Four Oaks Playgroup

in association with Four Oaks Primary School

‘Settling in’ and ‘Open house’ policy

We want children to feel safe and happy in the absence of their parents, to recognize 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 our playgroup.  In order to accomplish this we;

• Encourage parents to visit playgroup with their children during the weeks before an admission is planned
• Have flexible admission procedures to meet the needs of individual families and children
• Introduce new families into playgroup on a staggered basis, for example two new children a day for a week rather than 10 new children all at once
• Support all families for as long as it takes for their child to settle in
• Actively encourage parents of new children to with their child to settle them if necessary
• Encourage parents , where appropriate, to separate from their children for brief periods at first, gradually building up to longer absences
• Reassure parents whose children seem to be taking a long time settling into our playgroup
• Comfort objects are initially welcome to help settle new children
• Please be punctual when collecting your child as it can be upsetting for your child if everyone else is there and you are not.
• Please name all items belonging to your child.  Children (and parents!) can be upset if an item of clothing or a favourite toy goes missing.

Our settling in procedures aim to help parents to help their children to feel comfortable in our playgroup, to benefit from what we have to offer and to be confident that their parents will return at the end of the session.  We therefore operate an ‘open house’ policy to enable you to feel comfortable in visiting playgroup if and when you feel necessary. 

Child protection

Playgroup has a Child Protection Policy. Where abuse is suspected, the playgroup is legally obliged to contact the Local Authority Children’s Safeguarding board.  A copy of the child protection policy is available on the playgroup notice board for inspection. 

 In keeping with the policy we request that all parents/guardians agree to sign a confidentiality agreement, the aim of which is to protect to child’s right to privacy whilst in playgroup.

 As we ask every parent to be involved with playgroup, we also ask all parents to be Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checked.  This requires the completion of a form which will be given to you when your child’s place is confirmed.

Security

For your child security all doors out of playgroup are alarmed and entry can be gained via the buzzer system.  Each child must be signed in by their accompanying adult at the beginning of a session and signed out when they leave.  You must notify one of the Aunties if someone other than yourself will be collecting your child from playgroup.