Country Oaks Daycare

CHILDCARE MUST BE KEY PART OF OUR ECONIMIC THINKING 👇🏼

Childcare comes in many forms including grandparents, friends, day care centres, registered childminders.

All this has been turned upside down as a result of the Covid19 crisis.

At the outset of this pandemic, childcare providers were among the first to step forward to support our key workers.

We are now at a different stage and we are moving out of lockdown as more restrictions are eased, however we have never needed our childcare providers more.

More people are returning to work in office, retail, hospitality and elsewhere.

Many of these workers need childcare to enable them to return to work.

We need to make sure our childcare sector is adequately supported and properly resourced to deal with the mammoth task ahead.

They need a plan which is clearly communicated to parents and providers.

I have met many concerned parents and providers who have all expressed their dismay at the lack of clear guidance on what future childcare looks like.

Maintaining services while ensuring safety of children and staff is a major concern for childcare providers. Parents want to be confident they are sending their children into a safe environment; childcare providers need practical support to do that.

Without intervention and support now some services may never reopen.

This would leave many children without childcare, parents unable to work and many workers facing potential unemployment.

The problems of underfunding and fragmented provision were here before the current pandemic.

The Covid19 crisis exposed that reality.

Childcare needs to become a key part of the economic thinking behind the recovery; it is not a side show.

Announcements have not been matched with support.

Hopes were raised when support for small businesses was announced.

But it hadn’t been designed with childcare providers in mind and many within the sector did not match the criteria.

The majority of childcare businesses have closed.

Their workers have been furloughed.

£12m was allocated by Finance Minister to the Department of Health in early April to support emergency childcare provision for frontline workers, but issues have arisen preventing it being spent as quickly as it should have been.

This is absolutely unacceptable; this money should have been spent in an efficient and effective manner to immediately support frontline workers and childcare providers.

Those with limited opportunity to expand available ‘caring’ space will face working at reduced capacity; without additional financial support this could make opening either impossible or unsustainable.

There are further concerns around difficulties in implementing social distancing measures to protect staff and children, accessibility of childcare for staff, costly building overheads and lack of consistent, coherent guidance.

The challenges which lie ahead for the childcare sector and families are considerable but not insurmountable.

The Departments of Economy, Health and Education must urgently produce the plan for childcare. It must be flexible, urgent and realistic.

It is women who will bear the brunt of this situation if this issue is not immediately resolved. That is something I am not prepared to accept.

I and my colleagues will continue to work with childcare providers and the relevant departments to address their concerns in the weeks and months ahead.

❤💙💚💛🧡💜

Ministers announce extension of definition of key workers to access childcare

Date published: 04 June 2020

1. Definition of key workers:

· Health and Social Care. This includes doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, social workers, home carers and staff required to maintain our health and social care sector;

· Education and childcare. This includes pre-school and teaching staff, social workers and those specialist education professionals who will remain active during the Covid-19 response;

· Public safety and national security. This includes civilians and officers in the police (including key contractors), Fire and Rescue Service, prison service and other national security roles;

· Transport. This will include those keeping air, water, road and rail transport modes operating during the Covid-19 response;

· Utilities, and Communication. This includes staff needed for oil, gas, electricity and water (including sewage) and primary industry supplies to continue during the Covid-19 response, as well as key staff in telecommunications, post and delivery, banking and waste disposal;

· Financial Services - This includes staff needed for essential financial services provision (including but not limited to workers in banks, building societies and financial market infrastructure);

· Food and other necessary goods. This includes those involved in food production, processing, distribution and sale, as well as those essential to the provision of other key goods (e.g. hygiene, medical, etc.);

· Retail. This includes those workers who have been working throughout the pandemic in food retail, for example, and will now extend to those working in other retail businesses permitted to operate by the Executive from June 2020;

· Other workers essential to delivering key public services such as the National Crime Agency; and

· Key national and local government including those administrative occupations essential to the effective delivery of the Covid-19 response.

Infection control measures include:

Re-opening of provision (both childcare settings and childminders), overseen by Health and Social Care Trust Early Years Teams, who will have access to COVID-19 advice from the Public Health Agency;

Restrictions on group size, and groups being required to be kept apart;

A gradual increase in the numbers of families childminders can provide childcare for, moving from 2 to 3 families from 8 June;

The production of updated guidance for the childcare sector which will apply from 8 June.

📌 We will continue to update Parents with any information that effects the day care 📌

NEW: Expansion of Key Worker List
Dear Providers,

Early Years welcomes the announcement from First Minister, Arlene Foster today at 16:30, that childcare will be aligned as closely as possible to the Executive's return to work decision-making and plans for schools re-starting. Additionally, the definition of key workers who are eligible to avail of childcare in Northern Ireland is to be brought into line with the definition used for schools.

As the lockdown eases and with a greater focus on economic recovery, this is an important step to ensure more working parents are able to access childcare, and for providers to safely restart and grow childcare services to meet this demand.

Early Years will continue to advocate for safe and sustainable childcare provision moving through and beyond this pandemic and will continue dialogue with, and support for, the sector in implementing this expansion.

The revised Key Worker List will be made available on the Family Support NI website (link below) and all providers should consult this moving forward

https://early-years.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e3859c7a5e728fa77e9d8af57&id=9faccd3cda&e=4b8e234eca

COVID-19 Childcare Options and Associated Guidance - Family Support Information Find the latest guidance for Childcare Providers, Key Workers and Vulnerable Children. See Latest Department of Education Updates at bottom of Page

Good luck to all the boys and girls receiving their letters today for their new schools 🙋‍♂️🙋‍♀️

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

📌Survey for Parents Following The Launch of New Covid- 19 Childcare Support Scheme 📌

We would appreciate if parents could complete a short survey as soon as possible (if you have already completed this survey please ignore). Thank you.

📌 CLOSING DATE 12pm WEDNESDAY 20th MAY 2020 📌

Daycare Questionnaire Take this survey powered by surveymonkey.com. Create your own surveys for free.

📌Survey for Parents Following The Launch of New Covid- 19 Childcare Support Scheme 📌

We would appreciate if parents could complete a short survey as soon as possible. Thank you.

📌 CLOSING DATE 12pm WEDNESDAY 20th MAY 2020 📌

Daycare Questionnaire Take this survey powered by surveymonkey.com. Create your own surveys for free.

‪Today is International Nurses Day.‬

‪Country Oaks Day Care would like to say a big thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the work you do every day to save lives.‬

❤ 🌈 Stay Safe 🌈 ❤

Our afterschoolers Jacob and Joshua on the Colin Neighbourhood Partnership Stay Home, Stay Safe poster.

Together we make a difference

# inittogether ❤🌈❤🌈❤🌈

❤❤ miss their wee faces ❤❤