First settling in session

Hi, we took our son to his first settling in session in a nursery today and it didn’t feel right. We were taken to the the toddler room by one of the staff. While we were doing the paperwork with her, my son played with cars in the room , there were 2 more staff but none of them said hi to him or talked to him. There were other toddlers busy with other things, some were wandering around. We stayed for about 1.30 hours in the room but no one talked to him. Basically he played with the toys and we left. Is this how it is done in the UK? Is this the norm? (We are expats and new here, so dont know the procedure)

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I work in a nursery in the UK and this would definitely not happen at ours. We make sure we interact with the child and make them feel as comfortable as possible. He should also be assigned a key worker who should have spent the majority of time with him, have they told you who his key worker is? X

Just thinking of the nursery my little one is at & I would be surprised if this was the experience a new parent had, so it is a little strange that no one even said hello to him or interacted with him. Did they make any eye contact with you, or smile, etc? When my little one settled in, there were three members of staff in the baby room & other babies too, & they all interacted with us & our little one - they even got my little one an apron & bits so she could join in the water play activity they were busy with at the time. Are there any more settling in sessions booked in? x

It seems strange to me you’re not allowed in and you have not met his key worker as it is important for not only him but you as his parents to build a relationship with them. It doesn’t sound the best in my personal opinion

Actually, we did the paper work with the assistant manager in a corner in the toddler room. The othe staff didn’t interact with us, no eye contact. I thought it is afternoon, they are busy with the kids. And we have 2 more settling sessions and they said we are not allowed in them. That is their policy.

Thank you for your reply Leah. I asked about the key worker and they said he will bond with one of them in the next session, in which are not allowed in and that person will be his key worker.

Even so, it’s still strange that there was no interaction. I also find it strange that they haven’t informed you of who your little ones key worker is as they are an important person for him & for you as parents also. We were told at the first session who the key worker would be & the role they would play, & even if this has had to change, we’ve always been kept informed.

Thank you guys. I knew something was wrong.

That doesn't seem right, when my LO had settling in sessions, all the staff came to speak to her and the children were curious so came up to her as well, and 1 member of staff stayed with her

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