Covid-19 Update 8th January 2021

Dear Parents,

Thank you to all our parents who supported us to re-open safely this week and we will remain open next week following Government guidelines.  Thank you also to our wonderful staff teams for continuing to maintain such high standards of hygiene in all of our centres to ensure that we continue to operate safely.

The Government has issued initial guidance to the sector on childcare arrangements from 11 January to 31 January.  Full day care will remain open to support parents who work in essential services https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/c9158-essential-services/ and the DCEDIY (formerly DCYA) has clarified that this includes a parent that may work from home.  We are still awaiting further Government advice for childcare providers and will forward any further updates to you as we receive them.

In summary, ECCE only sessions will reopen on 1 February and full day care will continue to operate for parents who have to work.  It is also planned that afterschool will resume for the children of frontline and essential workers and we will contact you early next week to update you.  Please advise your centre manager if you are not availing of your childcare place next week so that we can continue to plan our pods safely.

As we outlined in our previous communication, we ask that you act responsibly and notify us immediately if you or any family member have tested positive, are taking a Covid-19 test or are a close contact.  We also ask that your child does not attend crèche if a close family member has signs or symptoms of Covid-19.  It is our shared responsibility to ensure that we all remain safe and minimise the spread of Covid-19.

We all hope that the current measures to suppress the virus will shortly begin to have a positive impact on the number of cases in the community.  As this is a very fluid situation, we may have to swiftly change our position if further guidelines issue or new restrictions are imposed.

We shall of course keep you informed of any updates as we have at all stages of this pandemic and we appreciate and thank you for your continued understanding and patience during this evolving situation.

We are looking forward to welcoming our children safely to creche next week.

Please continue to be vigilant and safe.

Kind Regards

Dearbhala Cox Giffin