Settling in

Starting care is a bigger moment for you than it is for anyone else in the room, and we plan for that. Nothing here is a rule — it's what usually works, and we'll shape it around your child.

The first fortnight

We start with two short visits where you stay — an hour or so each, enough to meet the educators, find the bathroom, and let your child discover the mud kitchen while you're still there. Then a half day, then a full day. Most children are settled by the end of the second week; some take longer, and that is genuinely fine.

Six children sit on a woven mat with their backs to the camera while an educator holds open a picture book of Australian birds, framed botanical prints on the timber wall behind her. — The end of the day, once everyone has settled

What we'll tell you

You'll get a message mid-morning on the first few days — not a cheerful nothing, the actual picture. If your child cried for twenty minutes and then went out to the garden, that's what we'll say. If it was a hard day, we'll say that too, and what we tried.

What to bring

Gumboots, a spare set of clothes that can get properly muddy, and anything that helps at sleep time — a comforter, a particular blanket. Meals, nappies, wipes and sunscreen are all included, so there's nothing else to pack.

A row of children's gumboots — navy, pink, green and patterned — lined up on a timber shelf by the door, with a basket of produce on the shelf below. — Bring boots. They will be used.

I was ready for a fortnight of tears. What I got was a photo at ten past nine of her elbow-deep in the worm farm, and a message saying she'd asked where I was twice and then forgotten.
Renae, Ivy's mum