A NURSERY boss is reassuring parents of the extra measures in place to protect children as childcare businesses across the borough prepare to reopen.

Seven nurseries across the borough have been working together to support each other through the pandemic.

Queensbrook, Wells House, Rosehill, Super Stars, and Daisy Chains have been offering their supplies and PPE to High Meadows and Eagley School House, who have remained open to care for the children of key workers.

Now, they're all working together to introduce children to Wellasaurus.

Pamela Houghton, who runs High Meadows Day Nursery at Royal Bolton Hospital, said: "We anticipated that there might be a few more people coming back and we thought 'how are we going to manage social distancing with the children outside?'.

"Wellasaurus is there to keep us well, and all the nurseries have painted footprints on the floor which children and quite happy to stand on.

"We've had a bit of a dinosaur overload, there's little dinosaur figures at the nose wiping stations and hand washing facilities."

The seven nurseries started working together a few years ago when there was a change in funding, and have been helping each other out ever since.

They join together for regular online meetings to share ideas and worries during the crisis, and understand that parents will have a lot of the same fears.

Ms Houghton added: "We all understand as a group that parents have got anxieties about sending their children back to nursery, but please be assured that we are doing everything that we can do to make the nurseries a safe environment.

"Being in regular contact with nurseries that remained open has been helpful in pooling ideas.

"So far Wellasaurus has helped, the children are quite exited to move onto the next footprint when its their turn to enter the nursery, it's a lot more engaging to them than a few stickers outside would be."

Children are encouraged to wait on one of the footprints outside until they can move forward, following the friendly dinosaur as he tries to keep them safe from the virus.

Mats in the shape of dinosaur footprints have also been introduced for circle time, with staff able to place them at a good distance from one another, encouraging children to stay 2m away from each other.

The kids have also been discussing germs and how to keep themselves safe, with nurseries stressing the importance of handwashing.