Al Markhiya Al Jelaiah QD Branch Al Maamoura (+974) 4487 5939(+974) 4411 0355(+974) 4497 7673(+974) 4469 3006 PO Box 55261

Doha E-mail enquiries@starfishlanekids.com www.starfishlanekids.com

September 5th, 2012 Dear Starfish Parents, This letter is to clarify new regulations from the Ministry of Social Affairs pertaining to the operation of nurseries in Qatar and to discuss how these rules affect Starfish Lane Kids. The ministry has decreed that, from September of 2012, all nurseries in Qatar must keep children on the ground floor only and at no point in the school day may children be upstairs for any reason. The ministry is very concerned about child safety on upper floors. There are no exceptions to this rule and nurseries in violation of this rule could be closed down according to the law. Parents of Starfish know that child safety is our number one priority. In addition to our regular practices such as first aid trained staff, regular fire drills and high standard of safety equipment, over the summer we installed exterior fire escape stairs specially designed for children and we now have a Fire Warden among our staff at each branch. Starfish Lane has passed every safety inspection by Civil Defense in our six years of operation. Despite our preparedness, we must adhere to the rule of no children above the ground floor until further notice. We have been assured by the Ministry that new regulations will be published shortly, which will provide a solution to this problem. What the above means for Starfish Lane Kids is that we now have far less space in which to operate. Therefore, to protect the quality of our program and insure the safety of Starfish children, teachers and staff,Starfish Lane will suspend operations at Starfish 1, Starfish 2 and Starfish 4 for one week. This will give us the time we need to organize the nursery for operation on the ground floor. Starfish Lane Kids Nurseries has been rated the top nursery in Qatar by the Ministry of Social Affairs and we continue to set the standards for childcare excellence in Qatar. This temporary closure in no way changes our rating or undermines the confidence the government has in our program standards. We stand ready to open our facilities fully when given the permission to do so. We will keep Starfish parents updated on this situation. Until then, the Ministry of Social Affairs welcomes comments from concerned parents. Parents may address any correspondence to nghajri@mosa.gov.qa. Thank you for your understanding of this difficult situation. Starfish Management