Nursery class change has affected toddlers behaviour

[DevelopmentQuestions]

My toddler (2 years old) goes to nursery. She had a little sister 6 months. We kept her at nursery for 3 days a week during my maternity leave because she was doing so well (loved it), kept things consistent and gave me time to focus on baby (or a bit more quality time on her on the 4 days together).

My toddler has a big personality, she is loud and confident. But yet she is calm, sensitive to others emotions, she is kind, very verbal, gentle to (and fascinated by) animals and other children. She is good out , holds hands etc.

She has just moved nursery class. A week in and she has been "wild"/manic/excitable/unsettled.

Her old class was a baby class for under 2s. She was the eldest. The people who work there show very strong empathy and use "gentle parenting" type teaching . It's helped her develop her confident and big personality in a calm environment. She is always "in to everything" but it's in a gentle and considered way . It's been a great balance for her. Everyone comments on how fun and kind to others she is. She makes them laugh and is clever.

She is now in the over 2 class and is the youngest. Her behaviour at home has changed in a week. She has been hitting us to hurt (new behaviour - did it about 6 times). She has been overbearing to her little sister. She had been more physical, climbing on things, not calm, doesn't listen, trying to rebel. It's been our hardest parenting day yesterday. She is laughing and grinning a lot. But I'm not sure she is happy and suspect she is manic/unsettled.

Her peers are now much older and everyone in her class is new. A lot of them are about to move to preschool and so can be up to 18 months older. The staffing ratio has gone from 3:1 to what looks like 6:1. She gets more freedoms to explore the "big garden". It feels like they are supervised but much more independent. She seems to have fun but I think she needs to be getting calm and peace from her environment. She has also come back home talking about "hitting".

I'm worried about how she is being treated. That whilst she has a big grin and seems superficially happy, that maybe the biggest children aren't being nice to her and that's showing through her expression of violence at home. Or course it could be just the change that has really unsettled her.

Does anyone else have similar nursery experiences? Did it get better as they settle? Do you think it's a sign in insecurities that she is expressing? How can I help her find herself?

When I say others children might not be being kind to her. I don't mean they are "bad".

I think the scenario would be that she knows how to be the biggest (and is in control in this position). But now she has to work out how to be the smallest. She needs to learn that. When she gets it wrong, she could be frustrating the bigger children. I worry that the way she has been at home is reflecting how she is being treated. She has always been sensitive to others emotions.

It breaks my heart to think that she might not be feeling safe and secure when at nursery for 8 hours!! I worry that's a traumatic experience that she can't express to us

What do nursery say, both about how things have been day to day and about how she's dealing with the change? Have you asked them about the hitting? Do you generally think the nursery is good at managing the children's behaviour, and how did they manage the transition between rooms?

Could some of the behaviour at home be due to tiredness or overstimulation? She's got access to new parts of the garden, running about trying to keep up with older children, lots of new playmates, new staff members, new activities aimed at a slightly higher developmental level. Does she maybe need extra chill, easy evenings for a bit (easy to eat tea that you know she likes, stories/colouring/TV, maybe help her a bit more with shoes/coat/pyjamas than usual), and slightly earlier bedtime?

I would also say that a week is a very short amount of time – she definitely sounds unsettled by the change, but that doesn't necessarily mean that anything is wrong. It may just be that it's a big change, and it takes time to adjust.