Bumble Bees Crèche, Playgroup and Afterschool

Sleeping:
Naps are a very important part of children’s growth and will be given daily to all young children at discretion of caregivers, as advised by Tusla. From time to time we have been asked to keep a child awake as they are not sleeping at night – we will not allow this, if a child is tired and sleepy they will be encouraged to rest/sleep, in our experience when a child is over tired, they will not settle in the evening and have poor sleep at night. However is given adequate nap time during the day – they will settle much better at night. Please see our safe sleep policy below.
Due to Covid we changed our sleep rooms and it worked out much better for the children so we changed the policy. We will therefore use the downstairs sleep room for babies only, the toddlers and seniors toddlers will be set up within their own room to sleep. The beds will be moved in and the room quite and dark. The safe sleep policy all still applies. Each child has their own named bed, parents supply a cellular blanket, the linen is allocated for the week and washed at 60 degrees on Friday or unless visibly soiled. Blankets are sent home for washing on Friday.

Safe Sleep Policy:
At Bumble Bees we follow a strict safe sleep policy. We have two sleep rooms, one on the ground floor for the infants and one on the first floor for toddlers. (as mentioned above we will temporarily allow toddler and seniors toddlers to sleep within their room, the reason for this is because 1) we cannot mix pods in one sleep room 2) the upstairs sleep room is only suitable for children at walking age and above as per fire regulations.)

• Both sleep rooms are fitted with new Air-Con (2018). This regulates the temperature to 18 Degrees at all times.
• Each child is allocated their own cot/bed (may share with another child on alternate days). Travel cots are not used.
• We strongly discourage sleeping in chairs, buggies etc. However we understand that while settling in a child may need to do this until they get used to new surroundings.
• Children are placed feet to foot of cot, on their backs, children may turn onto favoured side or front – this will be logged on Childpaths when they are checked every 10 min.
• A temperature gauge is in each room, temp must be between 16-20 degrees.
• No bottles, no toys, no pillows, no cot bumpers, no bibs, no quilts allowed.
• Soothers/comforters are allowed.
• In the baby sleep room sheets are placed in basket under the cot. This is to aid infection control.
• Babies provide own sheets and blankets and they are sent home on Fridays (or sooner if soiled) for washing. We provide and wash the sheets for those in beds (over 2), parents must send a cellular blanket.
• Children are supervised until they are all asleep.
• They are then checked every ten minutes and this is logged. We check position of the child and if they are comfortable (not too hot/cold), we log the checks and include time of check, staff name, sleep position, change in normal colour, change in normal breathing and the room temperature .There is also a monitor in the room that is received in the playgroup room in the PM, or Toddler room in the AM to alert us to a crying child. In the infant sleep room the monitor is received in the baby room.
• We try to allow children to fall asleep themselves, some children need their back rubbed or to be rocked to sleep depending on what they are used to. We strongly recommend that from a young age parents allow their children to ‘get themselves off to sleep’ as it will enable them to go back to sleep themselves at night if they wake. (top tip )

  Sun Safe Policy

• We provide sun cream unless parent specifically requests to use their own.
• The Brand used is Aldi SPF 30.
• Sun cream is applied before going outside and re-applied as needed
• We also provide sun hats that remain at crèche.
• Where possible children play in the shade and must wear hats on sunny days
• We provide sun hats for all – they are colour coded to match their class, they are all labelled and freshly laundered every Friday during summer season.
• Parents MUST apply sun cream before arrival, should another application be required staff will wear gloves to re-apply.

Toilet Training at Bumble Bees:

• Potty Training: When a child is ready to be potty trained it is the responsibility of the parent to decide a suitable time to start, the child will need time at home to ‘learn’ this new concept (minimum three days, sometimes a week is required, sometimes more) and once they are established in a toilet routine we will then continue the process here. For a child to come to bumble bees in underwear after being trained at home they must be asking to use the toilet, not being brought out every few minutes ‘just in case’. As you will understand we do not have the resources to be able to train the children here, this must be done at home with family. Make sure on return that you bring lots of spare clothes (including socks). For health and safety/hygiene reasons we do not allow or use Potty’s here at Bumble Bees, the children must use the toilets which are low sized for their age. We have a fantastic booklet here called ‘three day potty training’ which has helped many parents with this transition. Please ask your child’s teacher when you require it. We will email you a copy.

Safe Guarding Children at Bumble Bees:

• This includes child protection, positive behaviour management and bullying.
• Child Protection & Safe Guarding Statement: Bumble Bees undertakes to promote the general welfare, health and development of children and protect them from all kinds of harm. This safe guarding statement has been developed in line with the requirements under the Children First Act 2015. This a available to view on Childpaths in the storage section.
• As of December 11th 2017 ‘All persons carrying on or running a registered early years service and all who are employed in them as childcare staff are Mandated Persons under the Act and will acquire new legal obligations’ . This means that any person employed directly with children from that date will be legally obliged to report child protection concerns over a certain threshold to Tusla. As well as our recruitment policy and Garda vetting requirements (see page: 28) We are committed to ensuring that staff are trained in the recognition and signs of abuse (neglect, emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse) and how to report these signs. Staff are always kept informed of the latest training and new guidelines. In January 2018 all staff completed the E-Learning module ‘Introduction to Children First’. As with any organisation: we acknowledge the rights of children, children are to be protected, treated with respect and have their views taken into consideration. The welfare of children always comes first and therefore a procedure for suspected abuse must be in place and is as follows:
• If staff members have any concerns for a child’s safety or concerns of neglect, abuse,  or if a child discloses information of such to an adult in the setting it must be reported to the Designated Liaison Person (Laura McLoughlin) immediately.
• The Designated Liaison Person (D.L.P) will take a factual description of the child’s behaviour/appearance including the exact words of the child and signature of the reporter. The D.L.P will also decide whether there are reasonable grounds to report to Tusla (previously HSE), and may speak to another trained professional for advise on the matter. In the case of involving a third party, the child’s and family name need not be disclosed and remain confidential. If the incident is not to be reported, it will be documented and kept on file in case needed if another situation arises in the future.
• The D.L.P will then meet with the parent (unless doing so is likely to endanger the child) to discuss any change in behaviour or unexplained bruises/marks.
• Depending on the outcome of this meeting, or if there are further concerns for the child the D.L.P will contact the child protection officer in Tusla (or the Garda Siochana in the case of a serious concern to the welfare of the child or where Tusla personnel may not be available I.E out of hours/emergency), the parent will be notified of this.
• Parents will be made fully aware of what is expected of them
• All records will be made available to Tusla and the child and family will continue to be welcomed at the Crèche and throughout the investigation. We will do all in our power to support the child and family during this time.
• In the event of a child making an allegation of abuse against an employee –two separate procedures would be followed. The DLP would be responsible to report the matter to Tusla (if there are reasonable grounds to do so) and the policies above would apply, Laura McLoughlin would be responsible for addressing the employee. The employee would be kept informed of any allegation made against them. All stages will be recorded. If the person making the allegation is the adult – a written statement will also be requested in writing. An investigation may be required. The principles of natural justice, the presumption of innocence and fair procedures will be adhered to. Further action in relation to the employee will be guided by Employment Legislation via our HR Company.