Policies & Procedures

We understand that it can be a heart wrenching time for you when your child starts Nursery and we aim to make it as stress free as possible.

We want you to feel free to call us as many times as you feel necessary.  We are always involved in working with, and planning for, the children in our care and we will make arrangements to discuss your child with you.  You will find that we have a smile at the beginning and the end of each day.

Key Person system

We have a key person system at the Nursery.  Each member of staff takes care of a small group of children and has responsibility for observing their progress and keeping records of them.  One of the important roles of the key-worker is to ensure the smooth transition from home to nursery.  Once this is achieved, we encourage the children to form relationships with the other members of staff as well.  The key person will introduce you to our contact book system where you regularly take a book to read with your children and write in the contact book to let us know how you are all getting on.  This is an important means of contact between Nursery and home.

Settling in

An agreed procedure is designed by the Nursery staff to meet your child’s individual needs during settling in.

Your child’s key person will observe and work closely alongside your child and discuss the progress with you.

A “Settling in period” involving reduced hours, is required for new children.  Experience has shown that every child settles in differently and we never predict how a particular child will manage until we have had the opportunity to observe your child.  Please allow at least a week. We do not set anything in concrete and we remain flexible to allow individual children to express their needs.

One stage of settling in does not alter.  We always insist that a child settling in spends just an hour at the Nursery on day one, even though the child may want to stay!

This may appear a strange policy but it ensures that the child gallops up the stairs on day two and three!  We never allow a child to be left at the Nursery without arranging a settling in period, it is so important that a child feels secure and is able to understand that the person who loves him/her always comes back!