SPAIN'S headcount has risen to its highest figure in history – for the first time ever, the population has broken the 48 million barrier.
Nurses' guide to a safe start to the new school term
06/09/2020
FAMILIES are naturally a little concerned about sending their children back to school this month, but the General Nursing Council (CGE) has given a long list of pointers for parents, pupils, teachers and the educational community in general to ensure the transition is as safe as possible.
Procedures have already been agreed almost unanimously between the central and regional governments, and education minister Isabel Celaá continues to stress that children are going to be safer in school than outside of it – quite apart from the social, psychological and academic necessities of kids returning to a routine with their peers and face-to-face contact with their teachers.
Isabel, 70, assures parents she is very aware of their worries and the nation's concerns in general, and shares them – she is the second-oldest of Spain's government ministers, falls within the 'high-risk' age, of over 65, and also lost her elderly mother during the pandemic; even though she was based in her native Basque Country during lockdown, she was not allowed to travel to Bilbao where her mother lived, and says the emotional impact of not being able to be with her during her last days will haunt her forever.
So families in Spain with children either now at, or due to return to, school can rest assured that the minister in charge totally empathises with them, and would not opt to put their kids at risk if this was avoidable.
School nurses will be a key figure this coming academic year, and along with the CGE, the School Nursing Organisation, the National and International School Nursing Association (AMECE) and the Spanish Scientific Association for Nursing and School Health (ACEESE) have worked together on creating guidelines and procedures to guarantee safety.
The main measures – distances of at least 1.5 metres between people, children not being sent to school if they have symptoms or have been in contact with a positive case, regular and thorough hand-washing, masks compulsory for children aged six and over and strongly recommended for those aged three to five, self-contained class groups with dedicated teachers who spend all their time together, separate entrance and exit points and staggered entry and breaktimes, temperature-taking at the door, and remote contact with families to avoid, where possible, parents and guardians entering the centre – are reiterated.
Specific and signposted routes within the school building to avoid groups bumping into each other, signs up in the bathrooms to remind kids to wash their hands – and teachers to supervise them doing so, and ensuring nobody from outside the education community enters the premises are also stressed.
Children will be reminded constantly not to touch their mouths, eyes, face and noses, and to cover their faces when they cough or sneeze – facing away from everyone else – using only disposable tissues rather than handkerchiefs and binning them after every use.
As for school transport, masks must be worn in accordance with the age groups stipulated, all children should travel in the same seat on the bus every day to and from school, and they must clean their hands with alcohol gel when getting on and off.
Kids must sit in the same seats in the classroom all year, and of course, tables will be spaced apart, with the rooms ventilated for 10 to 15 minutes at a time throughout the day and always at the beginning and end of each lesson.
Pupils must not share pens, notebooks, pencils or any other material, and should be encouraged to keep a distance when going up to talk to their teachers.
As September is usually warm in most of Spain and, in the south and on the Mediterranean coasts, so is October, it is feasible for classes to take place in the open air, which is to be encouraged.
For PE lessons, children should be organised into shifts for using the changing rooms, and should bring their own PE kit from home so as not to have to use 'spares' kept at the school.
For music lessons, pupils should not share instruments – especially wind instruments and, where possible, these should be avoided entirely.
Parents should ensure younger children have at least one change of clothing sent from home in case of 'accidents', so they do not have to use the school's spares.
In the playground, children will be kept in their class groups and breaktimes will be staggered, climbing apparatus should not be used, and drinking fountains only used for refilling water bottles which must be cleaned first.
Limits on numbers of children using the toilets should be set, and they must be told not to drink directly from the tap; pedal bins should be used to keep these covered but without kids having to touch them, paper towels instead of hand-drying machines or fabric towel pulleys, and hand-sanitiser kept in every classroom so pupils do not have to go to the bathroom just to wash their hands, and their hands can be cleaned after going to the toilet just in case they did not wash them afterwards.
Toilets, like classrooms, music rooms, art rooms, science labs, gyms, changing rooms and assembly halls should all be ventilated regularly.
A separate space should be set up to use as a 'Covid room' – children who start to show symptoms during the school day can be immediately moved into it and isolated until a family member can collect them, and a nurse on site will evaluate the risk, call the parents or guardians, and arrange, if necessary, for the child to be moved to a hospital or health centre.
Where a child experiences fever, breathing trouble, muscular pain, diarrhoea, vomiting or feeling sick – even just one of these symptoms – they should go straight to the 'Covid room', ideally via an outside route, and avoid passing through any parts of the building they do not have to visit.
It goes without saying that the 'Covid room', like every other space in the building used by children or adults alike, must be thoroughly disinfected before and after every use and ideally during, too.
For nursery schools, toys must be disinfected and should not be shared between classrooms, and their numbers reduced as much as possible – it is likely to be difficult to prevent more than one child using the same toys, but they should not be used by anyone outside the group.
Children's seats and, in the case of the smallest children at nurseries, beds and cots should be labelled and always used by the same child.
Paintbrushes, crayons, pencils and paints, among other materials, must be for individual use only.
In dining halls, staff serving up food should wear protective gear and only one person should be assigned to filling water beakers, laying out cutlery and crockery, and removing these for cleaning immediately after use.
No plate-sharing or cutlery-sharing, all kids to keep to the same seat and, where possible, kept a metre and a half apart from each other or with two empty seats between each child, or screens set up between class groups.
Children and staff should not remain in the dining area for any longer than completely necessary, and hand-sanitiser should be in place for kids to use when entering and leaving.
PPE (personal protection equipment) should be worn by teachers in special education centres and nursery schools, where it is more difficult to keep a physical distance from the children, and the kids themselves should wear protective overalls which they should only put on when they enter and remove and leave behind for washing when they leave.
Part of the purpose of children being in self-contained or 'bubble' groups is so that, if a child or teacher becomes infected, they will not spread it to other classes and force the whole school to shut down.
This way, the physical distancing rule does not need to be so strictly applied, especially in the case of younger children where it is more difficult to keep them apart from each other or prevent them touching things.
Medical scientists have found that, in general, children are less likely to pass on the virus than adults, but this does not mean they are immune – far from it – and teachers will have far greater responsibility this coming academic year as they focus on 'retraining' children, drumming it into them that they need to keep a distance, form orderly queues, be patient, not to swap pencils or toys, and to wash their hands constantly.
Teachers have been undergoing training, and this will be continuous – they will also have a 'Covid supervisor' to talk to if they are in any doubt about how to handle a situation.
Parents should also start by explaining procedures to their children at home and training them to follow these, and telling them why this is important.
Second photograph: General Nursing Council (Consejo General de Enfermería) on Twitter (@CGEnfermeria)
Related Topics
FAMILIES are naturally a little concerned about sending their children back to school this month, but the General Nursing Council (CGE) has given a long list of pointers for parents, pupils, teachers and the educational community in general to ensure the transition is as safe as possible.
Procedures have already been agreed almost unanimously between the central and regional governments, and education minister Isabel Celaá continues to stress that children are going to be safer in school than outside of it – quite apart from the social, psychological and academic necessities of kids returning to a routine with their peers and face-to-face contact with their teachers.
Isabel, 70, assures parents she is very aware of their worries and the nation's concerns in general, and shares them – she is the second-oldest of Spain's government ministers, falls within the 'high-risk' age, of over 65, and also lost her elderly mother during the pandemic; even though she was based in her native Basque Country during lockdown, she was not allowed to travel to Bilbao where her mother lived, and says the emotional impact of not being able to be with her during her last days will haunt her forever.
So families in Spain with children either now at, or due to return to, school can rest assured that the minister in charge totally empathises with them, and would not opt to put their kids at risk if this was avoidable.
School nurses will be a key figure this coming academic year, and along with the CGE, the School Nursing Organisation, the National and International School Nursing Association (AMECE) and the Spanish Scientific Association for Nursing and School Health (ACEESE) have worked together on creating guidelines and procedures to guarantee safety.
The main measures – distances of at least 1.5 metres between people, children not being sent to school if they have symptoms or have been in contact with a positive case, regular and thorough hand-washing, masks compulsory for children aged six and over and strongly recommended for those aged three to five, self-contained class groups with dedicated teachers who spend all their time together, separate entrance and exit points and staggered entry and breaktimes, temperature-taking at the door, and remote contact with families to avoid, where possible, parents and guardians entering the centre – are reiterated.
Specific and signposted routes within the school building to avoid groups bumping into each other, signs up in the bathrooms to remind kids to wash their hands – and teachers to supervise them doing so, and ensuring nobody from outside the education community enters the premises are also stressed.
Children will be reminded constantly not to touch their mouths, eyes, face and noses, and to cover their faces when they cough or sneeze – facing away from everyone else – using only disposable tissues rather than handkerchiefs and binning them after every use.
As for school transport, masks must be worn in accordance with the age groups stipulated, all children should travel in the same seat on the bus every day to and from school, and they must clean their hands with alcohol gel when getting on and off.
Kids must sit in the same seats in the classroom all year, and of course, tables will be spaced apart, with the rooms ventilated for 10 to 15 minutes at a time throughout the day and always at the beginning and end of each lesson.
Pupils must not share pens, notebooks, pencils or any other material, and should be encouraged to keep a distance when going up to talk to their teachers.
As September is usually warm in most of Spain and, in the south and on the Mediterranean coasts, so is October, it is feasible for classes to take place in the open air, which is to be encouraged.
For PE lessons, children should be organised into shifts for using the changing rooms, and should bring their own PE kit from home so as not to have to use 'spares' kept at the school.
For music lessons, pupils should not share instruments – especially wind instruments and, where possible, these should be avoided entirely.
Parents should ensure younger children have at least one change of clothing sent from home in case of 'accidents', so they do not have to use the school's spares.
In the playground, children will be kept in their class groups and breaktimes will be staggered, climbing apparatus should not be used, and drinking fountains only used for refilling water bottles which must be cleaned first.
Limits on numbers of children using the toilets should be set, and they must be told not to drink directly from the tap; pedal bins should be used to keep these covered but without kids having to touch them, paper towels instead of hand-drying machines or fabric towel pulleys, and hand-sanitiser kept in every classroom so pupils do not have to go to the bathroom just to wash their hands, and their hands can be cleaned after going to the toilet just in case they did not wash them afterwards.
Toilets, like classrooms, music rooms, art rooms, science labs, gyms, changing rooms and assembly halls should all be ventilated regularly.
A separate space should be set up to use as a 'Covid room' – children who start to show symptoms during the school day can be immediately moved into it and isolated until a family member can collect them, and a nurse on site will evaluate the risk, call the parents or guardians, and arrange, if necessary, for the child to be moved to a hospital or health centre.
Where a child experiences fever, breathing trouble, muscular pain, diarrhoea, vomiting or feeling sick – even just one of these symptoms – they should go straight to the 'Covid room', ideally via an outside route, and avoid passing through any parts of the building they do not have to visit.
It goes without saying that the 'Covid room', like every other space in the building used by children or adults alike, must be thoroughly disinfected before and after every use and ideally during, too.
For nursery schools, toys must be disinfected and should not be shared between classrooms, and their numbers reduced as much as possible – it is likely to be difficult to prevent more than one child using the same toys, but they should not be used by anyone outside the group.
Children's seats and, in the case of the smallest children at nurseries, beds and cots should be labelled and always used by the same child.
Paintbrushes, crayons, pencils and paints, among other materials, must be for individual use only.
In dining halls, staff serving up food should wear protective gear and only one person should be assigned to filling water beakers, laying out cutlery and crockery, and removing these for cleaning immediately after use.
No plate-sharing or cutlery-sharing, all kids to keep to the same seat and, where possible, kept a metre and a half apart from each other or with two empty seats between each child, or screens set up between class groups.
Children and staff should not remain in the dining area for any longer than completely necessary, and hand-sanitiser should be in place for kids to use when entering and leaving.
PPE (personal protection equipment) should be worn by teachers in special education centres and nursery schools, where it is more difficult to keep a physical distance from the children, and the kids themselves should wear protective overalls which they should only put on when they enter and remove and leave behind for washing when they leave.
Part of the purpose of children being in self-contained or 'bubble' groups is so that, if a child or teacher becomes infected, they will not spread it to other classes and force the whole school to shut down.
This way, the physical distancing rule does not need to be so strictly applied, especially in the case of younger children where it is more difficult to keep them apart from each other or prevent them touching things.
Medical scientists have found that, in general, children are less likely to pass on the virus than adults, but this does not mean they are immune – far from it – and teachers will have far greater responsibility this coming academic year as they focus on 'retraining' children, drumming it into them that they need to keep a distance, form orderly queues, be patient, not to swap pencils or toys, and to wash their hands constantly.
Teachers have been undergoing training, and this will be continuous – they will also have a 'Covid supervisor' to talk to if they are in any doubt about how to handle a situation.
Parents should also start by explaining procedures to their children at home and training them to follow these, and telling them why this is important.
Second photograph: General Nursing Council (Consejo General de Enfermería) on Twitter (@CGEnfermeria)
Related Topics
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