Giving practitioners time to talk during hectic times brings many rewards, say Nicola Bushell and Hayley Cannell, joint managers of Oakey Dokeys Pre-school, in Essex.

Talking to our staff has always come naturally to us. After each session, we reflect on our key children with each other; we plan for the next day; we talk about challenges, and discuss any other business that comes up. However, with the emphasis now on supervision in the revised EYFS, we have developed a mentoring system that will incorporate all these conversations and work alongside our appraisal system.

The new s system has provided an opportunity to discuss issues such as key children's learning and development and professional development for practitioners in a more formal and regular way.

After a little research into mentoring we found a summary, which summed up what we wanted to achieve from the sessions: to support and encourage people to manage their own learning in order that they may maximise their potential, develop their skills and improve their performance.

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