What actually happens in a settling week

Every child gets four free settling sessions before their first paid day, and we will add more if they are needed. Here is how the week usually goes, though plenty of children rewrite it.

Session one — you stay

An hour in the room with you in it. Your child's key person introduces herself, finds out what your child does at home for sleep and food, and mostly lets your child ignore her. You will do almost nothing, which is the point.

Session two — you go for twenty minutes

You leave the room, stay in the building, and come back before anything becomes difficult. Some children barely look up. Some cry for ninety seconds. Both are normal and neither predicts the rest of the week.

Session three — a meal without you

Ninety minutes covering either lunch or tea, because eating somewhere new is its own hurdle. You will get a message halfway through telling you what happened, not what we hoped would happen.

Session four — a short ordinary day

Three hours including a sleep or a quiet hour. By the end of this one we usually know what your child needs, and so do you.

If it goes badly

Then we slow down. A fortnight of short sessions costs you nothing and saves months of difficult mornings. No family has ever been charged for settling in twelve years, and we are not about to start.