After the initial enrolment meet and greet, each child must have 2 orientation sessions prior to enrolment commencing. This helps your child become familiar with their new environment and their educators. It is also a good time to get to know your child and the family and information can be exchanged. This can also make the first day a little less stressful for everyone.

The first few days and weeks of leaving your child in care can cause anxiety and be upsetting for you and your child as you adjust to this change. Developing a trusting relationship with educators can help alleviate some anxieties about leaving your child at our service. The settling in period can vary from child to child depending on the individual child’s needs and previous experiences. Being confident and happy will help your child with separation and settling in. Family members can either leave promptly or stay for a brief time to help settle your child. Each child is different. We do encourage you to always say goodbye to your children and reassure them that you will return for them in the afternoon.

We welcome calls to the centre to check on your child during the day. We will always contact you if there are any problems. We encourage you to come down to the centre and visit at any time as we know leaving your child can often be difficult and families place a great deal of trust in us caring for their children.

The majority of children settle in and look forward to attending our centre once they are familiar with their educators, peers and the routine. It is the place they can come to play with their friends, have fun with interesting and developmentally appropriate resources such as play dough, painting, sand play, water play, cutting, pasting, climbing, dress ups, etc. All the time they are playing, they are also learning about the world around them.