New Year, New Start: Settling in at Footsteps

With the new year comes lots of new faces as children start their time with us at Footsteps. This is an exciting time as we welcome the children, but we know that starting nursery or a pre-school setting can be daunting for both children and parents. At Footsteps we recognise this and do everything we can to make the settling in process as smooth as possible for everyone. We understand that no two children are the same, and that they all have their own likes, dislikes and personalities. By caring for and meeting the needs of every individual to the best of our ability, we know every child can flourish, learn and have fun whilst enjoying a sense of belonging, friendships and community.

There might be a few tears during the first week or two, this is totally normal, but parents shouldn’t worry, our team are experts and have lots of experience so will soon turn those tears into smiles.

Here are a few things that parents can do at home in the lead-up to your child’s first day that will help them settle quickly:

• If your child is old enough, have lots of positive conversations about how much fun they are going to have and how many new friends they’ll make.
• Read books about starting school. There are lots of books available to help children understand starting nursery and Pre-School including Peppa Pig: George’s First Day at Playgroup, Maisy Goes to Preschool and My First Day at Nursery School by Becky Edwards.
• If your child is too young to understand stories, try leaving them with grandparents or a close family friend for an hour or so a few times before they start nursery so they get used to being looked after by someone else and understand that you always come back.
• The settling in period will differ for each child but rest assured, our team will support you and your child throughout to make it as smooth as possible. Every key worker will work closely with parents to quickly get to know each child and how to create positive responses and how to help them make the most of every opportunity.
• What OFSTED say: An effective key-person system and settling-in process helps children to form secure attachments with the adults who take care of them, gaining comfort and reassurance as needed and helping children to quickly feel settled in their new surroundings.

We hope all of our new children will love their time at Footsteps and learn all the skills to equip them for a successful transition to big school!