Monday
The alarm goes off around 6.45am, so it's up and in the shower before I decide to hit the snooze button! I began thinking about the week on Sunday afternoon so that I could be organised with all my bags packed.
Cereal, coffee, kiss the cat and I'm out - hoping that the automatic feeder kicks in, as my fiance and I are both away for a couple of nights. The motorway networks are all familiar and thank goodness I have decided to avoid the M6 as the traffic report says the queues are terrible. I'm heading for one of Leapfrog's southern nurseries from my home in Cheshire, so I should be there in about three hours.
We have a new pre-school co-ordinator who is eager and raring to go. We need to go through all the necessary documentation together and assess what is happening within the pre-school room at the moment. When I enter the room one little boy says, 'Mummy, it's my mummy!' All the children then join in with, 'Are you his mummy?' It must be my warm nature with the children, or indeed I am someone's double.
Tuesday
After staying overnight at a hotel close to the nursery I am back again for about 8am as I am running a training course. When I arrive this time I have a carload of equipment to unpack - muscles are essential in my role. Out of my modest Ford Ka comes a flip-chart stand, a projector stand and projector, along with various boxes containing all my handouts and bits and pieces. I load them into the lift and then into the training room to set up and await the arrival of my attendees. Courses usually close at approximately 4pm, so after a full day's training it's time to pack up the car again and head out for the M25 and the return journey home. Get back at 8pm and it's only Tuesday!
Wednesday
I'm heading out to two nurseries today, both within an hour's drive of each other, so I can spend quality time in each over one day. The journey begins at about 8.30am and I should be there around 10.30am. You've got to like your own company to do the driving in this job but then, on the other hand, I also spend a lot of time talking to people both individually and in large groups, so it's a bit like dipping into hot and cold water - I like the contrast. It's also great to visit nurseries in different areas as I am able to share everyone's new approaches.
The nursery manager greets me at the first setting when I get there and takes me on a tour of the nursery. We discuss issues in detail and work together to find solutions. Then it's back to chat further with the unit co-ordinators and their teams and on to nursery number two.
Back home around 7pm and decide to blow the dust off my bike and go for a short cycle before I flop in front of the box - after driving for most of the week or sitting at my desk, I need to exercise!
Thursday
Today I hope to collect some new resources and ideas as I head off to the Early Years and Primary Teaching exhibition run by Nursery World in Manchester. I am designing a course on 'Story Sacks' and hopefully I will find some great videos by Neil Griffiths, the founder of story sacks, to present to my audience.
I am like a child in a sweet shop, touring the stands for inspiration and ideas, not to mention making purchases, which of course is essential. I find the videos I wanted, plus some suppliers of multi-cultural resources and music to help me out with resource boxes that I am putting together.
Friday
This is my major admin day at our central office in Burton-on-Trent. It's great to catch up with my colleagues. There are meetings to attend and I manage to clear my in-tray. It's been a very productive week. I'm shattered but have a great sense of achievement. I love my job - every day is different and this keeps me motivated with all the different challenges I face.
