General Questions
What kinds of meals are provided at your centre?
We try to include the four major food groups to our meals daily.
Grains include whole wheat, brown rice, oatmeal and other cereal grains.
Proteins include fish, seeds, peas, and beans as we go lean on protein and choose low-fat or lean meats and poultry.
Vegetables include potatoes, carrots, broccoli, lettuce, legumes ( peas, beans) , starchy vegetables and a variety of colorful vegetables
Fruits provided may be fresh, canned, frozen, or dried, and may be whole, cut up, or pureed
Dairy includes milk, eggs, yogurt cheese etc. We focus on fat-free or low-fat products, as well as those that are high in calcium.
Note: This is a nut free facility! No peanuts or tree nuts(almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, walnuts) containing ingredients are used in the daycare. Coconut is used in this facility however this is not considered to be an allergen. We do not consider coconut a tree nut as it is the seed of a fruit.
Will there be a screening process in place daily as staff and children enter the centre?
Yes, every morning your child will have a daily screening for symptoms and their temperature will be taken to check for a fever before entering the centre. As a parent, you would be asked to fill in a screening checklist on behalf of your child.
According to Alberta Health Services :To support public health contact tracing efforts in the event that an attendee tests positive, daycare operators should keep daily records of anyone entering the daycare who stays for 15 minutes or longer (e.g. staff working each day, children, etc.).
Parents will be provided a copy of the Child Alberta Health Daily Checklist upon registration with the expectation that it needs to be completed on a daily basis.A float staff or Director will be at the door to escort your child to their classroom.
What cleaning measures will be in place?
The float staff will be responsible for the disinfecting and cleaning of the facility throughout the day. The cleaning staff for the day will also ensure that the facility is fully disinfected and cleaned at the end of each day. It will also be ensured that the center is fully cleaned, disinfected and safe prior to opening. Proper cleaning checklists will be maintained daily.
Additionally, in accordance with the Alberta Health Services guidelines, frequently touched surfaces will be cleaned and disinfected throughout the day (i.e. doorknobs, light switches, toilets and faucet handles, countertops, washrooms, chairs and tables etc.)
The educators and children will be expected to wash their hands as soon as they enter the center in the mornings or any other times of the day.
We will follow local public health advice regarding best practices for cleaning and disinfecting of all items.
What are the protocols when a child or staff demonstrates symptoms of illness or becomes sick?
Parents/guardians, children or staff must stay home if they are sick, even if symptoms resemble a mild cold. Symptoms to look for include but are not limited to: fever, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, runny nose, nasal congestion, headache, diarrhea and a general feeling of being unwell
If children develop symptoms at the facility, parents will be notified immediately to come pick the child. In the meantime, the child will be isolated to a separate room from other cohort members. The child will remain 2 meters away from the staff assigned to supervise that particular child if possible.
If the child is young, staff will wear a mask during all interactions with the child and avoid contact with the child’s respiratory secretions.
The staff should wash their hands before donning a mask and before and after removing it.
All items, bedding and toys etc. used by the sick child while isolated will be cleaned and disinfected and removed from the centre. They will be stored in a sealed container for a minimum of 10 days.
If two or more children are identified as having symptoms consistent with COVID-19, the centre will follow outbreak notification procedures as per zone protocols.
If the program gets connected to a confirmed case of COVID-19, then we will close the centre for a minimum of 72 hours to allow contact tracing and then adhere to recommendations from Alberta Health.
The local public health unit will provide any further direction on testing and isolation of these close contacts.
How parents are informed of the program's supervision policies.
Shining Stars Daycare and out of school care has an open door policy that extends to 24hour service i.e. the daycare phone is forwarded to the director’s personal phone number. Therefore, parents have complete access to communication all the times including weekends
All new policies and procedures are posted at the front of the daycare on the parent notice board. A copy of Shining Stars Daycare and Out of School Care’s Program Policies is available at the main entrance. Upon request parents are allowed to take it home. The important program policies of the center are also included in the Parent handbook for the parents to go through during their child’s registration process.
What kind of curriculum do you follow?
Our curriculum forms the foundation for ensuring that children in our daycare setting experience quality teaching and learning. Our curriculum has a specific emphasis on play based learning and recognizes the importance of communication and language ( including early literacy and numeracy) and social and emotional development. Our curriculum meets the needs of all learners and nurtures curiosity through exploration. The approach to learning weaves in four development domains: Language development, Cognitive development, Social development/Emotional intelligence and Physical development. We as educators emphasize on our early years curriculum that focuses on key aspects of age appropriate learning. We also offer child yoga classes with all registrations.
We tailored our program to be suitable for infants to school aged children. We provide suitable age separation to allow your children to feel comfortable among their children .