Settling In Process
Starting nursery can be a daunting experience, and every child settles in at their own pace. And that’s absolutely fine! In fact, it’s expected and your little one’s first few days and weeks at nursery are planned with transition in mind.
Our settling in process focuses on making sure that children are safe, secure and happy in our nursery. This focus extends to parents too. From the very start of your journey with us you’ll be part of the Westwards family, and around 2-4 weeks before your child begins their early years learning, we’ll invite them to some settling in sessions.
To support this transition to nursery we require parents to stay with your child for the first 2 settling in sessions, as they begin to explore the nursery environment and meet the staff and other children.
During this period, they’ll also meet their keyperson, who’ll support them and monitor their progress as they develop and grow, as well as flag any issues they might experience. This is an important time for the team to get to know your little one and for you to be able to provide all the essential information to settle your child into nursery life.
This relationship will be the foundation on which your child’s nursery experience is built, and their keyperson will develop an in-depth understanding of their unique approach to the world—from our ‘All About Me’ we build a picture of likes and dislikes, to how they prefer to be comforted when upset or overwhelmed.
We know your child is ready to take that promising first step and begin their story with us when our nursery, team members and your child’s key person become familiar to them, and they start to engage with other children in activities.