Nurseries’ new normal: Isolation and sandpit ban
TODDLERS could be isolated in squares a few metres apart when nurseries reopen – with sandpits banned, according to government guidance released yesterday.
Ministers want to let nurseries and early years childcare providers restart as early as June 1 in a phased return to education.
To help keep coronavirus at bay, they have issued a detailed guide for such settings.
The Department for Education document states children under two need 3.5 square metres per child. Two-year-olds will require 2.5 square metres and those aged three to five 2.3 square metres.
It continues: ‘Area dividers may help to keep children in different parts of the room, and floor markings could be helpful in assisting staff with keeping groups apart.’
It comes almost two weeks after the Daily Mail revealed isolation sections had been drawn in chalk for nursery children on breaks in a playground in Tourcoing, northern France – pictures which were described as ‘heartbreaking’.
The DfE also recommended sandpits should be banned as they cannot be cleaned between each use.
It suggests children do not share playdough and that soft toys are removed as well as those with intricate parts that are hard to clean.
Pillows, bean bags and rugs should also be taken away. It also recommends new approaches to minimise the sharing equipment like paint brushes, glue sticks and scissors.
The advice is to clean them thoroughly before and after use by different groups.