In all of our nurseries here at All About Children, we aim for a home-from-home environment, one where children feel happy and at ease. But without our amazing team, this just wouldn’t be possible.
“As management, we are not just here for the children, we’re here for the staff as well,” says Amy Bennett, Nursery Manager at Children’s House Day Nursery in Bracknell.
“Happy and confident staff members impact on children and families. So looking at the bigger picture, how do we support our staff members?”
To create that caring childcare work environment at All About Children, a focus on staff wellbeing is just as important as the wellbeing of our children, which is why we cultivate a positive working atmosphere for all of our employees. So if you’re looking to work in a nursery environment where staff wellbeing is a priority, here are some important things to look for.
Communication, cooperation and camaraderie
When you are working in a nursery, the childcare work environment is everything. And a big part of this is communication: how staff interact with each other, with the families, and the children. You can get a clue about how this works in an individual nursery when you come for an interview. How do people greet you? Are they warm and welcoming, even if they’re not involved in recruitment? Observe how they communicate in the work environment. Are they interacting positively with the children and other staff?
A childcare work environment designed with staff wellbeing in mind
Many nurseries have amazing facilities for the children, from sensory gardens to the latest toys and learning materials. But how do the staff facilities shape up? At All About Children nurseries, we aim to offer a comparable day-to-day environment for our valued nursery workers. So each member of our team is given a hot, nutritious meal every day. And where we can, we try to offer extra facilities, too.
For example, children can let off steam in a dedicated room garden if they need a bit of downtime, and in the same way, says Amy, “We are creating a wellbeing area for our staff members here at Children’s House Nursery.”
“It’s not just a staff room – which they already have – but an area where they can go out and sit outside, and get fresh air if they need it. We’re adding some bean bags, and it’s covered over so even if it’s raining they can go out for 5 minutes.”
After all, nurturing the childcare work environment is worth the investment in those working in a nursery: “You can spend millions on resources but if you don’t have the team you don’t have anything.”
A nursery staff wellbeing policy
If the childcare work environment for employees is important to your chosen nursery, they are likely to have a written policy to support this. A survey by the Anna Freud Centre in London found that less than half of all nursery workers were aware of whether their own workplace had an early years staff wellbeing policy in place. And it’s no coincidence that in the nurseries where no known mental health policy was reported, stress levels among nursery workers were higher.
Professor Peter Fonagy, Chief Executive of the Anna Freud Centre, said: “Staff wellbeing needs to lie at the heart of nursery settings, so we can best support those who look after young children in the first years of their lives. Those early years are so critical to a child’s longer-term development and happiness.”
Happy children and happy families mean happy staff
The way Amy sees it, a positive nursery environment is like a circle: “The child, the family, the staff members – it goes round and round.”
What this means is that every element feeds into everything else. For example, when a child is settling into the nursery, parents are encouraged to bring in familiar objects and photos from home. “And we also do that with our parents for staff, so if we’re moving around the nursery, parents can see who staff members are in each room.”
In turn, staff really get involved with children, their parents and the wider families including grandparents, aunties and uncles, inviting them to come to open events throughout the year, such as a recent Coronation event held within the nursery. This openness is key:
“Staff are open and honest with the families, so if we have children struggling during settling in we talk to the parents to ask how they can support. We make sure we build a bond with everybody, and when children see parents happy they have that trust in us.”
The only way that this can happen successfully is by building up a strong and positive childcare work environment for staff, where their needs are met and understood. At All About Children, we don’t just treat children as individuals, we do the same for our staff, too.
Find the perfect work environment at All About Children
If you’re looking for your next nursery role and you want to work in a setting where staff are truly valued, why not check out the nursery job vacancies at All About Children? Here at our nurseries, we offer a childcare work environment that’s calm, flexible and friendly, while challenging you to be the best you can be.