Stepping Stones Nursery
Playing together, growing together…

We are looking for new staff in our nursery and as a member of staff we are looking someone who knows the understanding of the health and safety regulations with in a childcare environment. Here at Stepping Stones we expect all of our staff to have their own good personal hygiene, and are able to encourage are children here to also have good personal hygiene practice. It is important to us that you are aware of the different cross infection that may occur in the nursery, how you should handle the food and hygiene in the kitchen and that you are aware of the different ways that you dispose of waste. In our nursery it is important to us as staff that you have good communication skills with the child and know how to handle the different situations with the childcare environment. As part of your understanding of health and safety you will need to familiarise yourself with the regulations. It is important here at steeping stones nursery that the staffs ensures that the hygiene principles are carried out in this child care setting and they know when they should be carried out. Nurseries should be aware of good hygiene practices and keep staff informed of these. Children should learn to recognise the importance of keeping healthy, and those things that contribute to this. Our staff can help children reach this goal by encouraging them to practise good personal hygiene during their daily routine and teaching them about the importance of, washing and drying their hands frequently and thoroughly, cleaning their teeth twice a day, using tissues to wipe their nose and cover their coughs and sneezes, putting their used tissues in a bin and washing their hands afterwards, using the toilet correctly not spitting. We here at steeping stones need to make new staff as well as present staff aware off all these hygiene practices and the importance that it plays in our nursery.

Principles of Cross Infection
When working as part of our staff here we expect you to tie back your hair at all times, as there could be germs and things living in your hair that may spread to our children or other staff, also the children could spread them to you. You are also expected to tie your hair back because you will be around food, and may have cooking activities. Cross infection may also happen from the toys that the children play with; therefore we ask our staff to wipe the toys down after with wipes. When you have finished changing any babies in the changing mats we expect you to clean the mat when you are done so it is clean for the next time it is used and does not spread any Cross Infection. When in the kitchen you are expected to clean down the dirty tops after you to clean the germs and bacteria, also in the kitchen the raw and cooked foods are not to be stored beside one another. All of the utensils will be kept clean and stored were they can be free from any dust, to help prevent any bacteria spreading on to them. Cross Infection can also spread to the children if our staffs do not wash their hand properly; therefore we expect all of our staff to do so. There are principles that the staff need to follow when they are trying to avoid cross infection. The staff needs to make sure that everything is sterilized between using them and when they are done. Everyone needs to be sure to wash their hands. Before each time the children sit down to meals and prior to cooking activities our staff are expected to clean and disinfect the entire table and work surfaces thoroughly. Also to help prevent cross infection in the nursery staff should wear gloves when changing nappies, talking children to the toilet and also when giving out food to the children. Disposable gloves will always be used when clearing up sills to prevent and cross infection. Cross infection is able to be avoided in the nursery by being conscious of the cleanliness of the shared things and avoiding the sharing of those