Settling in Periods

Our aim is to foster children’s well being and help the child to feel at ‘home’ at the nursery, for them to be themselves and to have their emotional needs met. We aim to encourage children to become independent and resilient learners through smooth transition – this starts at settling in!

Parent/carers are very welcome to stay with their child for as long as they feel is necessary during the settling in period. It is a good opportunity to get to know the nursery staff and the nursery day / routine:

We encourage you and your child to visit two or three times prior to starting. These sessions need to be pre-booked with the Childcare Manager or the Class Room Leader. There is no charge for these sessions. Settling sessions are normally 1 hour long and can be booked at times at your convenience.
On the first visit we suggest you stay with your child for at least the first half depending on the child's age and previous nursery experience. This gives you a chance to spend time with your child's teacher / key worker to discuss issues such as sleep patterns, dietary requirements, complete an all about me and initial visit profile.
We do offer a second and third visit and we suggest on these occasions, you stay with your child until they are happy for you to leave. We may suggest that you leave the Nursery and go off into town for an hour. We always encourage parents to say "goodbye" to their child.
If after the initial visits your child is still not settled, then we will suggest another settling in session. This will depend on the child. Some settle very quickly and others take longer. We do offer more settling ins if your child needs and especially if they have had previous bad experience at another setting. We welcome parents to ring the nursery or to message on the child's group chat to see how their child is getting on particularly in our younger classes.

In order to strive for a smooth transition to nursery (see Transition Policy) we recommend you share any information about what your child likes to play with and how they are best comforted etc. will be very helpful. This can be shared at the settling in session and continually shared throughout the child’s journey.

All families and children are different and how the settling in process goes does depend on the family and the child’s needs and the child’s age and previous experiences. There isn’t a right or wrong way of doing it, you need to go through the process and hopefully enjoy it; it’s an important step in your child’s development.

Some guidance that can help with the process.

Sometimes children will find it difficult to join in with group activities, this is something that we overall expect and see it as being a normal part of the settling in process.
Children can gain reassurance from seeing their parent/carers and the nursery staff starting to build a trusting relationship.
When you do feel ready to leave your child we are more than happy for you to begin by saying goodbye and going to sit in another room.
When you do leave your child it is really important to say goodbye and when you return to then stay (or leave with your child) rather than be back and forth several times in a session/day. This way they get used to ‘goodbye’ means you’re going and when your back it’s time to go home.
When you do feel ready to leave the building we are happy, if it works for you, for you to gradually build up to being away for longer periods of time. Please ensure you have your contract with the nursery so that you can be contacted easily.
In your early settling in sessions please spend some time with your teacher /key person (and/or their buddies) it’s a good opportunity to exchange information. We are all here to support you through this time. We appreciate it can be difficult for both your child and you. We also appreciate that all family circumstances are different and that busy lives can also add to the difficulties at this time. Please talk to us about how we can support you and we will do our best to meet all your needs as well as those of your child.