There have been times when as manager I have not felt as 'in touch' or aware of the planning that was being implemented in each group as I would like. In wanting to give staff the autonomy to plan for their own groups of children, I have had to accept that I will not be able to directly control the activities that are offered. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as all staff have unique ideas and approaches to bring to the children they care for.
However, it is important that I at least have an overview of the planning being implemented. I need this overview for many reasons - so that I can be sure we are meeting the requirements of the EYFS, so that I can respond to questions from parents, so I can support staff if they encounter any challenges, and so I can be sure we are caring for the children in the best possible way. This mattered even more once we moved to 'Key person planning' - some staff who had never had responsibility for planning were now actively involved in it and delivering activities to their key children and it was important that they in particular felt supported.
I therefore decided to implement a system of 'planning review meetings'. Each week I sit with a different member of staff and we look through their planning and their key children's profiles. By asking the staff to explain to me what they have done and why, they really have to think through the process themselves before they can outline it to me. It has been helpful in many ways. The staff have the opportunity to ask me questions without feeling as though they are admitting to a weakness; they feel as though their contributions and ideas are valued; we have identified problems and thought through solutions. I have felt 'involved' without having to personally 'do' the planning.
By rotating through the staff each week I get to review each group's planning once a month. It's early days yet, but I feel it works for me, enabling me to keep in touch, while at the same time empowering all the staff.
