Settling in to nursery

Starting nursery can be daunting for both children and parents. At Boys & Girls Nursery we recognise this and do everything we can to make the settling in process as smooth as possible for everyone. We understand that no two children are the same, and that they all have their own likes, dislikes and personalities. By caring for and meeting the needs of every individual to the best of our ability, we know every child can flourish, learn and have fun whilst enjoying a sense of belonging and community.

Before your first settling in/ trial session we will give you a call to answer any questions or queries that you might have and explain what will happen when you arrive at nursery on your child’s first day.

Every child that joins our nursery has a key person. You will receive the name of this team member and a little bit of information about them in your welcome email. They will be responsible for compiling the Learning Journey for your child for their duration in their base room. The key person will also update you of their progress at Parent’s Evening. Your child’s key person will sit with you on their first day to gain an understanding of your child’s personality, likes and dislikes and routines.

To help with the settling process, we ask you to bring in some family pictures so that we can put together a book for your child to look at when at nursery, we are happy to have pictures of favourite pets too! This helps your child to settle in to their environment as it gives them a sense of security seeing familiar faces from home.

There might be a few tears during the first week or two but please don’t worry, our team are experts and have lots of experience so will soon turn those tears into smiles.

Here are a few things that you can do at home in the lead-up to your little one’s first day that will help them settle quickly:

If your child is old enough, have lots of positive conversations about how much fun they are going to have at nursery and how many new friends they’ll make

There are lots of books available to help children understand starting nursery and Pre-School including Peppa Pig: George’s First Day at Playgroup, Maisy Goes to Preschool and My First Day at Nursery School
If your little one is too young to understand stories, try leaving them with grandparents or a close family friend for an hour or so a few times before they start nursery so they get used to being looked after by someone else and understand that you always come back
The settling in period will differ for each child but rest assured, our team will support you and your child throughout to make it as smooth as possible.

What OFSTED say: An effective key-person system and settling-in process helps children to form secure attachments with the adults who take care of them, gaining comfort and reassurance as needed. Key staff share relevant information about each child as they move on to the next room, helping children to quickly feel settled in their new surroundings.