough.
If you would normally have a place / or be able to (and happy to) travel to Keynsham then, subject to “resettling in visits”, we would like to start to offer this during weeks commencing 11th and 18th May.
What about Kingswood nursery, I can’t travel or would really prefer to stay at Kingswood :
Yes, we completely appreciate this. For us this is a little more complicated and really depends on what your needs are. So please let us know. Also think about what you might need in a few weeks. This will allow us to plan.
As you can imagine, restarting Kingswood will take a little longer, but should the need be there we could look to reopen Kingswood for settling in sessions towards the mid / end of May.
We usually attend Kingswood, I can travel to Keynsham, but now I don’t know what to do …..
Tell us that please. We need to know your needs, preferences and thoughts. We will look at the demand for Kingswood and come back to you as to whether it will be feasible to reopen. This will allow you to make an informed decision.
We want to avoid the possibility of your children just settling in Keynsham and then 2 weeks later we open Kingswood nursery.
Why did you decide to use Keynsham nursery during stricter lockdown:
We had more families that needed childcare support from Keynsham nursery so we went with the majority.
Keynsham nursery is a newer purpose built building making risk management much easier. e.g. Large on site car park, physical layout of building with office being adjacent to main door, large external entrance space where parents can socially distance should they arrive at same time etc…
Why are you offering “resettling in” sessions again:
It’s been a long time and we feel it’s really important to start back near to the beginning. “Resettling back in sessions” will be an hour visit followed by an hour and a half visit after which we can then review with you and plan together.
Will nursery be safe:
During this quieter and restricted period of lockdown we have all been preparing, planning and reviewing for social distancing. Something that is very hard with young children.
We have reviewed many of our practices and procedures and managed to source varying and new suppliers for PPE, cleaning supplies and other consumables.
During this period none of our team or children attending have been taken ill.
With a controlled and measured approach to increasing attendance numbers we hope to minimise risks for all and to continue to work within our new working methods. The welfare and health of our team and our families will always be our priority.
We’re not critical keyworkers, what about our children:
Unfortunately at the moment we are restricted by government guidelines in our offer. We will update you as soon as things change. Please continue to keep in touch with nursery. It’s been lovely to see all of you pictures and the exciting things you have been up to at home.
It would be very useful if you could take a few moments to think about your current and immediate future childcare requirements and reply to this email including the following information: (copy and paste is ideal)
Child’s name
Please delete or highlight as appropriate:
1). We currently don’t meet the criteria to access childcare support:
2). We are currently socially isolating, but meet the criteria to access childcare support and :
2a. Would like to decline at the moment:
2b. Would like to accept from : (date)
3). We currently meet the criteria to access childcare support :
3a. Would like to decline at the moment:
3b. Would like to defer until : (date)
3c. Would like to accept as soon as possible:
You will only need to continue with your answers if you have answered Yes to questions 2b / 3b or 3c. but please continue to read the whole of the email.
Sessions you are requesting with days and times:
Is this likely to change each week?:
If so do you have any idea of the pattern needed?:
On a further note:
Whilst we are emailing you regarding our planned increase in our services we would like to give you a bit of a financial update:
We have received confirmation from our insurers that we will be eligible to receive varying levels of support with our loss of income at Kingswood nursery for a maximum of 3 months and to a max total claim value. This will also be honoured to a lesser degree at Keynsham Nursery as it has still remained operational.
BANES council has supported us with an additional weekly payment for our children who live within BANES and continue to attend nursery. BANES council have been very forward thinking in acknowledging the additional financial pressure remaining open has caused. We would like to say “Thank You”, this payment is very welcome and appreciated.
In light of the above information we have decided to reduce our 20% charge for April 20 down to 5%. As previously mentioned our 20% charge always sat very uncomfortably with us which was why our invoices were so late in being sent to you. We have always promised to review this as more information became available.
We would like to thank you all for your solidarity and the support you showed by the unquestionable prompt payment ( and arrangements to pay) of this invoice by 99% of our families, at a time which is uncertain for us all. Your overpayments can remain on your accounts for May etc.. or should you prefer please contact us with your bank details for your repayment.
Once again our May invoices will be delayed whilst we assess our financial situation, implications of recent HMRC backtracking on Early Years furlough claims and take up of places with us during May. So that we can make an informed decision please do not expect your invoice for at least another week.
I am sure that you will all agree that it’s has been a very strange and bumpy ride that has challenged and continues to challenge us like never before.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you all , both our families and staff team for the support we have received.
Let’s hope that soon there is light at the end of this tunnel, but in the meantime, keep social distancing, washing those hands and looking out for each other.
With our very best wishes
Fees Update Wednesday 25rd March 17:30
Apologies it has taken us some time to confirm fees during nursery closure, we wanted to understand what support would be available, which would in turn help us determine what reduction we can give for our families. We are still awaiting some details, but time is marching on and we understand the worry that financial uncertainty can bring during this unprecedented time.
We can confirm that fees will be reduced down to 20% of the normal session prices for April, May and June for children who are placed on hold and as such will not require a place at nursery while we are closed. If we continue to be closed past June, we may need to review this reduction.
This will ensure that when the government reopens schools, nursery will be able to fully resume and your child’s place will be available immediately. We can then all hopefully get back to “business as normal”.
For vulnerable children and children who have critical key working parents, if we are offing you a place full fees are chargeable. During this unprecedented time, we are allowing variations to normal nursery sessions to try and reduce everyone’s risk. We will however need notice to be able to plan staffing accordingly.
Unfortunately, if children or families are self-isolating our sickness policy still applies and fees are chargeable, this is because we had planned to provide childcare during this time.
We would like to thank all of our parents and families for their support and understanding during this difficult time, we are trying to ‘do our bit’ and provide care where needed to support the COVID-19 response. We hope this fee update will go some way to reassure any financial uncertainty and worry during this time.
We hope everyone stays safe and we look forward to seeing everyone on the other side.
Coronavirus COVID-19 update 8 – Tuesday 24th March 13:00
Following Boris’ lock down announcement yesterday evening we have decided to put nursery into a strict lock down service for the next 3 weeks.
We are currently only providing provision for vulnerable children and children of Critical Key Worker parents.
During lockdown we will only provide care for Key worker children where:
- Both parents are critical workers (1 parent if single parent family)
- Neither of which can work from home, or there are no other childcare arrangements.
- We will require Proof that parents are critical Keyworkers and cannot work from home.
Unfortunately, if critical parents do not meet these criteria will we not providing care for your child during this lock down period.
We advise that children should only be bought into nursery as a last resort. We are all better off at home where we are not exposed to an increased risk of infection.
We have taken these measures to try to minimise the risks for those critical working families who still require our services and our staff team and their families.
We will be communicating fees during closure this week via a separate email.
Coronavirus COVID-19 update 7 – Friday 20th March 14:00
Following further clarification we can confirm that, subject to staffing levels, we will be open from Monday morning (usual opening hours) to provide a limited number of childcare places for provision for critical “Key Workers “where there is no other form of alternative and appropriate childcare.
We will be looking at our availability and prioritising as below. Please remember than we will also be operating at a reduced staffing level as some members of our team are self-isolating and others are advised to stay at home due to underlying conditions.
Priority will be given to:
Families where both parents or if a sole parent, are classified as “Key person”
SEND and Vulnerable Children
Families where one of the parents is a key worker.
We hope to be in a position to offer everyone who falls in the above categories a place subject to staffing levels. We will look to covering additional staffing needs using agency staff but would prefer to keep this to a minimum as it is our current strategy to reduce all visitors into nursery.
We will be working over the weekend to send individual emails to confirm or decline your place and any additional requests.
We will be using the government guidelines as per links below to establish which families this offer will be extended to. They are below for your information:
Full guidance for maintaining educational provision can be found here:
There is further guidance available for parents and carers which can be found here:
The guidance is clear that:
Where a child can be kept at home, this remains the best option.
Parents should not rely upon childcare from others who are advised to be in the stringent social distancing group: grandparents, elderly relatives, friends or family members with underlying health issues.
Parents should ensure that children are not mixing socially in a way which can spread the virus and should observe the same social distancing principles as adults.
If any parents work is critical to the COVD-19 response, or they work in one of the critical sectors identified in the guidance and they cannot keep their child safe at home then their child will need to be prioritised for childcare provision.
Please rest assured we will look at each individual returned questionnaire and notify you via email. If you disagree with our decision then please come back to us with further advice.
We appreciate that your current situation may change and that employers are using secondment processes to redeploy people and adapt their roles. Please let us know of these changes and we will continue to support you as best we can.
I apologise that this email doesn’t give you a clear yes or no for your childcare provision from next week, but I hope that many of you will have a clearer understand of our process.
We will notify you as soon as available staffing has been confirmed and places allocated.
This will be before the end of Saturday.
Please take good care of your families and loved ones.
Coronavirus COVID-19 update 6 – Friday 20th March 10:00
As many of you are aware the government has given an indication as to their interpretation of a “Key person”.
Please see below for their guidelines here:
We still haven’t had a firm response from either our local councils, our insurers to confirm as to whether we can offer this provision. This is something that we would like to support our families with.
In preparation for this provision, whether it is offered by Orchard Lea or the local council we would like you to respond (preferably via email) to the following questions. Before answering could you read the above link carefully:
Childs Name:
Current booking at Nursery:
Are you classified as a Key Worker: – YES or NO – if Possible could you identify your role and in what sector as we may be asked to provide this information. ( At this stage we are not asking for proof)
Are other members of your Household classified as a Keyworker? Yes or NO and again if possible could you please identify your role and in what sector as we may be asked to provide this information. (At this stage we are not asking for proof)
If YES to above : Do you have access to any other childcare support?
Do you think that you might need an adjustment to your current childcare booking patterns?:
I know this is difficult to judge but would you have an idea of what this would look like?:
Are you classified as a Key worker but would prefer not to access childcare provision at this time:
We appreciate that you are all experiencing the same challenges as ourselves and that your response today will change next week. We apologise if some of our questions are more personal than normal and if you would prefer not to answer them please feel able to refuse.
Once again many thanks for your continued support and patience. Your messages of support have been deeply touching for us all.
Please keep an eye out for those that are particularly vulnerable at this time.
Take care everyone.
Coronavirus COVID-19 update 5 – 19th March 18:00
Following on from yesterday’s announcement of schools closing from the end of day on Friday 20th March, we wanted to provide our families with a further update today. Please note that there hasn’t actually been a lot of definitive fresh information provided since yesterday.
We understand that legislation is currently being passed that will force us to close as 18:00pm on Friday 20th March until further notice.
We want to provide factual information to our families and are still awaiting confirmation around the Keyworker childcare provision. More specifically what jobs classify as a keyworker and whether we will be providing this provision or if there will be a dedicated setting provided by the local authority. We will ask for parents to confirm whether they are a keypersons in due course.
Many of you have been asking about fees when we close, again we are awaiting confirmation of our business interruption insurance. Once we have a clearer understanding we will be able to give an indication of how much of a reduction of fees we can provide during the closure, whilst still being able to provide a wages payment for our staff.
To give a worst-case scenario, if we are not covered by our insurance and there is no support from the government, we envisage 25% percent reduction of fees payable less meal charges, however we are hoping this will not be the case. In an ideal world we would prefer to not charge any fees when we are closed. Should this closure continue for several months we will need to review this on a month by month basis to ensure that there is a fully functioning nursery to return to.
If you decide to give notice during the closure, you will be charged full fees for the 1 month notice period and your place will be offered to another child on our waiting list. If you give notice and then revoke the notice our waiting list process will apply.
I know this information it a little scarce, but unfortunately it is still a waiting game at this stage. Come on Boris get a move on.
We would like to thank you all for your continued support and patience.
It is a very difficult time for everyone, stay safe and keep wash those hands.
Coronavirus COVID-19 update 4 – 18th March 21:45
Further update following the statement today from government to close schools from this Friday 20th March.
Understandably this evenings announcement has come as a surprise to all of us. It’s news raises concerns and questions for everyone, us included.
At this moment in time we probably know as much as you, as there has been no official communication from the Department for Education, Ofsted or our Local Authority.
The statement that has been released is somewhat ambiguous.Until we receive further, more accurate information, we are unsure as to whether we will be forced to close after Friday and for how long.
As soon as there is some clarity, we will inform all of our families as to our position regarding closure.
We would like to try to provide some relief to our families with fees during any closure, we would also like to continue to pay our amazing and hardworking staff team.
We are unsure as to what level of support small businesses can receive from the government and what level and duration our business disruption insurance will cover us for.
We would like to thank you all for your continued support and patience.
It is a very difficult time for everyone, stay safe and keep wash those hands.
Coronavirus COVID-19 update 3- 17th March 16:00
Further to the government’s announcement yesterday (Monday 16th March) we would like to clarify their further advice which we will be strictly adhering to:
If you or any other member of your household (someone that lives in your home) or anyone that you have had close contact with has:
1) Had Coronavirus confirmed
2) Had contact with some one that has had Coronavirus confirmed
2) Shown signs of a new persistent cough and or a temperature of 37.8 or higher
All members of your household should now self-isolate for 14 days. (This is a change from yesterday which was 7 days and didn’t include other household members or close contacts)
We appreciate that financially this is a difficult and worrying time for us all (Orchard Lea included).
In an ideal world we would like to be able to say that no fees would be chargeable.
Unfortunately, at this moment in time we do not have enough information regarding support packages available for small businesses to make a decision of this magnitude.
If we are in a position to offer support with fees during isolation periods, we can apply this to accounts retrospectively, trying to ease the financial burden for our families whilst maintaining the sustainability of the nursery and ensuring that we continue to provide our service.
Things that we would like you to do to support Orchard Lea with:
To ensure that everyone uses the anti-bacterial hand gel as you enter and leave the building.
Promoting and re-enforcing regular hand washing with our children
Cancellation of home visits
Cancellation of Mother’s Day “Join us at nursery for a Story session”
Restriction of one person to bring / collect children from nursery.
Updating Nursery with details of your absence from nursery and the reasons for your self-isolation.
Things that Orchard Lea has put into place to protect our nursery team and families:
A comprehensive cleaning programme that is implemented on a sessional basis.
An end of day cleaning routine that pays particular attention to high traffic areas and touch panels.
Extensive deep cleaning completed every weekend.
Nursery will isolate children who are awaiting collection due to concerns regarding their health.
Strict isolation of 14 days for children, family contacts and colleagues.
Nursery will only close if instructed by DFE or Dept of Health.
As you are aware this information is changing daily and is for all of us unique.
We would like to thank you for your continued support and understanding during this difficult and worrying time for us all.
We will continue to update you as more information becomes available.
Please see below link for current information here:
Coronavirus COVID-19 update 2 – 13th March 10:20
Following the COBRA meeting held yesterday afternoon. The government are not closing schools at this stage, they are however telling everyone with the following symptoms the self-isolate for 7 days which can be viewed here:
Stay at home for 7 days if you have either:
• a high temperature
• a new continuous cough
Some helpful guidance for self-isolation can be viewed here:
We are pragmatically following this guidance as it applies to everyone including children.
Therefore, effective immediately, please do not bring your child into nursery if they have a new cough or high temperature (over 37.8 degrees C).
Please do not dose your children up with paracetamol (Calpol) or ibuprofen (Nurofen) before coming into nursery this only masks the symptoms for up to 4 hours.
If your child develops these symptoms whilst in nursery, we will ask you to collect your child, or make arrangements to collect immediately. They will need to stay at home and will be excluded from nursery for 7 days.
Likewise, if you or any other family member or friend is currently self-isolating, please stay away from nursery.
We are following the guidance issued by the government and trying to minimise the spread of the virus.
Please can all parents and children use the antibacterial hand sanitiser before entering the nursery and continue to wash hands regularly.
Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.
Coronavirus COVID-19 Update 1 – 5th March 2020
We thought we would update you with our current strategy towards an outbreak of Coronavirus.
Hopefully any outbreak will be minimal, however should there be an outbreak, we will stay open until instructed to close by Public Health. Cases will be assessed by them on an individual basis. In the extreme and unlikely case that we are instructed to close, we will keep all parents informed.
We are currently following the guidance issued by the Department for Education and Public Health which can be viewed here:
Steps we can all take to help minimise any spread of the virus:
- Please inform us if you have recently, within the last two weeks, or are planning to travel to any of the infected areas. Please follow the issued guidance regarding self-isolation if you are feeling unwell and have symptoms. The areas can be found here:
Please see the latest guidance here:
Self-isolation guidance here:
- Parents, children and staff please use the anti-bacterial hand sanitiser when entering and leaving nursery. These are located next to the front door, with one at child and adult height.
- Please see the attached information poster for how we can all help minimise any spread of Coronavirus.
Steps we are actively taking in preparation:
- We performed a deep clean of the nursery over the weekend.
- We have started to stockpile antibacterial surface cleaners, antibacterial hand sanitisers, hand soap, disposable gloves, face masks.
- We have increased our already rigorous cleaning routine, and we are actively using antibacterial surface sprays on all commonly used areas, door handles etc at the end of everyday.
- Continuing to reinforce handwashing with the children, especially after using the toilets and before meals. Encouraging children to catch their coughs and sneezes with washing hands after. Please could families continue this practice at home.
Should you have any queries please feel free to contact us.
