How many nursery sessions should my child attend?

Like all children’s nurseries, our Thrive nurseries in Scotland and North West England pride themselves on offering parents’ flexibility to support different childcare needs and enable many to return to the workplace. But is there an optimum number of nursery sessions a child should attend?

General Manager of Corner House Nursery in Stirling, Jane Harris, believes there are some key things to consider when booking and structuring a child’s nursery attendance:

“To enable a child to build secure attachments with their key worker, plus develop relationships with other children, we recommend a minimum of two nursery sessions a week – ideally spaced out.

“Regular attendance, spread out over the course of a week, supports a child’s wellbeing by providing consistency while avoiding long absences from the childcare setting, which can hinder a child’s settling in process.

“Familiar faces and home-from-home routines are especially important for younger children and babies to build a bond with their key worker, and this stability is easier to establish with multiple nursery sessions.

“The benefits of frequent nursery attendance for older children include tailored learning plans featuring unique individual interests noted by a child’s key worker. For example, a particular interest mentioned by a child at the start of a week could be developed into an engaging activity at their next session.”

Jane adds that nursery sessions are designed to be flexible around parent finances and requirements, while also developing children into confident, independent individuals ready to take on the world:

“Multiple nursery sessions don’t have to be full days. If only one day of childcare is possible, we would suggest splitting this over the course of two mornings or two afternoons.

“Our aim is to work in partnership with parents to deliver the best childcare possible to suit both parent and child.”

If you are interested in a place at one of our Thrive Nurseries, our Nursery Manager will be happy to discuss your options. When you bring your child along for their settling-in sessions, their key person will also talk to you about how to help them to settle in. To find out more, see our blog on the Settling-in process.