👶Settling in Policy

This policy was adopted on 30 August 2022 and is reviewed annually

Policy statement

At Natural Nurture our aim is to work in partnership with parents and/or carers to help them become familiar with the setting and offer a settled relationship for the child. We know children learn best when they are healthy, safe and secure, we build positive relationships with parents to ensure we can meet children’s individual needs and help them settle quickly in to nursery life.

All our staff know about the importance of building strong attachments with children. They are trained to recognise the different stages of attachment and use this knowledge to support children and families settling in to the nursery.

We want children to feel safe and happy in the absence of their parents; to recognise other adults as a source of authority, security and friendship and to be able to share with their parents, new learning experiences that they enjoy at the nursery.

Procedure:

The nursery will:

• Allocating a key person to each child and his/her family, before he/she starts to attend. The key person welcomes and looks after the child, ensuring that their care is tailored to meet their individual needs. He/she offers a settled relationship for the child and builds a relationship with his/her parents during the settling in period and throughout his/her time at the nursery, to ensure the family has a familiar contact person to assist with the settling in process

• Reviewing the nominated key person if the child is bonding with another member of staff to ensure the child’s needs are supported

• Providing parents with relevant information about the policies and procedures of the nursery and a Settling in Pack for Parents

• Working with parents to gather information before the child starts on the child’s interests, likes and dislikes and their favourite things by filling out an About Me Form

• Encouraging parents and children to visit the nursery before an admission is planned

• Planning Settling in visits and Sessions

• Parents will be provided with a Photobook to help familiarise their child with staff and the new environment

• Reassuring parents whose children seem to be take a little longer to settle in and developing a plan with them, for example shorter days, where possible

• Providing regular updates and photos of the children settling

• Assigning a buddy/back-up key person to each child in case the key person is not available. Parents are made aware of this to support the settling process and attachment

• Respecting the circumstances of all families, including those who are unable to stay for long periods of time in the nursery and reassure them of their child’s progress towards settling in

• Where possible, introduce new families on a staggered basis, for example two new children a day for a week, rather than ten new children all at once.

Managing Separation

• Children cannot play or learn successfully if they are anxious and unhappy. Our settling procedures aim to help children to feel comfortable in the nursery, to benefit from what it has to offer, and to be confident that their parents will return at the end of the session.

• If a child is distressed by their parent leaving, their Key Person will take time to comfort and/or distract them by reading a story or turning their attention to a toy, game or friend.