Nurseries delighted they can stay open during new lockdown
Early years settings including nurseries and childminders are set to remain open in the Black Country and Staffordshire during the third national lockdown.
In his address to the nation on Monday evening, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that schools and colleges would be closing until at least February half-term in a bid to control the spread of coronavirus.
But while children at school will turn to remote learning for six weeks, early years settings including nurseries and childminders are permitted to stay open. Previously, early years settings were available to the children of key workers only.
Silverbells Preschool, based at St Barnabas Church Hall, in Dudley, which looks after children aged between two and four years old, is remaining open.
Manager Lucy Griffiths said: “We are remaining open. We feel it is a good thing to be open – we are looking after our children and we have had no issues with Covid since we opened in September. Children need it for their development and mental health. They need structure.
“We have a few children that won’t be coming in, but that is their parents’ choice – but most of our children are here. My own child is here.
“We have all the safety measures in place and none of our children have been off with any symptoms, we have been really lucky.
“We have not taken as many children on this year, we usually have 19 but at the moment we have 12 in. It is a mix of key worker’s children and others.”
Suki Kaur Khera, manager and owner of Little Crickets Nursery in Walsall, said: “I think it’s a really good decision for nurseries to stay open as we have had a lot of footfall today [Tuesday] and parents are happy for their children to come back in and the staff are happy as well.
“Everybody just seemed happy there was some normality in the setting and, for me, it’s about serving the community.
Normality
“We had parents calling and texting late last night about whether we were staying open, so I messaged all of them to let them know we were going to open and to reassure them of any worries they might have had.
“I live with elderly parents and I know the risks, but it’s all about making sure little ones are healthy and work to give them some normality.
“Parents have said they are concerned about whether their child might get Covid, but we have plenty of trained practitioners here and we all love to clean and make sure we are on top of that.
“I make sure when I come in that everything is properly cleaned and we work to ensure hygiene levels are high, such as when we installed new sinks.
“We know parents are really worried about hygiene, so I have worked to ensure all parents are reassured about what we are doing here, including teaching children how to clean their hands.”
Emily Brimson-Keight, safety director at Burntwood-based Busy Bees, said: “We are pleased to see the Government has recognised the critical importance of early years settings by allowing nurseries to stay open, providing stability for young children, as well as supporting parents with vital care for their child.”
