every day. I wonder whether when I catch COVID will it be my worst-ever form of “man flu”?! I have had some pretty serious doses of the flu in my life, so I’m not completely having you on. Point is, anything based on lots of subjective assessments will inherently be quite variable. “Basic hygiene” is next. By hygiene, they really should have said adults should try to wash their hands all the time because no one else will be doing it properly (perhaps they should have named it that). It is especially important if one comes in direct contact with another person or goes to the bathroom. In early childhood, we are seeking to instil good hygiene practices amongst the children, but they are not necessarily practices we expect children to be good at already. So not likely to be a highly effective measure overall. “Face coverings” isn’t politically correct anymore as pretty much you have to wear masks (if you have to wear anything). To be clear: masks are not required in early learning settings – but recently the guidance has been toughened up for relief teachers. Parents and other visitors must wear masks. ECC goes further and says you should positively encourage those who want to wear masks (ie read about nudge theory) and you should try to model good mask-wearing behaviour at drop-off and entry points for your parents and caregivers. If you do the opposite this may be discouraging for the parents. You need parents to comply (it helps keep your centre safer). There’s not much to add about the physical distancing measure other than it only really applies as a protective measure for the adults working in early learning. Not much physical distancing is expected to happen between children. This leaves the last of the seven measures: ventilation. My motivation for writing my column in this issue of Swings & Roundabouts! Ventilation has the most potential to be effective, in my opinion, because you can readily improve the ventilation of any space through simple techniques like opening windows and doors. Those air purifiers are only really useful where you don’t have a room with those common ventilation alternatives. We know that some early learning centres have permanently shut windows because otherwise, the window would become an even more serious health and safety risk from falls. Without good windows, you should start to consider what your other alternatives are – but remember there must be a door and you can use fans for ventilation too. I have suggested to ECC members they review ventilation in sleep rooms as a priority. So what I think we need to fix is the thinking that government support on ventilation should only be provided to schools, and not to early learning centres. To date, the school’s ventilation guidance has not yet been shared by the Ministry with the early learning sector. ECC has shared it widely with our members along with further support. I would go further and say (yes I have already said this publicly) that Government should provide better options for early childhood providers like free air purifiers and CO2 monitors. In schools, the Crown owns the buildings and so the Ministry has long exercised a firm kaitiaki role for schools only – but ownership is not everything and public accountability applies equally. I think it’s public accountability which means we should expect the government to extend its support into other settings like early learning centres. Yes, even though centres are owned by businesses, community organisations, charities or larger corporates. What really matters is children are vulnerable in all these places and nevertheless we must keep them safe. Please show your support. The school’s ventilation guidance is publicly accessible here: https://www.education. govt.nz/school/property-and-transport/ health-and-safety-management/ventilation/ Ngā mihi Simon March 2022 { 9 }
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