We recognise that good attendance plays an important role not only in supporting children’s educational achievements but also supports their overall well-being and our responsibilities in safeguarding. Young children find it easier to build and sustain relationships when they attend regularly, following the agreed pattern of attendance set with parents. Children who frequently miss nursery can find it difficult to settle at the start of the day and generally feel more secure when they know what to expect and when. Attendance expectations are shared with parents during the settling in process. 

Reporting and Monitoring Attendance 

• We kindly ask parents/carers to notify the nursery in advance of any planned holidays or absences. (Don’t forget to take Travelling Ted with you!) When you return, we’d love to hear all about your travels so we can build on your child’s experiences in our learning at nursery.

• If your child has a prolonged period of absence and you would like support with home learning, please feel free to discuss this with the Head of Early Years Practice (HoEYP). We are happy to help!

• If the absence is unplanned, we kindly ask that you notify the nursery as soon as possible on the first day of absence. If you have not notified the nursery before 10am, a member of the nursery team will contact you by telephone to discuss your child’s absence.  Our preferred method of communicating absence is by telephone, but email is acceptable. When reporting your child’s absence, please let the nursery team know the reason and the expected absence period. 

• If contact cannot be established, after a period of absence with either parents or emergency contacts then we would assess if a home visit were required to establish all parties are safe.  If contact is still not established, we would assess if it would be appropriate to contact relevant authorities, including the police, in order for them to investigate further.

• We understand that some children may face barriers to achieving good attendance, such as those who are vulnerable, have medical needs or an EHCP for example. Through our commitment to strong partnership with parents, we will work closely with families and any outside agencies to offer additional support. 

• If a child has had a prolonged period of absence and parents/carers have been uncontactable the Nursery Manager will contact the child’s emergency contacts.

• For parents accessing Funded Early Years Entitlement, it is a requirement of the Local Authority for providers to report any expected absences of over 4 weeks, it is the responsibility of the Local Authority to decide whether funding will becontinued. 

• As part of the role of the Designated Safeguarding Lead, the Nursery Manager will monitor and review children’s attendance and the reasons for absence on a regular basis. 

• Any safeguarding concerns that may arise from non-attendance will be discussed with parents and, where appropriate, shared with the Children and Families Hub/Herts safeguarding children services or other relevant agencies.

More formally we invite you to share your views on what we are doing well and what we can improve or voice an idea you might like or put forward by e-survey twice a year. Should you wish to put pen to paper parents can complete one of our feedback forms located on the front desk of each setting. Contact details for Ofsted are displayed on the Parents Notice Board in the entrance area.

In the event a child is left beyond the normal closing times, two team members will remain with your child. After one hour, if you have not been in contact and we have not been able to contact you or any of the authorised persons recorded, the Manager/Senior Manager will assess the situation and then contact Children’s Social Care, Emergency Out of Hours Duty Service.

We recognise that many children can typically experience transitory behaviours such as toileting accidents, or periods of fussy eating. Our loan libraries include themed borrow bags, full of tips, strategies, and resources for families to borrow to support you through what can be a difficult time.

Please speak to your child’s Key Person for further information.

For details of the eligibility criteria visit:

 Get extra funding for your early years provider – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

If your child meets the criteria, please speak to the Nursery Manager who will happily make arrangements for this funding to be accessed.

Transition Visits

Similar to those early settling in visits when your child first joined nursery, they will experience  transitional visits to their new room. These visits will differ in length of time, and time of day so your child can gently experience all aspects of the day within their new room. Early Years Educators from your child’s current home base room may go with your child to their new room, to provide a secure base to return to if needed whilst they are developing attachments to their new Key Person. Your child may also visit with peers from their current room on occasions to provide familiar faces in their new environment.

Sharing of Information

Your child’s current Key Person will complete a transitional all about me document, sharing key information with your child’s new Key Person. This ensures information about your child’s individual needs such as their current sleep routine and likes, are passed on to ensure for continuity of care and recent learning.

All parents are given the opportunity if they wish to visit the new home base room and to meet with the team.

Transition Boxes

Each room has a transition box containing resources and items to familiarise you and your child with their new environment such as photographs of the team, resources such as plates, cups etc. If you would like to borrow a transition box to support your child’s room move, please speak to a member of the team.

Parents must always sign their child on the register when they enter the premises and again when they come to collect their child.  Controlled entrance procedures must be adhered to in order to ensure the safety of all the children.  Only members of the nursery team are permitted to open the door to allow access into the setting.  It is strictly forbidden for parents to open the door and allow access to others, including parents they may recognise.

Please note – for older children (approx. 2 years plus) the Check-In will include a summary of the specific areas of learning (Mathematics, literacy, understanding the world and expressive arts and design).

These assessments, in conjunction with parents ongoing feedback and observations help the Key Person to continue to offer tailored learning to support your child’s developmental next steps.

Your Role

Partnership with parents is essential to ensure we capture a holistic view of your child’s learning and development. We encourage you as parents to contribute to your child’s timeline of events via ParentZone by commenting on posts and uploading photographs of some of the fun things your child has been enjoying and achieving outside of nursery. Please refer to our handy Guide to ParentZone which gives step by step guidance on how to do so.

Your child’s Key Person will notify you once your child’s assessment has been published for you to view. We kindly ask that parents acknowledge this by commenting on the assessment.

Parents can pre book a 1:1 appointment with their child’s Key Person to discuss recent learning either face to face, via MS Teams or telephone.

At Seymour House our group of Head of Early Years Practice (HoEYP) have devised a unique School & Beyond Programme (PFSP) to support those children during their last year at nursery before they transition off to big school!

Our programme includes PE sessions, choose a challenge, our very own Reading & Writing Programme and Dragon Maths to name a few!

School Leavers EYFS Assessment

As your child draws to the end of their journey at nursery, your Key Person will summarise their achievements and learning in a final assessment. This assessment provides insight into how your child prefers to learn, and gives both you and your child’s Reception teacher an understanding of the skills your child has already become confident with. We provide this assessment as a transitional tool which we very much encourage you to share with your child’s school when you go to visit, as it can provide vital information for the school to begin preparing for your child’s transition and their future learning journey ahead.