Transitions
Children experience many transitions in their early years, some of these planned and some
unplanned. Nursery staff are sensitive to the challenges children may face whilst going through
these transitions. They are trained to observe their key children and as such will be sensitive to
any changes in their behaviour and personality.
We respectfully ask that parents inform us of any changes that may impact on their child
so that staff can be supportive and sensitive to the child’s changing needs. Parents may
speak to their child’s keycarer or a member of the Wonderland management team if they feel
that their child requires additional support because of any changes in their life.
Some examples of transitions that young children and babies may experience are:
Starting nursery
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Moving between different rooms within the nursery
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Starting school or moving nurseries
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Please refer to our settling in policy.
Reviewed August 2016
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New siblings
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Moving home
Death of a family member
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New children starting nursery.
Family breakdowns
Death of a family pet.
Moving rooms procedure
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When a child is ready to move rooms due to age and stage of development, the keycarer
will discuss the planned move with parents.
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Settling in sessions and a move date will be planned and the parents are informed of
these and who the child’s new keycarer will be by letter. The child’s current keycarer will
introduce the parents to the new keycarer and complete a transition form.
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The new keycarer will visit the child in their current room before the child spends short
settling in sessions in their new room prior to the permanent move to enable them to feel
comfortable in their new surroundings
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The child’s current keycarer will go with the child on initial visits to support the child to
feel settled
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Wherever possible groups of friends will be moved together to enable these friendships
to be kept intact and support the children with the peers they know
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Parents will be kept informed of all visits and the outcomes of these sessions e.g. through
photographs, discussions or diary entries
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Only when the child has settled in through these ‘taster’ sessions will the permanent room
move take place. If a child requires more support this will be discussed between the
keycarer, parent, manager and team leader of the new room to enable this to occur.
Starting school
The nursery staff will do all they can to facilitate a smooth transition including:
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providing a variety of resources that relate to the school, e.g. uniform to dress up in, a
role play area set up as a school classroom, photographs of the schools the children are
moving to.
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welcoming school representatives into the nursery to introduce them to the children and
to enable a professional discussion about the child’s stage of development
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by keycarers using appropriate stories to initiate conversations about school with their
key children and talking through any concerns the child may have.
Reviewed August 2016
The keycarer will ensure that each child’s learning journal is up to date including highlighting the
development areas achieved (as defined in the EYFS) to enable teachers to have a good
understanding of each child’s needs, interests and stage of development to enable continuity of
care.
Family breakdowns
When parents separate it is a difficult situation for all concerned. The nursery understands that
emotions run high but please do keep us fully informed so that we can support your child through
this change. For further information please refer to the separated families policy which shows
how the nursery will act in the best interest of the child.
Moving home or new sibling
We ask parents to keep their child’s keycarer informed of any such changes so that we can
support and prepare the child by providing activities that may help the child to act out any
worries they have, e.g. through role play, stories and discussions.
Parents may also consider placing their child into nursery for additional sessions during these
events to provide them with consistency and time away from the changes occurring.
Bereavement
The staff will endeavour to support the children and their families through this very difficult
time. The Nursery has produced a separate policy on bereavement and would also seek support
from external agencies if appropriate to support staff.
Reviewed August 2016