We want children to feel safe and happy in the absence of their parents, to recognise other adults as a source of authority, help and friendship and to be able to share with their parents afterwards the new learning experiences enjoyed in the pre-school. We also want parents to feel welcome and involved from the beginning.

In order to accomplish this, we aim to create a partnership with parents in the following ways:

• by creating opportunities for the exchange of information, using among other resources a copy of the pre-school’s prospectus

• by ensuring plentiful opportunities for parents to inform the pre-school about their children’s current achievements and interests

• by encouraging parents to visit the pre-school with their children during the weeks before an admission is planned.

• by offering to arrange a home visit in order to gain more insight into the child's background and needs and to allow the child and family to become familiar with pre-school adults.

• by introducing flexible admission procedures, if appropriate, to meet the needs of individual families and children.

• by making clear to families from the outset that they will be welcome and supported in the pre-school for as long as it takes to settle their child there.

• by reassuring parents whose children seem to be taking a long time settling into the pre-school.

• by encouraging parents, where appropriate, to separate from their children for brief periods at first, gradually building up to longer absences.

Children cannot play or learn successfully if they are anxious and unhappy. Our settling procedures aim to help parents and children to feel comfortable in the pre-school, and to ensure that children can benefit from what the group has to offer and feel confident that their parents will return at the end of the session.

This policy was adopted at the Blakesley Pre-School Playgroup Annual General Meeting on 30th June 2003