Opening our doors to a healthy, hopeful and happy Nest

Our early years centre, the Nest, is well-named. A nest is a place that signifies a safe and comfortable space to allow the very young to develop and be nurtured. Our Nest has come to represent this and much more. Our aim is to ensure a learning environment where children are not only safe, but which will allow them to grow into the best young people they can be. Welcoming back these wonderful children after such a long absence has been our driving motivation over the past few weeks, so despite the arduous but necessary preparation work required to reopen our doors, we are proud to say, we passed all the inspections with flying colours and will be ready and waiting for them on Tuesday!

Recently, the inspection team led by the Tianjin Municipal Education Commission and the Hongqiao Education Bureau visited the Nest to review our preparations for the school’s reopening. During the reviews, they evaluated the work completed since January by the school emergency lead team and the College’s preparation was recognised and praised by the all inspection teams. We have finalized the preparation work for the storing of essential cleaning resources, the facility plan - including a clear contingency plan - and advanced safety procedures and drills.

We now want parents to share this news so that they feel assured that we have taken all the necessary measures to keep their children safe and secure.

We also wanted to keep parents informed about the new procedures and expectations in place as we reopen the Nest.

Health and Safety

1. Disinfection - staff are responsible for the daily disinfection of all classroom resources. The disinfection of the facilities and furniture will be completed by JLL, the property management company. All disinfection supplies are arranged in accordance with the property management company standards.

2. Ventilation – when the outdoor air quality is good, staff are responsible for the ventilation of the classroom.  Windows will be opened 3 times a day for a minimum of 30 minutes. Parents can provide extra clothes for their child while in class, if they feel it may be a little chilly. When the outdoor air quality is poor, the air conditioning filter will be turned on to ensure that the indoor pm2.5 index is at a normal level. The air conditioning in each classroom is not a VRV centralised air conditioning system therefore there is no chance of cross infection due to air circulation. The school renewed all the air conditioning filters during the break.

3. The Hongqiao District CDC has conducted a thorough aerosol disinfection of the school.

4. All staff are required to wear a mask in the class.

5. The lunch and snacks for each class will be in the classroom. The class teacher will supervise the hand washing routine using the 7-step process before and after meals. Lunch will be provided in environmentally friendly disposable lunch boxes and delivered to each class by the catering company.

6. During the school day, staff will check the pupil’s temperature at least 3 times. If the temperature is above 37.2 ℃, the pupil will be taken to the temperature re-test area. If the pupil is still above the temperature limit after the re-test, the school will notify the parents and arrange for the pupil to wait in the school's newly established isolation room. The school doctor will carry out an emergency treatment check according to the requirements of the CDC.

7. Family members who are in close contact with children should stay in Tianjin as far as possible. Please notify your class teacher if any family member (those who live in the same household) have travelled out of Tianjin. 

2nd June, Reopening Day

What requirements do the pupils have to meet to enter the campus?

Arrival and Dismissal

1. Prior to coming to school in the morning, parents must ensure their child’s temperature is below 37.3℃.

2. Parents are not allowed to enter the campus.

3. Children do not need to wear a mask after entering the Nest, but parents can prepare extra masks and place them in your child’s bag. 

4. Arrival and dismissal for pupils (except bus children) will be at the Yide Road Gate.  Please follow the special zones for entry and exit and observe social distancing measures.

5. Bus pupils will receive detailed information from our services department on procedures.

6. In order to avoid traffic congestion during arrival and dismissal hours, it is recommended that parents come to school during their allotted time.

As I walk around our building, I see teachers busy preparing the classrooms and eagerly awaiting for the arrival of our precious ones. The wait has taken longer than expected but we are looking forward to welcoming all our lovely children back to the Nest. Let’s remain happy, healthy and hopeful.