Starting at nursery will be both exciting and daunting for your young one. Making your child’s experience at Pride & Joy a happy and positive one from the first day is really important. Slowly integrating them into our nursery over a few afternoons is a great way to begin the process.
Talk with your child about the nursery so they have some idea as to what to expect. Let them know that you will leave them for a while, and that it won’t be long until you’re back again.
You child will be assigned a key worker who will be their mentor throughout their time at Pride & Joy. This person is allocated before your child starts at nursery. They will look after and help settle your child during their first session.
From time to time we offer a home visit by the child’s key person. This ensures we have all the relevant information concerning your child.
Before a child begins at our nursery, we use a variety of ways to provide parents with information. These include written information such as our prospectus, policies and activity displays. Information days and evenings, as well as individual meetings with parents.
During the half-term before a child is enrolled, we provide opportunities for the child and their parent/s to visit the nursery.
Expect to stay for most of the session during the first week. It is important that your child feels comfortable. Knowing that you are there will help your child to adjust to their new environment. Gradually spending less and less time when you feel your child is able to cope without you at nursery.
Your child might like to bring a toy for comfort in their first few days.
We recognise that some children will settle more readily than others. However some children who appear to have settled rapidly are not actually ready to be left. Younger children for example will take longer to settle in, as will children who have not previously spent time away from home. Children who have had a period of absence from nursery, may also need their parent to be on hand to re- settle them.
Leaving a child to cry will not help them to settle quickly. In fact it is more likely to have the opposite effect. A distressed child will respond negatively, hindering the usually happy transition into nursery we aim to achieve.
We judge a child to be settled when they have formed a relationship with their key person. Various actions will show us they have settled, such as:
Within the first four to six weeks of starting, we discuss and work with the child’s parents. During this time we begin to create their child’s record of achievement.
Please note: We reserve the right not to accept a child into nursery without a parent or carer. A child should never feel distressed to be left. This is especially the case with very young children.
