Spotlight on…Rachael McNair

How does it feel to be awarded Educational Leader of the Year in Suffolk?

The Raising the Bar Awards is Suffolk’s programme to improve levels of educational attainment across the county from early years right through to colleges. I was up against two wonderful head teachers so was surprised to win. It’s great to put early years on the map for staff, who see the effect they have on the children and their outcomes. It’s also helping us be part of the wider early years community.

What has been achieved at Meadow Brook?

Meadow Brook is a small community setting that runs as a charity. Part of my job when I joined was to expand the provision, and we now run full daycare from 8am-6pm Monday to Friday for 50 weeks of the year. It was also about stabilising the setting’s finances as a not-for-profit so we could reinvest in the charity – most particularly in training for our staff but also in providing hot meals for all the children. After six months in charge we had our first Ofsted inspection in seven years and got a Good rating.

How have you achieved this?

It was a really big feat for us to be looked at not just as a playgroup but as a professional pre-school. All of the staff had been at the nursery a long time so I sat down with each member individually to get their opinion. As an individual charity I knew we would have to work out the strategy for ourselves. My priority is always for staff to have more time with the children and less paperwork. It’s important for the staff to work through everything themselves so I set projects such as reading about this theorist, or looking at how we can create communication-friendly spaces for two-year-olds. It means the staff are fully involved in how we make everything child-led.