Coronavirus in Horsham
We are continuing to keep a very close eye on the number of Coronavirus cases in the 0-4 age range in the Horsham district. We are alert to the possibility that new strains of Covid19 might errode the natural resistance that younger children have to the virus and keep the situation under constant review. We are focused on Horsham because our settings in Arun follow the schools' lead, whereas the decision to keep Greenway Nursery open is our own judgment.
22.01.21
Three more days of falling rates in Horsham. We are significantly below average at a rate of 356 per 100,000 people (the rate for all England is 484), but this is still a very high prevalance and would have been unthinkable just a couple of months ago. We must continue to be highly vigilant and do everything we can to control the spread. An area we are looking at is distancing on the playground at drop-off and collection times. Despite using 3 separate entrances spread right out, there still appears to be closer mixing than is ideal. Please email me with your views on whether we parents should wear face coverings whilst waiting (admin@gnrc.co.uk).
What we can see of the 0-4 age group appears to remain low in number. It is frustrating that we can only see back to the 16th Jan because of this time lag in the government's reporting of the data - it would be good to have more up to date numbers. Numbers are still hovering around 2 - 4 cases each day, which out of a population of around 8000 children in this age group means that there is a fairly low chance of encountering an infectious pre-school child, just as long we we stick rigidly to the Well Child, Well Family Only Policy, along with all of the other revised operating procedures. If anyone in the household is feeling a bit off colour, just don't come in - stay at home and wait to see if it develops into anything. It might just be a bit of a headache which clears up in an hour, in which case just come in for the afternoon, no problem. I've updated the graph below to show these new cases.
19.01.21
Case rates in Horsham continue to fall but are still very high in the general population. The 7 day rate is currently at 384 per 100,000, with actual cases per day at around 60-70. We must remain highly vigilant to all signs of illness and not take any chances at all. If anyone in the household is feeling a bit off colour, keep the child at home to see if it develops into something.
On a positive note, prevalence of the virus in the 0-4 age group is still low and falling after a spike during the Christmas Holidays. Whilst the gov.uk heatmap looks quite alarming, this data is very poorly presented. We currently have a 5 day lag age specific reporting, so the latest data for the 0-4 years age group is 13th January, which was 2 cases. Here is a graph of the number of cases in the 0-4 age group in the Horsham District.
22.01.21
Three more days of falling rates in Horsham. We are significantly below average at a rate of 356 per 100,000 people (the rate for all England is 484), but this is still a very high prevalance and would have been unthinkable just a couple of months ago. We must continue to be highly vigilant and do everything we can to control the spread. An area we are looking at is distancing on the playground at drop-off and collection times. Despite using 3 separate entrances spread right out, there still appears to be closer mixing than is ideal. Please email me with your views on whether we parents should wear face coverings whilst waiting (admin@gnrc.co.uk).
What we can see of the 0-4 age group appears to remain low in number. It is frustrating that we can only see back to the 16th Jan because of this time lag in the government's reporting of the data - it would be good to have more up to date numbers. Numbers are still hovering around 2 - 4 cases each day, which out of a population of around 8000 children in this age group means that there is a fairly low chance of encountering an infectious pre-school child, just as long we we stick rigidly to the Well Child, Well Family Only Policy, along with all of the other revised operating procedures. If anyone in the household is feeling a bit off colour, just don't come in - stay at home and wait to see if it develops into anything. It might just be a bit of a headache which clears up in an hour, in which case just come in for the afternoon, no problem. I've updated the graph below to show these new cases.
19.01.21
Case rates in Horsham continue to fall but are still very high in the general population. The 7 day rate is currently at 384 per 100,000, with actual cases per day at around 60-70. We must remain highly vigilant to all signs of illness and not take any chances at all. If anyone in the household is feeling a bit off colour, keep the child at home to see if it develops into something.
On a positive note, prevalence of the virus in the 0-4 age group is still low and falling after a spike during the Christmas Holidays. Whilst the gov.uk heatmap looks quite alarming, this data is very poorly presented. We currently have a 5 day lag age specific reporting, so the latest data for the 0-4 years age group is 13th January, which was 2 cases. Here is a graph of the number of cases in the 0-4 age group in the Horsham District.
How GNRC came about
Greenway Nursery was registered with Ofsted to start in September 2003. It occupies a purpose-built classroom block with a large enclosed garden on the campus of what was Greenway Junior School, Horsham, and consists of two large double rooms and a central hall, together with foyer, office, infants’ sleep room, toilets, and storage areas. In 2012 Greenway School converted to Academy status, and subsequently became part of Castle Trust. The links between Greenway Nursery and the Academy have strengthened over the years and have become collaborative and cordial. In consequence, two years ago, Greenway Nursery opened its Rainbow Club, offering Wrap-Around Care (namely Breakfast Club, After-School Club, and Holiday Club) to the pupils not only of the Academy (Years 3, 4, 5 and 6) but to those of the nearby Trafalgar Infant School (Reception and Years 1 and 2). In the case of the Infant School, we operate a free-of- charge “walking-bus” scheme, taking the younger children to their school, only 200 to 300 metres across the Recreation Ground, after their Breakfast Club, and collecting them at the end of the day for their After-School fun and activities. We now have some 80 children on roll in our Nursery, aged between 2 and 5 years old, some attending only a few sessions each week, others full time. We are registered with West Sussex County Council to offer the statutory 15 hours per week of free nursery education to all children who have attained their 3rd birthday, and also the 30 hours per week of free nursery to those working parents who qualify. Furthermore, in our Rainbow Club we now have about 100 children on roll, some attending only once a week, others nearly every day. Average daily attendance at Breakfast Club is 55, average daily attendance at After-School Club is 56. Two of the directors of Greenway Nursery & Rainbow Club (GNRC Ltd) are qualified teachers, and all staff at both Nursery and Rainbow Club are experienced and suitably qualified. We opened a Wrap-Around Childcare facility, Rustington Funstars, at Rustington Community Primary School, near Rustington in September 2018 and Beachstars January 2021. Although based ‘in-house’, so to speak, they will be very similar in most ways to our Horsham-based Rainbow Club, offering the same range of fun activities both before and after the school day to the children, and providing a much needed service for local parents.