Child Wellbeing & Illness Policies

PROCEDURE FOR TAKING A CHILD TO HOSPITAL Ring for an ambulance, if necessary or if in any doubt. Inform the child’s parent/carer or emergency contact by telephone and advised which hospital the child is enroute to. If a child is taken by ambulance, one staff member should accompany the child if the parent is not present, and the enrolment form should be taken to handover. If the parent arrives at nursery before the ambulance departs, a staff member may also attend with the parent to handover if ratios allow. If a child is taken by taxi, one member of staff should accompany the child if the parent is there, two if the parent is not present. Parents will be advised of which hospital the child is enroute to. If under staffing occurs in this instance, every effort will be made to contact another member of staff to provide cover. CHILDREN TAKEN ILL WHILST AT NURSERY Children will be taken to a quiet place away from the group with a staff member to care for them until their parent or carer arrives. Whytebeams will contact the parent/carer or designated relative/friend to inform them of the child’s condition and to collect the child. Parents are asked to collect unwell children as soon as possible following the call for the child’s wellbeing and to prevent the risk of cross infection. In case of illness parents are required to provide their contact details and details of an emergency back-up person who can be contacted to collect their child if they are unable to collect them for any reason. It is the parent’s responsibility to provide the staff with current telephone numbers where they can be reached daily. Parents must advise the nursery of any change to emergency contact details immediately and ensure all personal details are kept up to date. Should I Keep My Child At Home? Young children are better nursed at home within familiar surroundings when they are unwell. The nursery environment is busy and only children who are well should attend. We recognise that it is difficult for working parents to take time off to look after their sick children, but equally we have a duty to protect all children in our care from infection. Whytebeams will show regard to the UKHSA (UK health security agency) Guidance ‘Health protection in children and young people settings’. The Nursery Manager or Deputy will assess any individual cases of infection based on the guidance and other factors which may affect the overall health and wellbeing of our children. You should discuss any concerns with them so a decision can be made in the best interests of the child and the group. It is the decision of the manager or deputy if time away from nursery is needed. Golden Rules for Children Under Five 76 WHYTEBEAMS NURSERY Please always tell staff if our child is slightly unwell or you think they might be coming down with something. Young children who are known to be unwell and not their usual selves should be cared for at home. Children should not be given medication such as Calpol and sent into nursery without telling the nursery manager. Symptoms may be masked and this could put your child’s health at risk. If a child has a fever, they are probably fighting an infection and should be kept at home until 48 hours have passed after the fever has gone. Children must not come into nursery if they are vomiting or have diarrhoea. They must be kept away for 48 hours after the vomiting or diarrhoea has ceased. Children with impetigo should not attend nursery for 48 hours from when they have started their treatment or until the lesions have dried out. Children with open sores that cannot be covered with a dressing should not attend nursery. Children with chicken pox must be kept at home until all scabs are dry (usually 5 days after the last crop of blisters). Colds are infectious. A mild cold will cause a little distress. However, a child with a heavy cold or flu and or a temperature should be nursed at home. We kindly ask all parents to respect our golden rules CHILD CLOTHING POLICY To offer an extensive curriculum the nursery encourages daily use of the outdoor play spaces, regardless of the weather conditions. It is essential that children are clothed appropriately for their day at nursery. In winter your child will require suitable outdoor clothing including a winter coat, gloves and hat. In the summer they will require a named sun hat and sun cream - see our Sun Protection Policy We hope parents can appreciate the importance of messy, creative activities for children. The staff endeavour to protect children’s clothing, however, we would request your child is dressed appropriately in consideration of this. Parents should please ensure that their child : Comes to nursery suitably dressed for a day of play and for the days weather conditions. Brings a small named bag each day, including a spare change of clothes and underwear in case of any accidents. Please add nappies (not pull ups) and wipes if your child is not yet toilet trained. Has a coat suitable for the weather, unless it is very warm. 77 WHYTEBEAMS NURSERY Is wearing comfortable easy to change clothing such as, tracksuit bottoms, leggings, skirts or dresses in summer, t-shirts, long sleeved tops, jumpers or cardigans. We discourage vests with poppers and tights and dungarees as these are difficult for children and staff to remove easily. Wears well-fitting plimsolls or soft shoes for their safety when running climbing and playing on the floor. No boots, crocs or sandals please. All clothing and any items brought to Nursery MUST BE CLEARLY NAMED. Unfortunately, the nursery cannot be responsible for the loss of un-named items or for any damage caused to clothing during usual activities. JEWELLERY As our nursery is a place of play and adventure, we do not advise children wearing jewellery for their own safety. Our guidance is that children with pierced ears should wear small, studded earrings only and not looped earrings that could be caught on clothing or equipment. Necklaces can be dangerous, and we advise they are not worn by children. Any precious or valuable items should not be brought in or worn to nursery and we cannot take responsibility for the loss or damage of these. SUN PROTECTION POLICY We have a large garden which children can use daily in all weathers unless it is particularly wet or icy therefore unsafe. We take sun safety seriously and have a duty of care to keep children safe and well whilst at nursery and take the following action: In summer we are based outdoors but also have indoor learning space available. We have an extra-large sun umbrella and a large canopy and endeavour to keep the children in the shade as much as possible. We provide learning specific to the warm weather and teach sun safety as well as engage in fun water play. We always come inside for lunch and may also do the same for snack on hot days. We will ensure children are well hydrated with regular access to water bottles. We will top up suncream after lunch for children staying all day or when needed if parents/carers have given us permission to do so on their child’s enrolment form. Good hygiene practices will be in place and staff will check our sunscreen permissions list before applying any product. When applying sunscreen to children with allergies or those that can only have their own brand, staff will wash hands before and after each of those children’s applications. Whytebeams do not routinely provide sunscreen, but we do keep a small supply for emergencies for use when parents have given their consent. All children are expected to wear sunscreen or protective clothing on sunny days. Exceptions In rare circumstances where parents don’t give us permission to apply sunscreen a discussion should take place between us and the parents to decide how best to protect children from the sun and maintain our provision and responsibility. Alternatives could be - the child’s arms and legs should be covered with lightweight or protective clothing and a hat worn, or some time inside if the curriculum allows. 78 WHYTEBEAMS NURSERY When parents forget to apply sunscreen before or on arrival or forget to bring any, we will ask them to apply ours or return home for their own bottle if needed. If children can only use their own brand of sunscreen and parents forget it, parents should ideally return home for it or children’ s clothing can be changed by our staff to cover their arms and legs. We keep a supply of clean spare clothing for such situations. Parent’s Role : In summer or on sunny days we ask all parents to: Apply sun cream to their child before or on arrival Provide clearly named sunscreen for their child to be left at nursery Provide a named sun hat to keep at nursery Provide a water bottle filled with fresh water (this can be topped up by staff as needed) Dress their child suitably for the weather and a day of play Ensure their child wears suitable shoes – soft plimsolls, no crocs, flip flops or sandals for safety reasons On particularly hot days we may ask you to provide a change of clothing so we can engage in some water spray play to keep children cool and make the most of things. We will endeavour to notify you in advance. PET & ANIMAL POLICY Whytebeams value pets, animals, and creatures as part of our learning and curriculum. In May/June, we purchase caterpillars from an educational company and watch them transform into butterflies. Children will have the opportunity to help release them in the nursery garden when the time comes. We have other creatures of interest in our garden such as ants, worms and resident snails! As part of our curriculum, we routinely teach children respect for the world and all its creatures by modelling and encouraging the gentle handling of any creature a child may encounter. Sometimes animals visit us such as guide dogs as part of our learning and curriculum. Parents will be advised in advance of such activities. When animals come into the nursery and during these times, we will carry out a risk assessment and follow policy to ensure the safety of children and adults at all times. Children will always be supervised at or above the requited ratio. Parents are at liberty to withdraw their child from such activities if they so wish and should advise the nursery if their child has animal allergies. Any children with known animal triggering allergies will be offered an alternative activity. Good hygiene will be observed whenever animals are handled and hands will always be washed thoroughly afterwards.