Dropping my son off to nursery for the first time

[Nano234]

My son has just turned 3 and it was his first day at nursery. I haven't met the staff yet but was taken around by the head teacher to the nursery.

I asked at drop off if I could go in to introduce my son to the staff and they said I could only go to the front door.

I dropped him off in the end because he was quite happy to join the kids at the back of the que to go out and I didn't want to make a fuss of it.

What should I have done instead? Was this handled correctly by nursery staff? What sort of things should I be discussing with staff at pick up?

What is there to question? They told you their drop off policy, you followed it, end of. A lot of fuss and hanging about at drop of causes unnecessary dramas.
Go and pick him up, ask him if he had a good day, and repeat tomorrow.

Did you have any settling in days?

Is this a school nursery?

I think it's quite unusual that he hasn't had a taster session and met the staff?

But I guess they know what works best.

Its best to just get them in and not make a fuss. They've usually met the staff before hand though on a visit. And they'll discuss with you what they need to. But no need to hang around hoping to talk to them unless you have an issue to raise.

This sounds perfectly normal. Of course they won't have all the parents in/out of the room, it would be a serious safeguarding concern. Nothing to discuss at pickup - you can say 'oh how was he?' Etc but they won't have time to field a load of questions. They'll tell you if there's something you need to know.

I think doing what you did (dropping off at the door) was best - it meant it wasn't made into a big deal or daunting thing for him.

I would ask how he was after drop off so you can see if you need to adapt the drop off, if all was fine just keep on the way you did this morning.

Ask about naps (they may have a nap for all children) and if he needs anything (blanket or soft toy). But otherwise keep it light. You will most likely get a report from the staff anyway letting you know if he slept, went to the toilet and any food or drink.

The above might be different if a school nursery though. But anyway, just keep it all light and breezy at drop off.

This is really unusual for us and I wouldn't like it. I would expect this from a pre-school setting, but not from a private nursery.
And I would want to see the room and meet the staff (particularly their key worker and teacher if there are any) during the settling sessions.

We drop off and pick up in the room, know all the staff, and someone give us a brief update about their day when we pick them up.

Every single nursery around us have the parents in the kids room for pickup and drop off, this is not a safeguarding issue.

I assume it makes it easier for them to manage the flow of parents, particularly if they have strict set times for start and end of day.

Totally normal for a school nursery although most had a settling in day, did you miss it?

You followed the process, nothing to question them about when he comes out, if there's an issue they'll come to you.

Don't ask him what he did as you won't get an answer. Ask him to tell you about something funny, something interesting, something that made him happy etc and be specific.

I think I feel uneasy as I have never met the staff there and it is his first day. There is no official settling in day and it is part of a pre-school.

I think he will be fine himself, he has been to a nursery before and likes to be a little "grown up".

I'm not really worried about him but I think it would have been good to introduce myself to the staff there. Or even for my son to be able to know who his key workers are or for a bit of an orientation.

I think it's quite unusual that he hasn't had a taster session and met the staff?

My thoughts exactly. If he’s happy then that’s obviously a good thing, but I like to see the setting and meet the staff. I’d also expect the staff to want to meet my DS.

Yes I think the same. When we went the headteacher spent ages taking us around the whole school. When we went to the nursery the kids were being read to and introductions didn't happen so I assumed it would have happened today.