CRECHE OWNER DEIRDRE RALEIGH SURVEYED 40 FAMILIES — AND FOUND ONLY ONE WAS PLANNING TO SEND THEIR CHILD BACK
LIKE many creche owners, Deirdre Raleigh had been waiting weeks for guidance from the Department of Children so she could properly assess whether she could re-open her business.
There were lots of factors: the size of the creche, outdoor space and staffing issues. But not least the numbers of children she could expect to accommodate and the numbers of parents who would be willing to use her services from June 29.
Deirdre owns the Kids Kottage creche in Tyrellspass in Westmeath. On a normal pre-coronavirus day she would have between 40 to 50 children in her care — from babies over six months to older children for after-school care.
But in the current Covid-19 climate, she didn’t know how many to expect.
“What was concerning me was we were hearing a lot of things about the ratio of staff members to children was going to reduce,” Deirdre told the Sunday Independent.
“I wondered was I going to be faced with a situation where I am having to tell my parents I can’t take their children. So I thought I had better get an idea of what I was looking at.”
She telephoned all her parents over two days a fortnight ago and was astonished at the feedback.
“The result of the survey was one child coming back on June 29,” Deirdre said.
The reasons were mixed. Numbers always drop off in the summer anyhow, she said. But aside from that, some parents said they were managing with their children at home.
Others were nervous about what their child could expect, such as social distancing or the notion that their child might be required to play alone in a pod.
Deirdre said she would need about 20 children in order to reopen her creche on June 29 to families of essential workers and parents returning to work.
Given the results of her survey, that is no longer financially feasible.
She now hopes to prepare her creche for re-opening in the next phase in July.
Her worry is there may be any interruption to the temporary wage scheme, which helps her hold on to her “young and enthusiastic” and highly qualified staff.
That would have a “detrimental impact on the business”, she said.
Speaking last week before the Minister for Children, Katherine Zappone, published guidelines, she said: “I am hoping for guidance from the Department of Children and Youth affairs.
“If I can demonstrate that it will be a safe environment, children are not going to be isolated, individuals playing on their own, social distancing is not going to be an enforced thing in a creche I think that would do a lot to reassure parents.”
The minister has since published guidance on the re-opening of creches.
The sector’s representative groups are predicting that for a variety of reasons, including lingering anxiety, parents may take time before flocking back to childcare.
Deirdre Raleigh reckons that it will be September before the childcare system returns to any sort of normal.
At least, that’s what she’s hoping for.