Having been leader of Southwark Reception Unit for over a year now, it is time to reflect on the steep learning curve that I have climbed! Although I have been in early years education for many years, leading a team of professionals to provide that high quality, play based learning has been a whole new experience!
A different staffing structure in September has provided the opportunity to create a really strong team. We have changed from having six key groups led by three teaching assistants and three teachers, to having four key groups staffed entirely by teachers.
This has freed up the teaching assistants to concentrate on supporting the teaching staff, and the teaching staff can now have full control of their key group. This change also meant my initial time-tabling headache returned! I now had to juggle a timetable to ensure that each teacher could focus and observe their own class, while still maintaining good levels of staffing for outdoor learning and indoor enhancements.
This has been solved with the introduction of a two week rolling programme – over the course of a fortnight each teacher spends two days on focused activities, two days doing formal observations, two days outdoors and two days indoors supporting enhancements.
Teachers take it in turns to lead the planning meetings, providing a range of activities to cover all apects of the EYFS. My role is to monitor the spread of focused activities, and the quality of the plans produced.
This leads me on to what I have learned most about leadership – monitoring. It is important to apply a monitoring process to all aspects of the unit: planning, assessment, continuous provision, evidence collection, behaviour, special needs (and more!). As a leader, by monitoring all of these elements I can identify any gaps we may have in the curriculum, the needs of individual children and ensure that each class has the same opportunities and experiences. It also means I can support staff when needed to maintain high standards across the unit, and target training to fill the greatest needs.
When it comes to leadership, I am learning all the time. I am very fortunate to have a fantastic team to work with. And I feel that, as a team, we are continually moving forwards to provide the best we can for the children that we are privileged to teach. They deserve the best!
Leisa Towle is nursery leader at Southwark Primary School Nursery in Nottingham
