Admission and Settling In policy

It is the policy of this nursery to settle children in gradually, both in terms of number and time, so that each child becomes happily independent.

Fifty two children are admitted to this nursery in the first academic term. All of the children will be 4 years old before the end of the third term.

The criteria that we use to select the children for this nursery are in line with the regulations issued by the Department of Education and can be found in the Nursery Enrolment booklet for parents issued by the EANI- this is available on the EANI website www.eani.org.uk

Once all the places have been allocated a meeting is held for parents where the ethos of the nursery is explained, along with practical information regarding a child’s time in nursery. At this meeting parents will meet the principal of the nursery school as well as the nursery staff.

Prior to starting, each child, along with their parent, will be invited to an open day in the nursery. This gives each child one hour in the nursery to meet the staff, see the nursery and meet a very small group of other children. This has proven to be very beneficial when settling children in.

Each child will also receive a home visit. Detailed forms will be completed with the parent and hopefully the staff will find out as much about the child’s home circumstances in order to gain a good understanding of the child. This may help with the settling in process.

When the child and parent come to nursery on the first day a warm welcome will be given. They will both be shown around the nursery.

The child’s first day in nursery is only for a one hour visit and the parent will be asked to stay to enable the child to settle in happily. The teacher will help both parent and child to manage the initial separation, possibly by :-

n communicating with parent and child as they work together;

n involving the parent or child in some activity as a step towards separation;

Most children settle in well; but there are sometimes one or two who find this difficult. In such cases special help and understanding from the staff are required. Such a child may need his/her parent to stay until he has settled with flexible attendance, and his day extended very gradually. He/she may also need an adult with him during the initial sessions. Where a child’s settling in process requires adjustment or support, this will always be discussed and agreed with parents. Occasionally, a child with identified needs may benefit from an adjusted pattern of attendance so that trust, confidence and ability to cope with the demands of the nursery day can grow and develop over time. In the early stages of the school year this may mean a very short attendance time daily. Staff will work alongside parents to ensure that individual needs can be planned for and met accordingly.

At all times the staff must be understanding of the children’s differing needs and temperaments and not only have one standard set of expectations for all the children settling in.

Staff must also be seen as approachable, caring, sensitive, trustworthy individuals that parents feel happy to leave their children with.

During the settling in period we aim to get to know the children well and help them quickly get used to the rules and routines of nursery e.g. putting on and taking off aprons, finding name labels for paintings etc.

This will work best when there are only a small number of children present. In this small group setting, the children will have time to bond with their new caregivers and grow in confidence that their needs will be met in their new environment. Therefore, during the month of September all children will have commenced school within the first week of the term, and will attend in small groups during their initial weeks in nursery. It is important to bear in mind that whilst individual children may settle quite quickly, the class group as a whole may take longer to become familiar with group behaviours and expectations.

On the first day, all children will have a one hour visit. The following day, group 1 & 2 will begin, each attending in a small group of 8/9 children. Groups 1 & 2 are generally made up with children who have extensive playgroup experience- children who have previously attended playgroup are more likely to pick up our daily routines quickly and easily. As this is the case, we settle groups 1 & 2 in relatively quickly and join them as a larger group within the first fortnight in September. Groups 3 & 4 will typically comprise of children who have not attended playgroup or children with daycare experience. Groups 3 & 4 begin with one hour daily in small, separate groups and we allow these two groups a slower pace at settling in and building up to a full school day. They will benefit from a longer period of time, in a smaller group, during which they can adapt to the rules and routines of the school day. Attendance time gradually builds up as we add new routines to the settling in period. Children begin dinners by the beginning of October.

It is a rule of the school that each child must be supported by a parent/grandparent/childminder for three days at least. Therefore we will expect an adult carer to stay in school with the child for the first three days.

Your child will be looked after by school staff. This adult will show you both where the child is to hang his/her coat, where his symbol is, where the toilet/wash hand basins are and where to sit. On the first day you will both sit and play together for about one hour.

On the second day you will sit at the side of the room while the adult supports your child in his play. You will stay for an hour.

On the third day after your child has play for 30 minutes the adult will suggest that you leave the room for a while. If this is accomplished successfully and your child is happy to let you go, then the next day you stay for five minutes and go away for an hour or so.

A sample settling in time table is laid out below.