being updated January 2022

Our Preschool facility is a private business, licensed byunder Vancouver Coast Health(VCH), regulated by the Child Care Regulations Act, and guided by the BCCDC Child Care Guidelines and WorkSafeBC.

Do to the workplace environment of working with children under the age of 5, we are considered to be working with individuals who are learning social behaviours and language skills, thru the concept of “serve and return” in child development, where visual cues, facial expressions, lip-reading or lip movement are essential.

Policy:

1.  On school premises, we ask all adults and children over the age of 5 to adhere to the most recent update, of the Province of British Columbia Public Health Orders for our type of establishment.

2. Children/students(under 5) may wear a mask based on personal or family choice.

3. Child care staff and other adults should wear a mask when indoors and interacting with other adults except when:

• they can consistently maintain physical distance, or
• there is a barrier in place, or
• eating and drinking.

4. Child care staff and other adults may choose to wear a mask indoors when engaging in prolonged, close interaction with children. Careful consideration should be given to the potential impact of mask wearing on visual cueing and non-verbal communication with children, as these interactions play an important role in learning and development. – BCCDC- Child Care Guidelines

5. All persons may choose to wear a mask or not, outdoors, while maintaining social distancing. New families: we ask that you do not wear a mask outside for the first month of attendance, so our teachers have time to recognize your face as we are are legally required to only receive and return children to their authorized parents or designated careproviders.