ILLNESS POLICY

To maintain the health and wellness of all children and staff, the Carstairs Playschool Society maintains a strict illness policy.  

  • Staff will assess children for signs of a contagious illness, and will monitor children for the following symptoms:

    • Fever

    • Cough 

    • Shortness of breath 

    • Runny nose

    • Sore throat 

    • Chills 

    • Painful swallowing

    • Nasal congestion

    • Feeling unwell / fatigued 

    • Nausea / vomiting / diarrhea 

    • Unexplained loss of appetite 

    • Loss of sense of taste or smell 

    • Muscle / joint aches 

    • Headache 

    • Conjunctivitis (commonly known as pink eye) 

In the event of a child showing symptoms in the above, parents or emergency contacts will be called and the child will need to be picked up immediately.

The child may be removed from the class setting and stay in an isolated area, such as the boot room,  with a staff member until a guardian arrives for pick up. 

  • Children are allowed to return to the facility following the AHS recommendations.  Staff will monitor these recommendations to ensure a safe return.

    • Respiratory Illness: Stay home until all symptoms have improved, feeling well enough to resume normal activities, and be fever-free for 24 hours without using fever-reducing medications. 

    • Gastrointestinal Illness: Stay home until 48 hours after all symptoms have resolved. 

    • Rash Illness: Stay home for the length of time recommended by a healthcare provider. How long to stay home depends on the cause of the rash. 

  • If the number of children and/or staff that have become sick with similar symptoms is more than usual, the facility may be having an outbreak.  The Carstairs Playschool Society has to report to AHS if there is a possible  event of an outbreak.

  • During an outbreak, the facility has to operate differently than usual, to prevent the illness from spreading to many people. Additional precautions can include: 

    • Increased cleaning and disinfection 

    • Removing shared toys and activities where enhanced cleaning and disinfection cannot be done (eg. Water table, sand table). 

    • Diligent hand hygiene practices. 

    • PPE usage among staff. 

    • Limiting parents from entering classrooms during pick-ups/drop-offs.

  • If staff members become ill, the facility may have to close for a period of time as a result.  No refunds will be provided.