Induction day at preschool

[Mummydaddydaughter]

Hello,
So I posted a week or so ago about my dd who is due to start preschool in September. She’s never been looked after by anyone other than me, my dh and my mum.
We went to an open evening a week ago and she was totally overwhelmed and wanted to be picked up the entire time. It was a bit of a nightmare tbh.
Today she went to a induction afternoon which was 1-2pm. Apparently it’s their protocol to not allow parents inside for the settling sessions, they simply ask you to drop your child off and go. I knew this would cause problems as my dd is very shy and timid and has also never been looked after by anyone she doesn’t know extremely well.
I’d had an email about it a week ago and so I have been preparing her for what to expect. They had some lovely photos on their website of the room which I showed to my dd and she was especially pleased when she saw their toy kitchen. I have seen the room due to the open evenings they’ve held and I’m very pleased with how it’s set up.
Anyway we turned up at 1pm today and my dd was quite excited surprisingly. She said hello to the teacher and then said bye mummy and walked straight in - no tears!
However, about 20 mins after I’d dropped her off I got a phone call from the preschool to say that my dd was inconsolable and had been the entire time so far and how she just wasn’t able to be comforted. They did say they were happy to keep her and keep trying to settle her however they said they’d also be happy for me to pick her up early.
So I decided to go and get her and when I arrived she was hysterical - I thought her walking in nicely was too good to be true!
I now feel really guilty for going to get her as maybe if I’d left her she would’ve settled and maybe I didn’t give her a long enough chance to?
Should I have left her longer?
Also I now worry as she’s not got anymore settling sessions until September, when she goes in September she’ll only remember screaming for me and crying hysterically which isn’t good. Wwyd? Thanks everyone for reading Xx

I wouldn’t send her in September, pre school is optional and she clearly isn’t ready. Maybe try again in January when she is older or Easter.

No massively helpful advice except that we had one of these sessions today and they mentioned also running a weekly playgroup for our younger kids. Could you explore other ways to increase your daughter's comfort until she's ready for the bigger change?

Seems really weird to have just 1 settling in session and so far from the date she will be going?

My DD did 4 sessions settling in, an hour first then building up, and going at slightly different times so he had experienced a meal time/nap time etx, then she literally started properly the week after. No issues. But my DD has also been looked after by lots of different family and friends, was something we focused on from very young

I'd get her used to being apart from you. You've got 2 months to help her be able to feel more confident even when you're not there.

I'd be looking for a local childminder to have her for a couple of afternoons a week. A smaller setting, so more home from home than a preschool, but still getting used to not having you there all the time.

You can't really expect a child who hasn't been in any form of childcare to just go into preschool and not have separation anxiety.

Once settled I'm sure preschool will really help her develop and will obviously help with the subsequent move to Reception when she's old enough.

Thankyou to everyone who has commented so far. It’s been really helpful.
Ideally we would defer her until January as I feel she would be more ready then. However, I’m due another baby around that time and I just feel as though becoming a big sister and starting preschool is too much change in a couple of weeks. I also don’t want her to feel pushed out by the new baby and that the new baby means she has to go to preschool. So starting her in January isn’t great timing really. And if she starts at Easter that means only 2 terms of preschool before she starts school which I don’t think is long enough. So she needs to start in September really.
I like the idea of going to some playgroup/toddler group things actually, I will have a look around and see if any are on during the summer months before she starts. xx

As above, work on her being away from you for longer periods of time. Get in touch with the Nursery and see if she can do more sessions. Is it a school Nursery or private day nursery?