Starting your child with us at St Andrews Day Nursery
'I just wanted to thank the girls who have bent over backwards to make sure that my child settles.'
'Firstly I would like to thank everybody at the nursery for making my child feel so welcome and helping her to settle in.'
'Since the very first day we visited this nursery, we knew that this will be the perfect place for our little girl. She settled in quickly enough with all the help from her lovely teachers.'
Settling my child into nursery:
Settling in sessions:
The Room Manager of your child's room will be in contact with you regarding settling in sessions. Within all the rooms we offer Stay and Play Sessions over the duration of two weeks, however if your child has difficulties settling in this is something that can be extended. Stay and Play Sessions are for an hour duration each, these sessions are free of charge.
First stay and play session:
During your child's first stay and play session you child will be invited into their base room or into the garden along with their parents. A staff member from within the room will ask you questions regarding your child, including their routine, dietary need and health conditions. Your child will be encouraged to interact with the other children, explore their surroundings, get familiar with the staff members within your child's room. You will receive a transition book, this will include all the information you and your child will need to know regarding the room such as routine, it also enables you and your child to see visual pictures of the room and the staff that work within the room.
Second Stay and Play Session:
For your child's second Stay and Play Session, we invite parents into the setting for 15 minutes (may be longer if your child requires this) then we would ask for you to say goodbye to your child and remind them that you are going to be coming back. We ask for parents to then come back for the last 15 minutes to play with their child within the setting.
Third Stay and Play Session:
For your child's final Stay and Play Session. We ask parents to treat it as though you would on a normal nursery drop off, this will help your child to get familiar with the routine and parents dropping and collecting at the beginning and end of their session.
Due to Coronavirus we have had to temporarily change the way we are doing stay and play sessions.
Temporary Settling in Sessions:
Our Stay and Play Sessions are slightly different due to coronavirus. We are having conversations with new parents either via a zoom appointment or via phone conversation, this conversation will be to talk about your child's likes and dislikes, any personal information we need to be aware of such as dietary requirements or health conditions. This enables us to get to know a little bit about your child before they start their settling in session so we can prepare certain activities following their interests.
We then invite your child in for settling in sessions, please see the information above about your child attending Stay and Play Sessions.
Our Keyworker System
During your child's Stay and Play Sessions we will see who your child naturally gravitates to, then your child will be assigned a keyworker.
We encourage the children to develop relationships with all of the staff members within the room, but the keyworker plays a crucial part. Your child's keyworker is there to oversee your child's development and to support them with individual next steps. The keyworker will also work closely with parents/carers.
We organise two parent's evenings across the year, this enables us to involve parents regarding their children's learning and development, to work together on different next steps or to support parents with any advice or issues they may facing at home. Your child's keyworker will be be the one involved in your child's parents evening.
'Just want to say thank you for looking after my child over the last four years. You have seen her grow into who she is today and without your help and support this wouldn't have been possible.'
Information we will need:
What your child will need to bring to nursery:
- nappies and wipes
- changes of clothes (including pants and socks)
- all in one coat (for outdoor play)
- formula milk/ breast milk (labelled)
- wellies
- slippers
- nappy cream (unopened)
- medication that will be needed during the day (inhalers, auto- injectors etc)
- family photos
- teething gel (unopened)
- comforters
During the warmer weathers:
- sun cream
- sun hats
- swimming wear
During the colder weathers:
- hat
- scarf
- gloves
Nursery uniform:
Our St Andrews Nursery uniform is the same as our staff uniform.
It is optional whether you would like to purchase nursery uniform for your child. At the nursery we provide lots of different creative activities for your child to be involved in, so some parents/carers prefer the uniform to prevent their own clothes getting dirty or marked.
This also helps to prepare your child ready for the transition to school.
If you are interested in ordering uniform then please complete a
Nursery Uniform Order Form,
or speak to a member of staff who will be able to provide a copy of this form so we can order this purchase for you.
