Settling in and Key Person Policy

At Happy Children Nursery we want children to feel safe and happy within our setting as well as feel secure and comfortable with staff. We also want you as parents to have confidence in both your child’s wellbeing and your role as an active partner within our setting.  At Happy Children Nursery we aim to be flexible with our daily routine and as far as possible cater to individuals needs. 

Our Aims:

  • To make the setting a welcoming space for your child
  • To create a secure relationship for your child within our setting. 
  • To make the setting a place where your child can settle in quickly and comfortably.

Our Methods:

 

Before you register your child, we will provide you with the opportunity to visit the nursery with your child and meet the staff team (this will be done virtual during the pandemic of covid-19). We will allocate a Key-Person to your child who will welcome and look after them during their first sessions and continue providing them with support throughout the settling in process.

The parent pack explains the settling in process, which will be given to the parent/carer before starting nursery. When your child begins their first session with us, we will explain the process of settling in again with you as parents and jointly decide on the best way to help your child settle into the nursery. We expect that you as the parent, carer or close relative, will stay for most of the settling in sessions during your child’s first week, gradually decreasing your time at the setting until your child is comfortable and well settled with us. 

Younger children might take longer to settle, as will children who have not previously spent time away from home. Children who have had a period of absence for whatever reason may need to be re-settled. 

We consider a child to be settled when they have formed a relationship with their Key-Person. Each child should also be familiar with where things are in their room and be happy to participate in activities.

When you leave your child, we ask that you say goodbye, fully explain to them that you will be coming back later, and let them know when you’ll be back. (Such as saying, ‘Mummy will be back after you eat lunch’).

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 with us. This is especially the case with very young children.

Within six weeks of starting we will discuss with you our initial observations of your child. An initial observation form will then be filled out by your child’s key person and be given to you to read at home, the initial observation form will act as a means to help us adequately plan for the needs of your child. Due to the current situation we find ourselves in with Covid 19, if at any point you or child is exposed to the virus or is unwell can we please ask you not to send your child into the setting and immediately inform the nursery. 

Key Person System

At Happy Children Nursery we operate a Key Person system. The key person is responsible for working with a small group of children providing the reassurance needed for each child to feel safe and cared for as well as building a relationship with parents/carers. The key person will help the child to become familiar with the setting and feel safe within it. They will also talk to parents/carers to make sure the needs of the child are being met appropriately, and the records of development and progress are shared with parent/carers and other professionals as necessary.  

How the Key Person System Works

Once your child begins nursery, a key person will be allocated to him/her, this person will be the named carer throughout the nursery day and the first point of contact for parents. The key person will record information regarding your child’s learning and next steps of learning, as well as specific information such as medication instructions. 

Changes in routine at home can affect your child’s wellbeing so it is important that the key person forms not only a strong bond with the child but also with the child’s family so that the sharing of information between the two can be done successfully, leading to the best possible outcomes for your child.

Our Key Person System Provides:-

  • Assistance with the settling in process.
  • Building an attachment and getting to know your child.
  • Building a strong relationship with parents and families.
  • A key person time, in small groups or one to one time every day.
  • Close monitoring of your child’s progress in all areas of development.
  • Knowledge of each child’s needs when planning activities and curriculum.

A Child’s Key Person

  • Will provide parents with information regarding the routines, daily timetables, and activities in the room.
  • Will assist both parent and child during the settling in period.
  • Will support the child in becoming familiar with the daily routine and the layout of the nursery.
  • Will be aware of circumstances at home that may affect changes in a child’s behaviour from time to time.
  • Will carry out observations on children in their groups and devise plans for future activities taking into account children’s needs and interests.
  • Will send daily diary up-date on the EyLog (for children under three years old) to communicate information about the child.
  • Will take care of your child’s personal needs i.e. nappy changing, toileting, whenever possible.

At Happy Children Nursery we use the following procedure to settle the children into nursery:

The settling in process takes a period of 2 weeks:

The first week

We ask the child’s parent/carer to attend the nursery with their child for a whole week, coming in for a few hours (time will be allocated to you by management) every day. This helps the child become familiar with the setting, the nursery routines, their key person and other nursery practitioners. 

The second week

  • We ask the child’s parent/carer to bring the child into nursery but this time to drop them off at the door of the nursery whereupon the key person will greet them both and take the child over to his/her room. We ask that you explain to the child before coming to the nursery the process of being dropped off. 

i.e ‘Today Daddy is going to leave you in the nursery to play with aunty Rachel, I’m going to take you to the door then say goodbye and will be back for you in half an hour’. 

  • On the first day the child will be left with us for a period of 30 minutes (*timing is subject to change depending on the child’s needs). During this time we ask parents to stay in the Felicity House building in case we need to call upon them. 
  • On the second day the child will stay for an hour*, again the key person will greet both parent/carer and child at the door and take the child. 
  • Depending on the child the process will be repeated for the rest of the week increasing the time the child stays with us each day building them up to staying without their parent/carer for a full session.

 

We ask that parents/carers bring their child into nursery continuously during the settling in period as having breaks during this time disrupts the settling in process and sends conflicting messages to a child; this in turn may bring about feelings of being insecure. 

Some children may take longer to settle and become very upset upon parting from their parent/carer, if this is the case with your child we ask that the child is still left with us so that he/she has an opportunity to form a bond with their key person and eventually fully settle.