Centrepoint
Centrepoint
To ensure Centrepoint Nurseries are the right place for your family we spend time on the process of transitioning, seeing it as an ongoing process. Once you have made contact with Centrepoint Nurseries, we will invite you to visit either both or one of our nurseries to begin your journey with us. We show you around our rooms, gardens and outdoor areas and explain about our respectful, patient approaches. We will check availability for you. We will also begin discussing which room your child might fit into based on conversations with you, but reserve the decision as to which room for the induction phase.
Following the visit you will need to complete a Nursery Registration form, requesting your sessions and weekdays and starting date. Once the form and a registration fee of £100 has been submitted, we will reserve the space for your child. Discount is given to siblings attending Centrepoint across all units. A month before your child is due to start with us, we will call you and invite you to another visit, to jointly decide which room will be best for your child and begin the process of a smooth transition, managing the change carefully and individually, based on your child’s and family’s needs. We understand the starting of nursery needs to feel right for your child and you.
A successful transition needs the child, the family and the practitioners to work together. To start building the necessary trusting relationship, we will begin discussing your child’s individual induction. We will begin transition visits with increasing time and separation usually the week before the start date. Induction sessions are free.
The initial visit will be a relaxed introduction by the two key workers to your child’s prospective room. Your child will be able to explore the new environment with their trusted adult nearby, while you will be able to ask questions you might have and we will ask you questions related to care and developmental requirements. Part of the meeting will be finding out a little about your child’s interests and preferred comforters. This will help us set the environment to meet their needs and help engage through using their personal interests.
The following visit your key workers will go through care requirements such as feeding and sleeping times, ways to comfort and dietary requirements. We will encourage you to leave your child for a very short period of time, returning quickly to make the visit a positive experience.
Following visits will increase in time and length. Parents will have an induction session to the room, where you will be shown were your child’s belongings will be kept, the set up, and you will be introduced to the rest of the team. Your child will be able to spend time with their key workers, beginning to build a relationship and trust, important for making those secure attachments.
The transition journey continues once your child is in our care, adjusting morning drop-off times and possibly offering additional settling in sessions for a period of time. Each child will have their own individual journey, discussed with you by the key workers, who will remain your main contacts throughout and feed back information to you, be this celebrating achievements, developmental needs or care requirements.
At Centrepoint we share our knowledge and experience to help our families when needed. We keep our childcare practice up to date by attending training on and off island. This is helped by an experienced, varied and qualified team, who work together to support one other in the interest of getting it right for our children.
The same induction process will be repeated, each time your child moves through to another room, the move being guided by your child’s individual developmental and emotional needs rather than their age. The induction for parents will also be repeated, including an introduction to the new room.
Though we discourage bringing toys into nursery, we understand the need for a special comforter from home, which can be the all important link between the two worlds for the child’s emotional wellbeing. We also understand that it can be hard for parents to return to work or leave their child for the first time, this is why the first session alone is not on the first day of attending. We also understand the need to check in and call, be this during transitions or after a night of teething.
For our very young babies, you are able to pop in and feed your baby during the induction phase. Once you have started you are welcome to feed before and after a session. We have comfortable feeding chairs available and muslins; we just ask you to let us know before you arrive. Our experienced practitioners are able to advise you on your journey of weaning, sleep and potty training.
We see the transition into nursery as an ongoing journey, which we can adjust and adapt depending on the individual needs of your child and family. Please come and chat to us if starting nursery makes you nervous and together we will be able to develop an individual plan for you and your child. We are an inclusive setting and will make every effort to make learning accessible for all children on the island.
We hope over time we will build a respectful and trusting relationship with open communication in the interest of maximising your child’s overall development and wellbeing. Frequently, our colleagues have been described as extended family!
