My working life… Nursery school head

Theresa Lane is head teacher of the Rachel McMillan Nursery School and Children’s Centre in Greenwich, London. This setting was the first ‘open-air’ nursery school, set up in England in 1914 by two sisters to help children living in slum conditions.

‘I learned about the McMillan sisters’ pioneering work when I studied my MA. When the head teacher position became available at their nursery school, I knew how special it was.

‘A nursery school is like any other school. We have qualified teachers, but our age range is from two to five. It’s more education than care-based. But we follow the Early Years Foundation Stage like all early years settings, and our learning involves play and is child-led.

‘I arrive at work at 8.15am. At 9am the staff have a ten-minute meeting to discuss the day ahead. Then I open the front gate and greet the children and parents as they arrive. I go out in all weathers and love this part of the day.

‘The children go to their shelter (our word for classroom). We have four shelters of mixed ages. Every shelter is staffed by a qualified teacher, qualified early years practitioners – including one specifically for two-year-olds – and a teaching assistant.

‘Once everyone has gathered, the staff open the doors onto the garden. Each shelter is in a separate building – like a small village – and we encourage the children to spend time outdoors. They can also play in any of the other shelters.

‘At 11.25am, they return to their shelters and have “together time”. This is where teachers split the class into smaller groups, not defined by age, but by what suits the children best. They might have story time, sing songs, or do a maths-based activity.

‘While this is going on I could be doing different tasks, such as paperwork, meeting school governors, or hosting new parents admissions meetings. Our relationship with parents is really important, and any new parents will always meet me first to tell me about their child. I write a picture of the child for staff. We then invite parents to visit several times and stay with their children. Once a start date has been agreed, staff do a home visit. This gives the child a little bit of power, because we’re going into their territory.

‘Any child can attend our nursery school – we don’t have a catchment area – although we only accept two-year-olds classed as disadvantaged. We have 32 in this category. Nursery schools have a tradition of helping worse-off children – 65 per cent of nursery schools in the country are in the 30 per cent most deprived areas. We offer the 15-hours entitlement for three- and four-year-olds, and parents can pay for extra hours. Some children are awarded full-day care funded by the London Borough of Greenwich. A high proportion of our children have special educational needs, particularly autism.

‘Some children go home before lunch, but those who stay eat in their shelter with their teachers. There are two lunch sittings, at 11.45am and 12.30pm. We have our own cook and kitchen. After lunch, afternoon children arrive. We have 135 children on roll at the moment. They are free to play again until 2.55pm when we have another together time. At 3.15pm they go home, and we then have a staff meeting.

‘Although I can get chained to my computer, I get the opportunity to interact with the children as I move around the grounds. I will be retiring in July next year, but the 11 years I’ve worked here have been the best of my career. When I started my career, I never wanted to teach in a nursery. But when I got to early years, I wondered why I hadn’t done it earlier.’

CV

Employment history

1979-1992: Eight roles in seven primary schools around North London and Hertfordshire, including class and music teacher

1992-1993: Frank Barnes School for the Deaf, nursery teacher, Camden

1993-1995: Marlborough Primary School, nursery teacher and deputy head, Kensington and Chelsea

1996-1998: Christopher Hatton Primary School, nursery teacher, Camden

1999-2005: Columbia Primary School, head of early years and assistant head, Tower Hamlets

2005-present: Rachel McMillan Nursery School and Children’s Centre, head teacher, Greenwich

Qualifications

Certificate of Education, La Sainte Union College of Higher Education, 1979

Polytechnic Certificate of Primary School Music, Coventry School of Music, 1990

National Professional Qualification for Headship, 1999

Early Education and Care MA, Pen Green, 2004

National Professional Qualification for Integrated Centre Leadership, 2007

TRAINING

Nursery schools hire qualified early years practitioners. Practitioners will need a level 2 or 3 childcare qualification, the latter currently having an associated maths and English GCSE requirement. A nursery school would require teaching qualifications to apply for teacher, deputy head teacher or head teacher roles.

Useful websites

• National Careers Service
• Early Education’s nursery schools report
• Rachel McMillan Nursery School and Children’s Centre, www.rachelmcmillannursery.co.uk