The early years sector continues to be plagued by the recruitment crisis and providers are rolling out a number of different strategies and team building days to support current and new staff

Understanding the demand in the childcare sector, using effective recruitment approaches, and conducting fair and transparent interviews and decision-making processes are all critical to recruiting and retaining staff.

Training strategies for nursery staff

Training and development opportunities are essential for the growth and success of any nursery. Effective training days can help improve staff performance, increase job satisfaction, and reduce staff turnover.

Induction and onboarding

Induction and onboarding are essential processes that can help new staff members feel welcome and supported. It is essential to provide new staff members with a comprehensive induction programme that covers all aspects of the nursery’s policies, procedures, and practices.

During the onboarding process, you should assign a mentor to support staff members to help them settle in and answer any questions they may have.

Continued learning and development

Continued learning and development are essential for the growth and success of your nursery staff. You should provide your staff with regular training and development opportunities to help them improve their skills and knowledge. This can include attending training courses, workshops, and conferences.

Jennifer Lewis, chief executive of Clever Cloggs Day Nursery and Smarty Pants Abbey Lane Nursery believes that training and career development is absolutely critical for a nursery’s success.

Over her 30 years running childcare establishments in Newham, Jennifer has strived to provide an environment that not only meets the needs of families, but is also an environment were staff can carve a career in childcare. This has enabled many of her staff to start at the nursery as apprentices and progress in their career to become room leaders, deputy managers and nursery managers.

She is proud to say that the manager of one of her settings has worked with her for 20 years, the deputy manager at my other setting has worked with her for 15 years and the assistant manager has worked with her for 25 years.

Taking her passion for delivering training to the next level, Jennifer is organising an hosting an event in November: The Power of Play: How play changes lives. This event will take Wednesday 20 November 2024 between 9.00am – 5.30pm in Stratford and is ideal for nursery owners and managers.

What to look forward to? Well check out some of the speakers here:

Keynote Speaker

Ben Kingston-Hughes, Managing Director of Inspired Children – Keynote Speech – The Power of Play.

Workshops

• Ben Kingston-Hughes, managing director of Inspired Children
  Workshops -Morning – Imaginative Play: A Firework Display in the Brain
  Afternoon -How Children Develop Empathy – unlocking empathy in our children and promoting pro-social behaviour.
• Sylvia Lewis, nursery owner, managing director of Early Years For Success and mentor for the
  London Borough of Newham Early Years Education and Childcare Services
  Workshops – Morning – Exploring the Power of the 3 I’s, Afternoon – Developing an Effective Learning Walk.
• Gareth Cotterell, Newham primary school assistant head teacher – Responsible for EYFS and Early Years Advisor for the London Borough of Newham
  Workshops – Morning – Interaction – Sustained Shared Thinking
  Afternoon – Ofsted Inspections – Are you ready?

To sign up, email [email protected]

Jennifer Lewis added: “By investing in the continual professional development of our staff teams through setting closure days, we can raise the profile of the early years sector so that we are valued on an equal platform as all parts of education. Practitioners need to have the opportunity to learn together as part of their normal working day, not during twilight sessions or on Saturdays.”