Since opening its first day nursery school nearly 25 years ago, Seymour House nursery group has strived to be the best and provide the highest standard of care. And with eight settings all graded outstanding by Ofsted, it is certainly on the right path.
Julie Player, director of the nursery group, which won Nursery World's Nursery Chain of the Year award for 2012, puts the success of Seymour House down to its highly qualified and passionate team of staff.
'We surround ourselves with the right people. It is about sticking to your values and everyone wanting to be a part of it,' she says.
'We're not interested in a mediocre performance and never compromise on quality. Every child deserves outstanding care.'
FAMILY AFFAIR
The family-run nursery group was born in 1988 when Ms Player opened her first setting on Broomfield Road in Chelmsford, Essex.
'I had been thinking about opening a nursery for a while,' she explains. 'In my role as a nurse in the early eighties I visited a lot of children in settings. Back then, staff were seen more as minders than practitioners and some teams just didn't seem very engaged with the children. I wanted a place where children received care and education.'
Her husband joined the business before they opened the second nursery in 1990. After that, Seymour House gradually expanded, with a setting being opened every three to four years within the county of Essex. Two years ago Ms Player's son, Jonathan, came on board as the group's operations director.
The group now has eight nurseries, four in Chelmsford, and others in Basildon, Colchester, Laindon and Wickford, offering a total of 403 registered places.
'Initially, our growth was fast as there was lots of demand,' says Ms Player. 'Companies used to call us looking for childcare provision for their employees. However, after the first two settings we decided to slow things down to ensure consistency of care across the nurseries and make sure we were getting it right.'
She says she made a conscious decision to open settings only in Essex, as the family live in the community they serve, and so know their customers. 'Having settings geographically close to each other is also beneficial to staff as there are lots of opportunities for promotion,' explains Ms Player.
SHARING EXPERIENCE
Seymour House believes having a highly skilled workforce goes hand in hand with delivering a high standard of care. The group employs more than 160 members of staff and aims to maintain a team that is 100 per cent qualified to at least Level 3.
In line with this, the organisation introduced a dual leadership structure within its nurseries to provide the breadth of experience, knowledge and skills required to lead an outstanding setting.
Nursery managers are qualified practitioners with considerable experience who oversee the day-to-day running of settings, while heads of early years practice are qualified teachers or practitioners with Early Years Professional Status and can be found leading the educational programme.
Heads of early years practice meet monthly to share experiences and to put strategies in place. Earlier this year, they developed and released a reading and writing programme and are now working on a numeracy scheme.
The nursery group says the dual leadership approach allows for a higher level of specialism and produces a robust management.
Operations director Jonathan Player explains that nursery managers and heads of early years practice work together in roles that complement each other.
He says, 'Any situation that comes up within a setting requires both a nursery manager and head of early years practice. When we recruit for staff, the nursery manager of a setting advertises the post, while a head of early years practice will check candidates have the right qualifications and will fit within the setting. Both carry out interviews.
'Planning of resources also requires both roles, with a manager controlling a nursery's budget and a head of early years practice looking at what equipment the children need and its benefits.'
Within their roles, nursery managers and heads of early years practice help carry out rigorous internal audits of the group's settings twice a year.
The audits, which form part of Seymour House's reflective practice, consider the standard of care, buildings and outdoor areas, along with checking there is uniformity across the group's eight settings.
'If any non-conformance is detected within the nurseries, a decision is made to either give staff more training or sometimes there is the flexibility for a requirement to be changed or removed,' explains Mr Player.
FUTURE LEADERS
Career progression is encouraged at Seymour House. Team members looking to extend their knowledge of early years and education can attend the nursery group's voluntary informal future leaders sessions.
The bi-monthly event gives practitioners the chance to meet colleagues from other nurseries, share their experiences and learn about topical issues. They also help to build a bridge between practitioners and management. According to Mr Player, around 30 people usually attend the sessions, which have been running for the past two years.
An internal Swap Shop also allows practitioners to develop their experience and share good practice working at another setting within the group.
'The Swap Shop is good for practitioners who perhaps have worked in one room for a while and want to expand on their experience working with older children in order to progress their career,' explains Mr Player.
'They can put a message on the system and then if someone else is looking for a similar thing they can swap places for a couple of weeks. The Swap Shop offers an opportunity to see new rooms and progress.'
Recognising and celebrating the achievements of staff and making them feel appreciated is high on the nursery group's priorities.
Team members are rewarded with the Seymour House Recognition Awards, including categories such as notable contribution and customer care, 100 per cent attendance and notable performance and contribution, as recommended by managers.
Staff who have worked at Seymour House for five years or ten years and over are invited to special dinner clubs. Last year, 12 people attended the ten year dinner. The group also offers long service awards.
READY FOR GROWTH
With the nursery group on track for delivering outstanding care, Seymour House has plans to expand, and expects to open another two settings.
Ms Player says, 'We have two nurseries in the pipeline that will open in the next 24 months.'
She adds, 'In the early days, I had a certain number of nurseries that I wanted to get to, but not now. It has to be the right nursery, in the right area, with the right environment. If a setting ticks all the boxes I will never say no.'
CELEBRATING EXCELLENCE
Seymour House won nursery chain of the year at the Nursery World Awards 2012, held at the Lancaster London hotel on 28 September. For details and pictures, go to www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/1152760/night.
Look out for details of how to enter next year's awards at www.nurseryworldawards.com.
