Child care workers “thrilled” to be prioritized in vaccine rollout

By ROB PAUL

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

It's been a tumultuous year for everybody dealing the impact of the pandemic, especially essential workers who don't have the luxury of working from home.

While schools have had students return to virtual learning in Ontario, childcare facilities have continued.

Caledon East Children's Place is one of many childcare facilities that's making the best of a bad situation.

It's a non-profit organization that provides early learning and childcare services to toddlers and preschool children and though it hasn't been easy, they've pressed on for nearly a year since re-opening.

“We're slowly starting to get to a really good place,” said Caledon East Children's Place Executive Director Brenda McNairn. “We did have to close down last March, so over a year ago. We could have opened last June, but we wanted to make sure that we were in a strong enough place in terms of training our staff to make sure we can offer the safest and healthiest position for the kids. We opened last July and have almost been open [again] for a year now.”

Like in every sector, childcare has had to adapt to make it as safe as they can during the pandemic. McNairn credits her staff for working as a tight-knit team during unprecedented times.

“We've had to make sure we follow strict health and safety guidelines as dictated by Public Health, as well as the Ministry of Education,” she said. “Mainly we've been making sure not to mix the cohorts of children as well as doing constant daily sanitizing and ensuring staff wear PPE. We are just so very fortunate to be in a position that we were able to maintain our current staffing levels. 

“Everybody's role has changed, but our staff has such a huge commitment to quality care and even though the pandemic has been a struggle, it's really strengthened our team. For me, to be the executive director and see how it's played out, it's been really heartwarming because we're there taking care of little ones. We've kind of taken an all hands on deck approach. Because we've taken that approach, our enrolment has been steadily growing, not as fast as it was pre-COVID, but our numbers are slowly returning.”

McNairn says she is relieved with the recent addition of childcare workers to the vaccination priority list but does question why they weren't a part of it from the onset, given they've worked throughout the height of the pandemic. 

“We've finally been given a position on the priority list, and we are so thrilled,” she said. “As an early childhood educator myself, it was truly insulting that we weren't being recognized as essential workers. I'm not here to point fingers at anybody, but we've been open since July. We're working with one of the most vulnerable sectors of society. Yes, the kids are healthy, but the staff are exposing themselves on a daily basis to one of the most vulnerable populations, young children. Our Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario, the College of ECE, all of these greater regulatory bodies have sort of gone to bat for us in making our voices heard.

“Our voice was heard and we're thrilled but we're keeping in mind a person's right is a deeply personal choice in whether or not they decide to get the vaccine or not. At this point, we're not making it mandatory, but we are highly recommending our staff do get vaccinated. It's my responsibility to make sure we're able to provide a healthy and safe work environment, but you can only do so much. Now that we know the staff have the choice to get vaccinated, that just brings us to another level of safety and responsibility for our families.”

With the children's physical and mental health being the top priority during these times, McNairn has been impressed with how they've handled it and says it's interesting to see some of the positives from the situation.

“Children are resilient, and I think everybody was a bit afraid about the impact it was going to have on them,” she said. “As adults, we have a certain way and a certain comfort zone because it's the way we've always done things. For the wee ones that are only three years old, they're so young at that point that this has kind of become what their normal is. It's been challenging because they can't see an educator smile at them because they're wearing masks and goggles, but it's strengthened their skills in terms of reading other people's reactions through eyes as opposed to a smile or frown. 

“They just know that part of their daily routine involves keeping physical distance from their friends and constant hand-washing. They're fast learners and it's just become part of their routine. I think because we know what life was like pre-COVID, these kids are only three or four years old and so they don't have those 20 years of life experience to dictate their reaction to the pandemic. It's been very positive for the most part,” she said. “It has been without its negatives and there has been challenges for them. For example, we don't allow the parents into the centre just as best practice in terms of really limiting who comes in and out of the building. But I'm really proud of the little ones.”

Obviously McNairn and her staff are excited for things to return to normal and having the option to be vaccinated is a big step forward, but the adversity they've faced for over a year has allowed them to grow together and do their best despite the uncertain situation.

“If you're given lemons, then make lemonade,” she said. “Honestly, I have to put the success on the staff. They're doing their absolute best to be able to contribute to the health and safety of the workplace to keep themselves as educators safe as well as the children and their families.”

Caledon East Children's Place is currently accepting new registrations, more information can be found at cechildrensplace.com.