Assalamualaikum to all parents.
I pray to Allah that your family are always in the love and rahmah of Allah SWT.
I have made a short video to introduce of a concept creating a safe bubbles for our children. This amazing concept was shared with me by a fellow Early Childhood Practitioner which I felt should be shared with everyone. This video can be found on our Youtube Channel, (video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLjNqEWDpv0)
We are now entering a new phase where the economic activities have been opened and with that, all parents must return to work. For those who are lucky, you are still allowed to work from home. But for client-facing roles, whether like it or not, we have to be back to the office.
Young Ruwaad Academy has been and always be the partner for parents to ensure that we are here to be the second parents in caring for your children and providing them with the required developmental and educational support.
With the Covid-19 pandemic, we need to change the way we do things. This includes how children are being cared for at our Centre. The Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, and the Ministry of Education have provided a detailed guideline to be observed and implemented at the centre. In the news few weeks or months, both ministries and the Ministry of Health will pay a visit to schools and early childhood settings to validate the compliance with the given guidelines.
Creating a safe environment for children is a shared responsibility between school and parents. Many studies have shown that the Parents-school-community partnership has positive impact on childhood development. Safety bubble is a concept of designing a safe environment for our children including the roles and the responsibilities of parents and caregivers to safeguard the bubble.
How do we achieve this? Obviously, it starts at home. The home environment must be first disinfected. Parents must ensure that the house is regularly sanitized and family members wash their hands properly when they go in and out of the house. A good hygiene practice will ensure children are secured in the bubble at their home.
During this time, having a thermometer at home is a must as it enables parents monitor the child's body temperature. Before leaving for school, parents must check the child's temperature. And if there are any symptoms such as cough, running nose, or sore throat, the child must be rested at home. The child must be brought to the doctor to get a clean bill of health. . In the guidelines issued by the government, the need to check a child's temperature prior to sending them to the early childhood setting not only can avoid unnecessary trip to the school, but it also a social responsibility to protect other children at school.
We also need to ensure our vehicle is a safe bubble for our child. The car must be disinfected and regularly sanitized. Prior to entering the vehicle, hands must be sanitized in order to avoid any contamination of the safe bubble. Additionally, we must create a safe bubble from our home to the the vehicle. As such, parents must ensure the child wears protective mask when he step out of the house. To continuously protect the bubble from home to the school, parents must not make any stop overs on the journey to school. Stopping for family breakfast at a coffee shop can cause cross contamination.
Upon reaching the school, children will be screened and their hands will be sanitized before they are permitted to enter the school. The screening process is important to protect the bubble that has been created at school. In compliance to the given SOP, all schools have conducted sanitation process for all their rooms, equipments, and teaching tools. There is a list of do's and don'ts such as such as continuously sanitising the hand, equipment and surface after each activity, tagging of learning tools for each children and no sharing policy. All this, in the name of protecting the safe bubble.
During the health screening process, you may be asked whether your child has any symptoms such as sore throat, cough or running nose. If the temperature exceeds 37.5 degrees Celsius or if they have any of the symptoms, the child will not be allowed to enter the school premise. If this happens, bring your child to see the doctor. If the doctor found that your child is not sick despite the symptoms, request a letter confirming your child's health. As teachers are the gatekeepers of the safe bubble at school, they need to get medical expert to certify that your children is fit and not a risk to other children. Without that, there are merely doing their job and following the outlined SOP by declining your child access to the school premise. Instead of being angry at them, respect them for doing their job. Teachers could not do an effective job without full support from the parents.
When it's time to pick your child from the school or childcare setting, bring them straight home and do not make any stop-overs. Once at home, get your child to wash their hands and better, shower. Yes, it sounds troublesome, but we have to do our best to protect the safe bubble for our children.
We are a different time and we need to change how we conduct our daily lives. Let’s educate our children on the new
norm. Do not confuse them by sending mixed messages and setting wrong examples. As adults, we have to show them the right thing to do. We do not go to public places without wearing masks, we always keep ourselves clean and we stay at home if we are sick. Until vaccine is found, this is the new norm. So let’s do our part. Kita Jaga Kita!
N.Zakaria
July 2, 2020
Comments