Starting nursery is a big step for a child and parents. To ensure that the transition from home to nursery is as smooth as possible, we encourage parents to visit the nursery with their child for settling in sessions before their first day. Having a gradual settling-in period enables families to get to know the nursery team and is a great chance for the child to spend some time in their homebase room so they can begin to feel confident in the new surroundings, and most importantly, begin to form a bond with their Key Person.
Our approach to settling in visits is to be as flexible as possible in order to meet your child’s individual needs. Some children settle more quickly than others, therefore the number and length of sessions required will be discussed with you during your first settling in visit.
Meeting your child’s key person
Ahead of your first visit via MS Teams, or face to face at first settling-in, your Key Person will spend time with you discussing your child’s interests, needs and routines. For example, they will ask you about your child’s dietary needs, sleep patterns, what helps soothe or comfort your child, what their favourite types of play/ activities are, and what you think might help your child in their first few moments apart from you.
Your Key Person will spend time playing with your child while talking to you about their developmental milestones. This information is captured in an All About Me Starting Points Report, which forms the onset of your child’s e-learning development record which we strongly encourage parents to engage with via ParentZone. If your child attends another early years setting, please tell us about this so with your permission we can share information about your child’s learning and development.
Your Key Person will also talk through important policies and procedures such as safeguarding and emergency fire procedures. They will share with you example learning activities that will shape your child’s day and be able to answer any questions you may have about nursery provision. You will also be issued with a Moments that Matter scrapbook for home use, where you can keep special artwork, certificates etc sent home from nursery all in one place if you wish.
At following settling in sessions, you will be kept up to date with all the fun things your child has been doing during their visit through the ParentZone App. By logging on you can view your child’s daily timeline which includes a log of foods eaten (for younger children), nappy changing, and sleep times as well as photographs, videos, and notes of what your child has enjoyed.