SETTLING IN

Some children settle in very easily, whilst others may take a bit longer! We understand that some parents may feel a little upset at leaving their child, which is perfectly natural.

We pay close attention to the needs of the children and their parents to make the settling in process as smooth as possible. The week before your child’s start date we will require you to bring him/her in for 2 hours a day for the 5 days.  This is to enable the child to become familiar with their surroundings and the staff team.  They will get to meet their keyworker and start building a relationship with them.

The first day we will require you to stay with your child, whilst they get to know the environment.

The settling in week is as follows:

• On the first day we ask the parent to stay with the child.  There will be a registration form to fill out and a chance for the parent to look through our policies.  We will allocate a key worker who will interact with the child and encourage them to play.
• On the second day we will encourage parents to leave their child for half an hour.  This will start the process of the child becoming familiar with the parent leaving them at nursery.
• On the third day we will encourage the parent to leave their child for one hour.
• On the fourth day we will encourage parent to leave their child for one and a half hours.
• On the fifth day we will encourage the parent to leave their child for the full 2 hours.  Depending on how the week has gone and if the child has settled in they will be ready to start the following week.

Some children may take longer to settle than others.  We will work with the parent to ensure the child is settled before they stay on their own at Rosemount.

We judge a child to be settled when they have formed a relationship with their key worker.

Other methods

Younger children or children who have not been separated from their parent or carer before may take longer to settle.

• When the parent leaves we ask them to say goodbye to their child and explain that they will be coming back and when e.g. after lunch or after garden play.
• We do not believe that leaving a child to cry will help them settle in any quicker.  We believe that a child’s distress will prevent them from learning and gaining the best from the setting.
• Within four to six weeks of the child starting at Rosemount the key worker will ask the parent to come in for a chat on how the child has settled in, what they have enjoyed doing and ask for their opinions on the child’s record of achievement.
• We reserve the right not to accept a child into the setting without a parent or carer if the child finds it too distressing to be left.