One of the main aspects of supporting staff to support children is to recognise that staff are an effective resource. This is true of one of the Reggio Emilia's principles - that the practitioner is given equal importance and is seen as the second teacher, the first teacher being, of course, the child's parents.
One of the concepts that I shared with the managers was how they can adapt the four EYFS themes when supporting staff. For example:
- How they treat staff as individuals (unique child)
- How they support team building, promote positive relationships with children and parents (positive relationships)
- How they make sure staff have an effective and resourceful environment, to carry out their job to the best of their ability (enabling environment)
- How they prioritise the continuous professional and personal development of all staff (learning and development).
Using a similar process with managers can help them to focus on these four areas and ask reflective questions around what they are doing to support staff.
As we know, the main principle of the EYFS is that we start with the children and focus on their interests. Managers need to be able to help staff understand the four themes and how they can observe, assess and plan for children's next steps.
I discussed with the managers how we need staff to consider that children have different starting points, depending on their age, stage and ability. We also compared the developmental needs of boys and girls and how the environment will help both genders with their learning and development.
Melanie Jenkins, pedagogue from Cheshire East and co-ordinator of the training, reports that the feedback from the mid-course review was positive.
'Delegates commented that what they had found most useful was sharing and networking with other managers, and being able to define different areas of the leadership and management role more clearly,' she says. 'Others appreciated the opportunity to be able to meet people with the same concerns and issues as themselves and to pick up on new ideas.'
Respectful relationships
Session three of the training focused on supporting staff effectively by creating a positive staff team, exploring effective ways to provide feedback, conducting strategic appraisals and identifying staff members' training needs.
I stressed the importance of 'caring, genuineness and understanding' (Carl Rogers, 1983), in creating a positive emotional environment for staff and children. The need for managers to have good communication skills, particularly the ability to tune in to others' feelings, and to be sensitive to different styles of communication was also emphasised.
Discussions centred on existing systems for supporting staff, such as appraisals and staff meetings, and ways to build on them by introducing mentoring and peer evaluation. Managers were told they need to develop positive, respectful relationships with their staff team. This involves showing empathy with their issues and concerns, actively listening and responding to them, sharing ideas and offering practical support, and working together to find solutions.
Lively discussion arose around staffing scenarios, such asa making negative comments on Facebook, leaving children unsupervised, and theft. Delegates discussed whether the issues related to capability and/or conduct, the potential risk to children, and the possible impact on other staff and the setting's reputation. They considered how they might handle the situations and what policies and procedures they could draw on to help them.
Following session three, pedagogue support was focused on supporting staff with the completion of the self-evaluation audit from the Early Years Quality Improvement Support Programme. The information gathered from the audit was used to inform action plans and identify the best resources to purchase, using the Quality Improvement funding. Delegates provided excellent feedback from their visits to each others' settings, commenting that it had been enlightening to see how other managers in the same type of provision met the challenges of the role and organised their environment and staff.
The final session aimed to consider how managers could support young children's learning and development, and unpick how creativity and critical thinking can be encouraged. I acknowledged that practitioners are the best resource for supporting children's learning and development, and discussed how to support them with effective observation, assessment and planning. Managers were then asked to complete an EYFS Audit to evidence how their setting meets each of the EYFS Themes and Principles, and identify priorities for development.
Confidence boost
Linking back to our third session, it was emphasised that staff are in the best place to support children when their own emotional needs are met, drawing on the 'Positive Psychology' approach advocated by psychologists such as Carl Rogers, which focuses on developing individual strengths. The last reflective task asked managers to use the National Strategies' 'Progress Matters' and 'Playing, Learning and Interacting' documents to evaluate how well they support staff to maintain teaching and learning in their settings.
Final pedagogue visits were focused on evaluating the impact of the training on managers and their settings. Helen Jones of Elworth Preschool, Sandbach, summed up the feedback, saying, 'The course has been a really positive and inspiring experience. I found completing the learning log has really developed my ability to evaluate my own practice. I found the networking opportunities particularly valuable and something I will definitely continue with.' Ms Jones also felt the course had improved her confidence with completing written assignments and prepared her to undertake her foundation degree.
This positive feedback was reinforced by a confidence rating/knowledge and skills audit undertaken by delegates on the launch day and at the final session. Managers reported that the main benefit of the training was an increase in their confidence levels.
Melanie Jenkins emphasised that she felt the course had had a real impact on both practitioners' theoretical understanding and their practical knowledge of leadership and management, and would help them support staff to achieve positive outcomes for children.
LEARNING TO VALUE STAFF: A DELEGATE'S VIEW
Samantha Higgins, Early Years Professional and supervisor at Alderley Edge Pre-school, says, 'Just as we recognise the importance of providing children with quality time, as managers we have to ensure we do the same for our staff. It is easy to think that as we work together every day, staff are able to speak to us whenever the need arises, but if we want staff to feel really valued and respected, then they deserve some quality time too! By allocating time for individual half-term meetings with my staff I am able to learn more about their personal and professional needs, developing an ongoing dialogue of their concerns and aspirations and offering the support they really need.
'I have also begun to reflect on what the setting offers staff through the four themes of the EYFS. Have I taken account of their uniqueness and individual needs? We spend a lot of time making sure the environment really works for the children in our care, but how does it work for my staff? Do they have the resources necessary to enable them to do their job effectively?
'To support staff to maintain learning and teaching within the setting, I ensure that I spend time working alongside them, so they understand what is meant by terms like "sustained shared thinking" and what it actually looks like in practice. After completing this course I will certainly be encouraging them to start their own learning logs so they too can reflect on what they have learned from training and recognise the benefits it brings for the children in their care when they implement it.'
Laura Henry is managing director of Childcare Consultancy. E-mail info@childcareconsult.co.uk or phone 020 8689 7733
