Settling In
We aim for children to feel safe, stimulated and happy in the nursery and to feel secure and comfortable with our team. We also want parents/carers to have confidence in both their children's well-being and their role as active partners.
We aim to help parents and carers to help their children settle quickly and easily by giving consideration to the individual needs and circumstances of each child and their families.
The nursery teachers work in partnership with parents/carers to settle their child into the nursery environment by:
- Allocating a key person to each child and his/her family before he/she starts to attend. The key person welcomes and looks after the child and his/her parents during the settling in period, and throughout his/her time at the nursery to ensure the family has a familiar contact.
- Planning settling in visits and introductory sessions (lasting approximately 2 hours) during the two weeks before the admission is planned. These will be provided free of charge over a week or two period dependent on individual needs, age and stage of development.
- Welcoming parents/carers to stay with their child during their first day until the child feels settled and the parents/carers feel comfortable about leaving him/her.
- Reassuring parents/carers whose children seem to be taking a long time settling into the nursery.
- Respecting the circumstances of all families, including those who are unable to stay long periods of time in the nursery and reassure them of their child's progress towards setting in.
- Contacting parents by phone during the first few days to inform them about the children's time at nursery. Encouraging parents to feel free to contact the nursery as many times as needed if they feel the urge to know how the children are getting on.
- Within the first week of starting, we will be discussing and working with you to create your child's initial profile to enable us to set a baseline for their future development at nursery.