Infection Control
At Hatching Dragons we promote the good health of all children attending through maintaining high hygiene standards and reducing the chances of infection being spread. We follow the Health protection in schools and other childcare facilities guidance which sets out when and how long children need to be excluded from settings, when treatment/medication is required and where to get further advice from.
Viruses and infections can be easily passed from person to person by breathing in air containing the virus which is produced when an infected person talks, coughs or sneezes. It can also spread through hand/face contact after touching a person or surface contaminated with viruses.
Rooms & Schools are fogged weekly and cleaned with anti viral and bacterial cleaners daily at the end of the day
We follow the guidance below to prevent a virus or infection from moving around the nursery. Our staff:
- Encourage all children to use tissues when coughing and sneezing to catch germs
- Ensure all tissues are disposed of in a hygienic way and all children and staff wash their hands once the tissue is disposed of
- Develop children’s understanding of the above and the need for good hygiene procedures in helping them to stay healthy
- Wear the appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) when changing nappies, toileting children and dealing with any other bodily fluids. Staff are requested to dispose of these in the appropriate manner and wash hands immediately
- Clean and sterilise all potties and changing mats before and after each use
- Clean toilets at least daily and check them throughout the day
- Remind children to wash their hands before eating, after visiting the toilet, playing outside or being in contact with any animal and explain the reasons for this
- Clean all toys, equipment and resources on a regular basis by following a comprehensive cleaning rota and using antibacterial cleanser or through washing in the washing machine
- Wash or clean all equipment used by babies and toddlers as and when needed including when the children have placed it in their mouth
- Store dummies in individual hygienic dummy boxes labelled with the child’s name to prevent cross-contamination with other children
- Store toothbrushes (where applicable)
- Immediately clean and sterilise (where necessary) any dummy or bottle that falls on the floor or is picked up by another child
- Provide labelled individual bedding for children that is not used by any other child and wash this at least once a week
- Ask parents and visitors to remove all outdoor footwear or use shoe covers when entering rooms where children may be crawling or sitting on the floor
- Where applicable wear specific indoor shoes or slippers whilst inside the rooms and make sure that children wear them as well
- Follow the sickness and illness policy when children are ill to prevent the spread of any infection in the nursery. Staff are also requested to stay at home if they are contagious.
In addition:
- Families will be asked to remain home for 48 hours if the child is feverish in line with PHE guidance on infection control
- The nursery manager retains the right of refusal of all children, parents, staff and visitors who are deemed contagious and may impact on the welfare of the rest of the nursery
- Parents will be made aware of the need for these procedures in order for them to follow these guidelines whilst in the nursery
- Periodically each room in the nursery will be deep cleaned including carpets and soft furnishings to ensure the spread of infection is limited. This will be implemented earlier if the need arises
- The nursery will ensure stocks of tissues, hand washing equipment, cleaning materials and sterilising fluid are maintained at all times and increased during the winter months or when flu and cold germs are circulating.
During Periods of High Infection:
- The nursery reserves the right to adhere to latest guidance from Public Health England, the Health Protection Agency, Departments of health & Education guidance that may restrict access to the setting from those who pose a higher level of risk. Such guidance will be taken from government as and when required and parents will be notified of updated measures to restrict / reduce risk to the student body
Coronavirus 2020
Infection control protocols within the school were already robust prior to COVID-19 and will now have to meet the new “Covid-19 Secure” guidelines. These measures will apply to parents, staff and children, in terms of our practice, in equal measure and we have engaged our Health & Safety Consultants, Citation, to develop a roadmap for procedures that will ensure that the provision is as safe as it can be, in light of the circumstances, for when we return. Some measures that are under discussion include:
- Children and staff must regularly wash their hands.
- Scheduling rotating collection and delivery slots via Google Calendar to ensure that cohorts / age groups of children are delivered / collected at specific intervals to ensure that we minimise interaction at crunch points at the beginning and end of the day.
- Maintaining smaller cohorts of children within the setting, separated by class group and activity as much as possible to limit interaction between the ages during the day.
- Face masks for families and staff travelling to and from the setting and sanitising hands immediately upon arrival - we will be setting up a new dispensary station on the ground floor for this purpose
- Social distancing to the level and extent that is practicable for parents within the setting - allocating thoroughfare for drop off and collections and hopefully creating a new buggy store on the high walk to minimise / reduce use / reliance on the internal lift
- Disinfectants - we will not be advocating any ingestion or injection but will be bathing all toys and materials in disinfectant on a daily basis, at the end of the day
- Self-isolation - staff, children and parents will be requested to self-isolate should they become symptomatic and we will be developing a notification / alert system for when and if we have any confirmed cases