Staff Development and Training

 At Baranbees Preschool we value our staff highly. We believe that ongoing personal and professional development is essential for the delivery of high-quality learning and development opportunities for children in their early years

The overall quality of our preschool is underpinned by our staff having the appropriate qualifications, training, skills, knowledge, and a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities.

Every staff member is given the opportunity to further develop their training, knowledge and skills through a comprehensive and targeted programme of professional development.

We ensure that at least 70% of staff are qualified to Level 3 (or equivalent) or above in childcare and education or Early Years Educator. Other staff working at the nursery are either qualified to Level 2 or undertaking training. Where necessary staff will be supported to achieve a suitable level 2 qualification in English (as defined by the Department for Education on the Early Years Qualifications List) for the completion of the Early Years Educator. We ensure staff have adequate maths knowledge for effective delivery of the EYFS curriculum.

We ensure setting managers appointed on or after 4 January 2024 hold a level 2 maths qualification, or they achieve one within two years of starting in the position.

In addition to this, we ensure that all level 2 and/or level 3 qualified staff (on or after 30 June 2016) have either a full paediatric first aid (PFA) or an emergency PFA certificate within three months of starting work and ongoing in order to include them in the required staff: child ratios at level 2 or level 3.

We strongly promote continuous professional development and all staff have individual training records and training plans to enhance their skills and expertise, which are based on discussions at supervision meetings and appraisal meetings. We have a training budget which is set annually and reviewed to ensure that the team gain external support and training where needed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

To facilitate the development of staff we:

  • Coach, mentor, lead and offer encouragement and support to achieve a high level of morale and motivation
  • Promote teamwork through ongoing communication, involvement and a no blame culture to enhance preschool practice
  • Provide opportunities for delegation based on skills and expertise to offer recognition and empower staff
  • Encourage staff to contribute ideas for change within the setting and hold regular staff meetings to develop these ideas.
  • Encourage staff to further their experience and knowledge by attending relevant external training courses
  • Encourage staff to pass on their knowledge to those who are less experienced and share knowledge from external training with small groups of staff within the setting
  • Carry out regular supervision meetings with all staff. These provide opportunities for staff to discuss any issues particularly concerning children’s development or well-being including child protection concerns, identify solutions to address issues as they arise and receive coaching to improve their personal effectiveness. Staff appraisals are carried out where objectives and action plans for staff are set out, while also identifying training needs according to their individual needs. As the manager is within the room with staff we do often hold discussions there and then when needed, staff approach manager on a daily basis.
  • Develop a training plan that sets out the aims and intended outcomes of any training, addressing both the qualification and continuous professional development needs of the setting and individual staff
  • Promote a positive learning culture within the setting
  • Offer annual team building events
  • Carry out full evaluations of all training events and use these to evaluate the training against the aims set to enable the development of future training programmes to improve effectiveness and staff learning
  • Provide inductions to welcome all new staff and assign a ‘work buddy’ to coach, mentor and support new staff
  • Offer ongoing support and guidance
  • Offer varied information sources including membership of local and national organisations, resources, publications and literature to all staff.