Management - Time out

  Saying goodbye to the children for the holidays is always tinged with sadness. Once the transition paperwork and meeting and greeting has taken place, the month of August can seem quite flat. This is where I come in.

The best part (I think) about working in daycare is that we never stand still, and so as one door closes for a group of children, we are welcoming the next. Yes, August is much quieter across all our ten nurseries, but for me as operations director it gives me a small window to breathe, take stock and also learn and plan for the coming days. This means revising policies and projects and looking at the bigger picture – what do I need to do to continue to build on our offer. This year, a full grasp of the 30 hours implementation also has to be added into the mix.

The team

During August, I make sure that all managers and support members have a clear SMART action plan agreed (goals which are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely). Key themes for these include closing any gaps in occupancy and considering the marketing and possible networking that will be needed.

Every member of our team must have a voice at this time of year to be able to reflect and move on and beyond with confidence and ease. So, I try and make myself much more visible across all the settings. I praise and look at environments and plans from the whole team to be able to give constructive input and to push for those extra pounds where needed (I also try to stay in the extra good books of our finance team at this time of year!).

I have created working parties, and this is a time when I can sit back and look at their effectiveness and consider future topics for debate. We have a Curriculum Party, Forest School Working Party, a Menu Improvement Working Party, and Deputy Managers Working Party. A key success of these working parties is with morale, projects are communicated better and we have a wide range of practitioners who have a voice – and this means they feel listened to and will want to progress with us.

We also have a steering group that considers new initiatives for the forward movement of the company. From this we decided to give the staff a day off on their birthdays.

This is also the time when I can really delve into policies and procedures and try and make these as tight as possible. I also read up on any local and national changes. One of my missions is to focus on converting these text-heavy documents into flowcharts to make them more interesting and easier to read.

Staff engagement is important too. This time of year is an opportunity to look at carrying out some peer-on-peer observations to look at the gaps in staff knowledge, praise the excellent and to find next steps. Peer-on-peer observation allows you, as a senior member of staff, to look at informing your practitioners and managers that they are doing a great job and they are on track – or, from time to time, slightly off key. This is so important to making my role work and an area of importance for their and my CPD.

Families

This is another area I focus on more this time of year than ever. When reflecting on how transitions went, I ask myself if we could do more with our linked primary schools. Was the energy and drive reciprocated by the primary schools? What are the lessons learnt for next time?

This is a great time to meet with my senior team to look at this in greater depth to give the children, and especially their families, greater confidence to make that next leap.

This is also when we review our USPs. What are they? How do we get the families involved as much as possible in their child’s learning and development? It is important for me to get everyone on board with having this in the forefront of their minds, as well as ways to make these come alive.

This is a good opportunity for me to catch up on extra reading on any new initiatives and ideas that are circulating to get families more engaged.

Children

It is important that the settling-in paperwork and processes are slick and for key staff to make sure they are confident with how to use them. It is also necessary for less-experienced members of staff and newcomers to sit with their mentor and go through this process ready for September. My role within this is to challenge managers and my senior team to be able to face a range of scenarios that families may bring, and to have the ability and confidence to answer them.

The company

I am clear and passionate about the direction in which Hungry Caterpillars wants to go. August allows some group time to be able to revisit projects, tick off actions and make sure everyone is happy.

We are facing some uncertainty with the 30 hours coming on board in September, and it is about us as a whole team giving families the message and to be able to operate in a viable way without degrading care, learning and teaching. This will make up a huge part of my work with my colleagues in the weeks to come, but we have a positive team so this will not overly faze us.

We are always coming up with ways to embrace change within the diverse communities that we serve. If the sector wasn’t ever-changing, I don’t think I would consider ringing in another 20 busy years doing what I love. Nonetheless, I am thankful for August.