Daycare Provision at Provo Primary

Provo Primary re-opened it’s Early Years section of the school when deemed it was safe to do so by The Turks and Caicos Education Department and Ministry of Health, in June.

As soon as our school closed, it was always our intention to offer in school provision for this age group having recognized that online learning was not an option and we were happy to be able to do so.

Although not all of our families took advantage of our in school daycare provision, families who felt their children had really missed the social aspect of being with their peers, were keen for them to return. Parents who needed to return to work were grateful for help looking after their children, after a long period at home.

How did it go?

Firstly, our children clearly missed coming to see their friends and doing all the activities that we offer in Early Years and were excited to return. There were of course a few tears from one or two children, but that was to be expected after so much time spent home with mums, dads and siblings.

We followed the protocols put in place by the ministry of health. We had one person dedicated to welcoming the children at our entry points and placed social distancing markers which could be easily followed. Here it was lovely to see the children patiently waiting in line on their coloured shape, when other families arrived at the same time. There was never a long line as nobody seemed to arrive all at once.

Children and parents all came to school wearing masks, then children had their temperature checked and everyone sanitized their hands before entry to the school grounds.

Parents dropped their children at the classroom door and then left. They weren’t allowed to stay inside the classroom as they might have done previously. Anyone remaining on the school grounds, to visit the office for example, had their temperature taken. A daily log was kept of anyone staying at the school for more than 15 mins and their temperature was written down.

Our cleaning standards are high during regular school time anyway, but additional effort was put into disinfecting toys after each use, and of course, hand washing, and more handwashing! It is normal in our Early Years setting for children to wash their hands upon arrival, before eating, after using the bathrooms etc. The children easily took to using hand sanitizer upon arrival, and were encouraged not to touch their faces. Encouraged by their teachers, we think the children did a great job at this.

We had 3 groups of children, each in cohorts of 9, with one staff member. Each cohort had a dedicated classroom, ate their snack and played outside separately. Cohorts didn’t mix so that if a child did display symptoms of COVID-19, contact tracing would be made easier. Fortunately during the whole of June, July and August nobody got sick, so this wasn’t necessary.

Children were encouraged to play in the various areas of the classroom, utilizing all the space around them. If children did get close to each other, or the teacher, they were wearing masks, thus mitigating any risk of spreading any virus. Classrooms were well ventilated and it was common for children to be seen going for nature walks around the school grounds, in order to get outside as much as possible.

The children all adapted to mask wearing and the rules put into place extremely well. We decided not to offer care for children who weren’t potty trained and to children too young to wear masks. The youngest child was therefore 3.

We are extremely happy with how smoothly things went and that beginning our day care programme early has placed us in an excellent position for reopening our school on September 2nd. Further information on our plans for our whole school opening will follow. We look forward to seeing everyone soon!