• Settling In
  • By Amelia Hart

What a good settling-in week actually looks like

Almost every parent asks the same question on the tour: how long will the crying last? The honest answer is that it depends far less on your child than on how the first week is structured.

Separation is a skill children learn, not a trait they are born with. Our job is to make the practice sessions short, predictable and boring.

We run the same five days for everyone. Day one is an hour with you in the room. Day two, the same hour, but you read a book in the hall for ten minutes of it. Day three is where most settings rush; we do not.

  • Say goodbye once, clearly, and then leave
  • Keep the handover under ninety seconds
  • Send the same comfort object every day
  • Expect a wobble in week three — it is normal