A north-east nursery boss has said her staff are “on their knees” amid fears of the impact of Omicron on the industry.
Dawn Ewan, managing director of Mucky Boots outdoor nursery in Maryculter, is worried about having to close due to a lack of staff.
Out of ten workers they have two people isolating as a result of the new guidance for households.
As it currently stands close contacts of all Omicron cases must isolate for 10 days no matter their vaccination status and even if they initially get a negative test.
Miss Ewan’s fears come as the private nursery sector’s trade body, the Scottish Private Nursery Association (SPNA), warn that “within weeks, if not days” private nurseries will close their doors because of a lack of staff.
She is already working on contingency plans in case they have to run a reduced service if there is not enough staff and she admits there is a “strong chance” that will happen.
Mucky Boots looks after children from the age of three and up. It is Aberdeenshire’s first fully outdoor nursery and it opened its doors in 2017.
Nursery owner is worried about new variant
Dawn Ewan, Managing Director of Mucky Boots based in Maryculter, said that in two decades in education she not experienced this kind of exhaustion before.
Ms Ewan said: “Our staff are on their knees. We can’t get new staff for love nor money so trying to get qualified staff to be able to cover is impossible for nurseries.
“You can’t open a nursery with trainees as your staff have to be properly qualified.
“Our staff have already been working extra hours to do the cleaning and we find a lot of our children are needing extra support.
“That is because two of the first three years of their life have been living under restrictions. We have parents living under enormous stress trying to live with that at home.
“So what we are finding our children need a lot of support settling in to nursery because they haven’t been at baby groups or anything.
“I’ve been working in education for over 20 years now and I’ve never seen everyone so exhausted as they are now.”
Trade body chief fears raft of closures
Sharon Fairley, CEO of SPNA, said that the new guidance for household isolation was already having an impact on nursery settings.
She said it has been a “tough time” but wants ministers to help so childcare is available.
“SPNA members have already been reporting a worrying level of staff absence from work, not because those staff were Covid-19 positive, but because someone else in their household was.
“There is simply not the workforce – not in the private sector, nor the public sector – to be able to cover these sorts of absences. Within weeks, if not days, we will start to see private nurseries having to close due to a lack of staff.
“This will have an impact on the keyworkers on which the whole Scottish economy relies.”
“We’re simply asking for the Government to make a pragmatic decision, which will help everyone, no matter where they work, or what they do, continue to access the high-quality childcare that we provide.”
Scottish Government response
The Scottish Government have been contacted about the concerns from SPNA.
More from the Schools and Family team
Delight as donkeys visit Aberdeen school pupils
North-east dad takes kids out of school to avoid Covid-19 infection
Nursery inspection reports: How does the childcare in your area rate?