The following information has been provided from the Care Inspectorate via their provider update (22nd December 2020)
Letter to all registered childcare providers – for period 26 December to 18 January
The Scottish Government have issued a letter to all registered childcare providers following the First Minister’s announcement on 19 December that further public health measures are to be put in place. Mainland Scotland will enter Level 4 from 26 December and the island authorities will enter Level 3 restrictions.
The letter confirms the guidance which will apply from 26 December 2020 until at least 18
January 2021.
Help us keep children safe – complete a COVID-19 childcare monitoring return today
Please complete your childcare monitoring return today. The Scottish Government is collating this information, alongside local authority data, to monitor child attendance and absence from childcare services during the current COVID-19 pandemic.
We have adapted it to account for changes in their data requirements, and now issue it to you weekly on Tuesdays.
We ask that all local authority, private and third-sector childcare services including nurseries, out of school care and childminders complete a return each week.
The only exception is if you are a local authority run service in one of the following areas:
Aberdeenshire Argyll & Bute Clackmannanshire East Lothian City of Edinburgh Falkirk Midlothian Perth & Kinross Stirling West Lothian
Private, third-sector services and childminders operating in these areas should still complete one.
Any residential schools, school accommodation services, and independent schools who complete a ‘COVID-19 Grant-Aided & Independent Schools Monitoring Return’ do NOT need to complete this.
You only need to complete this on a Tuesday before midnight, and only information on childcare provided that day is required.
Test and Protect – contact tracing while services are closed over the festive period
It is anticipated that over the festive period some ELC services including childminders and out of school care services will close for some or all of the period. During this period it is expected that Test and Protect will require to contact services to establish close contacts of any staff member or child who is confirmed as having COVID-19.
As the Test and Protect service depends on Health Protection Teams being able to look back 48 hours from the time a positive case had symptoms in order to identify close contacts, we are requesting all registered services have an emergency contact for their service that families and staff can pass to Test and Protect during any closure period.
The service emergency contact will need to have access to attendance and staffing information for each session or day, including any information on groupings of children, and will need to provide contact details for the identified close contacts to the health protection team.
It will be particularly important for services to be able to identify close contact staff members if a staff member tests positive.
Therefore, can you please ensure that all of your parents and staff have the contact number for someone in your service who will be able to provide any information to Test and Protect that is required to help prevent the spread of infection.
