Our continued response to COVID-19
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Childcare remains open in Ontario.
Please see official Ontario News release:
https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/59790/ontario-announces-provincewide-shutdown-to-stop-spread-of-covid-19-and-save-lives
We continue to ask everyone to abide by public health recommendations, social distance and interact with people from your households only.
What an incredible two months it has been since our reopening on June 12th. During this time families that have already restarted childcare have learned new pick up and drop off routines, new health and safety protocols and new ways to interact with each other. As our capacities continue to increase, we want to ensure that this continues as successful as it has been and continue to enhance your family’s experience and time with Lullaboo. We look forward to welcoming your family over the next couple weeks. Below is an overview of what some things will look like when you return.
We have adjusted our regular operations with the guidance of regional health authorities and the Ministry of Education. All our staff have been trained on our modified practices and are tested for COVID-19 before returning to work. At Lullaboo, health and safety is always our number one priority and will continue to be so. Let’s go over some of the changes that you should expect.
One of the first things you’ll notice is the health screening, which occurs prior to entry. The screening procedure involves answering a series of questions as well as completing a temperature check for children, family members, and staff. A staff member will then escort children to and from their classrooms in order to promote social distancing. At this time, visitors are not permitted to enter the facility and all tours are conducted virtually.
No one experiencing symptoms is permitted to enter the centre. If a child shows any symptoms during the day, a family member is contacted for pick up immediately. The child would spend time in a designated area until they are picked up. Children exhibiting symptoms are excluded until medical clearance and symptom free for 24 hours.
Classrooms have been rearranged to promote physical distancing between children in a natural and instinctive manner. Materials have been re-organized and plush toys have been replaced to ensure regular sanitation. Table placemats, chair labels and floor markers are visual ques for children to naturally gravitate towards to promote distancing in the classrooms.
Lullaboo has assigned a Program Coordinators to each centre. This role is new to Lullaboo and combines previous roles that contributed to the quality of our programming. This helps consolidate efforts and eliminates travel between centres for these specialized roles.
We will endeavour to make you and your families restart as smooth as possible and as such will be limiting the number of children starting in a single day in order to provide you as much of our attention as possible. We thank you for your cooperation as we schedule this over the coming weeks.
Please see video link to take a peak into our everyday during this time. Please note we will continue to modify and adapt any additional health guideline as needed.
Items Available To Families:
Municipalities have made masks a mandatory item which must be worn while in indoor public buildings. Lullaboo has created our own reusable mask, should you wish to have one please ask your centre supervisor and they would be happy to provide you with one. These masks are free of charge while supplies last. We hope this helps contribute to our families’ health and safety while outside of our centres.
In addition, Lullaboo has also created a ‘Baby on Board’ sign that can hang in a window of your vehicle. This would serve as a proud way to let other drivers around you aware that you have a child in the car.
Lastly, we have updated our website with items available for you to enjoy at home. This includes continued Curb-side Pickup of your child’s favourite menu items as well as brand name toys and materials that are used in the classroom. You can access this through the ‘store’ link on our website or directly at: https://lullaboo.ca/store
Again we thank all of our families for your understanding, support and patience during the number of changes we have been experiencing over the past few months. We know that together we are stronger and we appreciate you all. If there are any suggestions that you have to make any part of your day better, we would be happy to hear it.
protocols as the current emergency childcare centres that have been operating in the province. Lullaboo has learned more about the health protocols and will ensure that these continue:
Getting Ready for Reopening on Friday June 12
Following today’s announcement, the sprint to return has already begun! With Lullaboo’s experience operating three Emergency Centres, we are more confident in our preparation to ensure a safe and welcoming centre.No doubt, one of the largest constraints and challenges we will face is ensuring families will be accommodated despite the decrease in capacity in all of Ontario’s child care centres. The province has announced that all childcare centres will be allowed to reopen with a maximum of 10 people per group, including staff and children.
In order to ensure we do our best to accommodate families we are asking parents to provide their intent on returning to Lullaboo by June 10 at noon. If you do not intend on returning immediately, please provide your intended date of return to care in order to help us plan accordingly.
In addition, Lullaboo has expanded hours of operations during this state of emergency for our Heartland and Queen Centres to include overnight and weekend care. Lullaboo hopes to continue this service as we reopen and expand this to all centres. Please let us know if you would be interested in these extended hours.
The province has stated that centres will be following similar protocols as the current emergency childcare centres that have been operating in the province.
Today, the Ontario Government extended all emergency orders that have been put in place to date until midnight May 29, 2020. This includes the closure of licensed childcare centres in the province.
During the announcement, it was mentioned that the gradual reopening of childcare is expected to begin when the province is ready to transition to Stage 2 based on public health criteria. Lullaboo will work with its local health authorities to learn more and be well prepared for when it is safe to do so.
Some of the additional measures that could be expected include increased disinfecting, removal of toys and equipment that cannot be sanitized, temperature and health screening of all staff and children before entering the facility, priority testing for staff before start of work, frequent monitoring of symptoms and temperature checks throughout the day and a dedicated ‘holding area’ for any child that shows symptoms.
As more details are provided from local health authorities, it will be shared with parents and staff.
Future confirmed date of reopen will be communicated as we hear more from the province.
As expected, this morning, the Ontario Government extended all emergency orders that have been put in place to date until midnight May 19, 2020.
You can read the release here:
In turn, Lullaboo will set a tentative re-open date of May 20th. If there are further extensions, Lullaboo will also postpone those dates accordingly.
We hope that you and your loved ones are all safe and healthy and that the sun we have experienced this week has brought renewed energy and good spirits.
This morning, the provincial order for childcare to remain closed was extended to May 6. As such, Lullaboo’s new reopen date has been set as May 7.
Lullaboo is also working to enhance our sanitary and disinfecting, as well as our illness screening before re-opening. We hope to communicate these steps in more details as we get closer to that date.
Stay safe and stay strong!
We wish to address a childcare related announcements that have been made by the provincial government over the past 24 hours.
Extension of Emergency Order to April 23, 2020:
This order will keep all licensed childcare centers to be closed until April 23rd, 2020.
At this time, Lullaboo’s tentative reopen date will now be April 24th, 2020.
Until we see each other very soon again, continue to be safe, strong and together.
The Government of Ontario’s emergency declaration and orders to close schools, child care centres, and EarlyON Child and Family Centres have been extended.
Key details from the news release are as follows:
- Private schools, licensed child care centres and EarlyON programs will also remain closed until April 13, according to the Declaration of Emergency, which only allows closures to be extended for one 14-day period at a time. Select centres designated to support frontline health care workers and first responders will remain open.
- The closure may be extended if necessary to protect the health and safety of students, families and staff.
- Public schools will remain closed to teachers until Friday, May 1, 2020, and to students until Monday, May 4, 2020. As these dates come closer, this decision will be re-evaluated based on public health advice.
More information can be found at https://news.ontario.ca/opo/en/2020/03/ontario-extends-school-and-child-care-closures-to-fight-spread-of-covid-19.html
Keeping our children, families and educators safe and healthy is our priority. That’s why we are taking steps to proactively protect our children, parents, staff and community in response to COVID-19. To adhere to the province’s declaration of a state of emergency effective March 17 Our centres are temporarily closed until March 31st. Please continue to monitor our website and social media for more details and updated information.
