Government Actions for Early Years and Childcare during the Coronavirus outbreak

Below is a brief summary of the key changes and any action Early Years Provivders need to take.

Learning and development requirements still stand – therefore those children attending should still be accessing a range of age appropriate activities that cover the breadth of the 7 areas of learning. This is an action that Tops Day Nurseries colleagues have been continuing with throughout the outbreak.

2 year check – This has been temporarily suspended and is currently not a requirement. Although the government have announced that these checks are not a requirement, Tops colleagues endevour to continue to complete these assessments on eyLog for those children still attending.

Paediatric First Aid – For 0-24 months it is still a requirement to have somebody onsite that is PFA trained, however the requirement has been relaxed by the government for 2-5 year olds. As a company we are not relaxing this policy and we should not be finding that we are struggling to cover the PFA requirement, as over 90% of our staff are currently PFA trained. All colleagues across the Tops Day Nurseries family receive PFA training within the first 3 months of joining. Find out more here. It has also been announced that existing Paediatric First Aid certificates have been given a 3 month extension for any qualifications expiring on or after the 16^th March 2020.

Ratios – COVID-19 is an exceptional circumstance and therefore they have confirmed that ‘where the quality of care, safety and security of children is maintained, changes to the ratios can be made.’ – Whilst this has been relaxed, we are currently not experiencing and difficulties with staffing and therefore expect that required ratios to be maintained.

Provision for under 2’s – The requirement for having a separate area for under 2’s still applies. This can be a portioned off area of a room, as long as they have a safe place to play and sleep. All Tops Day Nurseries settings have a Nest or Investigators area for under 2’s and will continue to utilise this as normal.