September 2021 Parenta magazine

Settling into a new
4
5
academic year
It’s a new academic year and we are welcoming new people to our settings: children, staff and parents
alike. To intensify matters, the new EYFS kicks in too. But what about the general things that you can
do to help your new intake adjust to life in your setting? Read on to find some advice on things you
can do to smooth the transition for everyone.
1
Give information ahead of time
The more people know about your setting,
how it works and what to expect when they
get there, the less anxious they will be, so
make sure you have given out as much
information as you can ahead of time.
Induction days help here so put yourself in
your new recruits’ shoes and think about
what you would want to know, be it things
about the rooms, staff, food, changing nappy
protocols, safety standards or curriculum.
Make sure you have answered as many
potential questions as possible and set up
easy ways that people can contact you with
any last-minute queries.
2
Be organised
It is vital that you have organised everyday
things, protocols and procedures in advance
so that your staff can go straight into the job
of looking after the children. Make sure that
your rotas are set up and that you have cover
for early and late sessions with the correct
ratios and experience. Ensure that you also
have plans in place for sickness or selfisolation
cover since, although COVID cases
are currently falling, we are still quite a way
from being back to normal.
14 September 2021 | parenta.com
3
Support drop-off and pick-up
One time of the day that you can ease new children into your setting more easily is at
drop-off and pick-up, when anxieties are high. You might want to set up a slightly later
or slightly earlier time for a new intake so that they are not caught up with the melee
of established parents. Ensure too that you have enough staff around to support the
children during these times. It may mean adjusting your working hours slightly so that
staff and children are not all expecting to go home at exactly the same time, ensuring
instead that your staff have time to talk to parents at the end of the child’s day, and then
some extra time to tidy up and lock up the setting after that. Children are often keen to
show their parents things they have done during the day, so establish routines to ensure
things do not get forgotten.
Get to know the children quickly – use your circle time
The quicker you get to know the children in your care, the sooner you know what their
needs are, and the better your care will be. Obviously, you will have spoken to parents
and carers before admitting children, but your staff are well placed to observe things that
parents might not, such as how children react in different social environments or how
they play with new children. Circle time can be a great time to ask questions, pass on
information about activities or your expectations, and generally understand what makes
everyone tick. Don’t underestimate the information you can get from circle time, and make
sure your staff are tuned in to what to look and listen out for, as well as who they should
pass information on to if they are concerned for any reason.
Consider too the impact that the pandemic may have had on the children coming into the
setting this year. Many of them may be less well socially-adjusted than previous years,
because they may not have had the same social interactions with their family,
friends and other children that previous intakes have. They may well have
spent most of their short lives with a limited number of people and may be
more nervous about meeting, or socialising with larger groups. Circle
time can be used to allay their fears, make new friends and ease
and tensions that may develop. You can even use it to practice
things like saying goodbye to parents or role-play other social
scenarios to help educate them on these things.
Allow emotions and help with
them
At this time of year, children will be feeling
a lot of emotions that they may not have felt
before. They may not have been separated
from their parents/carers for long periods of
time, they may not know how to share with
others or how to express their frustration
when things don’t go their way. This is all
part of developing as a human being and
little ones will need your expert guidance
and support to manage new emotions,
label and understand them. Spending
some extra effort to watch out for signs of
emotional distress will pay off in the long
run as the children learn to adjust to new
rules and expectations. It doesn’t mean
relaxing your standards of behaviour or
abandoning rules, but it does mean having
the patience to look at the situations fully
and to take time to understand any social
or cultural aspects that may affect students
too.
6
Explain what’s happening
Find multisensory ways to explain what to expect each day, especially if you have SEN
children. Use words if they are old enough to understand, but also make visual or auditory
clues as to what is going to be next. This could be singing songs in transitions between
activities or having a clapping rhythm to signal other sections in the day. The more they
understand about what is happening, the less anxious they will be.
7
Be consistent
One of the things that many humans of any age struggle with most, is change, even
though it is the catalyst to new growth and new experiences. However, you can help
people respond to the change and shock of starting nursery, by being consistent with a
few things so their day has some certainty in it. Humans need a degree of certainty in
their lives to feel secure. You can help parents too by liaising with and advising them about
the things their child has achieved during the day and offering suggestions on ways to
continue this at home, be that with potty training, vocabulary or developing fine motor
skills. That way, the transition to nursery will be easier all round.
parenta.com | September 2021 15