Dropped In At The Deep End

[mrsbat]

Hi, sorry for what will be a very long first post fom me lol.

 

I work at a pre school, I went to work as usual this morning ony for our supervisor to tell us that she has a new job and is finishing with us next friday

 

Obviously it left us all in a bit of a flap and after discussions I was asked to take over as supervisor, it is something I have always wanted to do - my dream if you want me to be soppy lol

 

Anyway, I have no experience of management although I have been working in childcare for 14 years (gosh that makes me feel old!) I have a level 3 btec nd, i contacted the cwc today and they have told me that is definately enough qualification to work as a supervisor.

 

My problem is mainly, how do I go from being one of the girls to "manageing" the other 8 staff without alienating any of them, I want to stay friends etc but I do understand that I also need to take charge when needed.

 

Any hints and tips, or can anyone recommend any good courses to help me with this? Also our staff appraisals are due in January and I have no clue how to appraise someone

 

Thank you in advance

 

Hi By the way

[Guest]

Well done for getting the job to start with.

I would suggest that you sit down with all the staff and go on the idea of leading the "team" Ask them how they think things are going and any suggestions they have to improve. Keep a record of the meeting and then listen to them and make your decisions on what they have said. Don't go in all guns blazing but very gently say that now you are in control you want to make the group better and work as an effective team.

Don't be afraid to make decisions as long as you have got the information to back up your decisions.

You can't do what sometimes happens with children when they ask "why" and adults respond "because I said so" you have to have reasons for your decisions and use your staff to the best of their potential.

It won't be all plain sailing abd you can't always be their friend.

Good luck as your dream has come true!!!!!

Steph

[Guest]

Welcome to the Forum by the way some one on here will always be able to help and listen

 

Steph

[mrsbat]

Thank you Steph we've called an emergancy meeting this friday evening, i've got a page of things so far that we need to go through lol, we're also due an ofsted inspection imminently which I am scared witless about. I'm also a child minder so have had inspections before and know how daunting they are but this time will be even worse because I will have more responsibilities etc

 

 

fingers crossed for friday lol, i just hope no one else walks out

[Steve]

Hi Mrsbat -

Welcome to the forum and thanks for saying hello with a very interesting first post!

 

I can't help much with this one I'm afraid, but I know plenty of people will be in over the next day or so to give you some ideas. It sounds like you've picked up a great challenge - by the way, have you actually formally accepted the job yet or are you still thinking about it? Who will be your employer? Is it privately owned or committee run?

 

I'm sure we can help out with appraisal procedures and ideas as well. We have an old article which will probably do for a start, which you can find here. It has some downloadable template forms you can adapt.

[Guest]

hello I have just finished a management course that was very beneficail and helped me a lot. it was an ILM mangemaent course so if your authourity do this then I rcommed it

killowengirl

[hali]

hello and welcome to the forum. well done - and if you want the job go for it, have a meeting with your staff (and chair) if you have one - dont know what sort of group your in! Then discuss they way forward as a team, book your self on some management training then just take it day by day.

 

I took over as manager of the preschool im in 8 yrs ago and never looked back - its hard work with lots of unpaid work done at home but love it - good luck x

[Guest]

good luck to you - you sound quite confident to take on this role and i wish you well ...been in this post for many a year seen lots of changes

[aliamch]

Congratulations mrsbat, hope your transition from 'one of the girls' to supervisor is smooth. Lots of good advice already, especially agree with Steph about not going in with all guns blazing, it might be a difficult/anxious transition for the other staff as well, but at the same time boundaries need to be clearly marked. Good luck and have fun.

Karrie

[Helen]

Great advice above. On the subject of building your team, you might want to think about each individual member of staff, what they strengths are, what aspects of provision they really like doing (maybe someone has a burning desire to be the SENCO, for example) and what responsibilities you can plan to share with them in the future. Leading a team is all about being a motivator, and if they see you as enthusiastic, hardworking, fair and fun, they will want to put in the effort too. Good luck; a great opportunity for you

[Guest]

Hi

 

Many congratualations on your new job!

 

i was in the same position as you and found the transition quite easy. The previous supervisor didnt involve all staff in desision making. When I took over I explained my feelings on having staff involved in the decisions and that in my opinion staff were the most important asset in a setting and that if they were happy and involved it was a much better place to work etc. I am not and never have been a 'dictator'!! Staff felt empowered to offer their own ideas/solutions etc Thats not to say its always easy!! When having to talk to staff about their performance if its not quite what you expect is something else entirely!! But then it never is an easy thing to do, freinds or not!

 

I am sure all the staff are happy that you have the job because they know you and the way you work etc and I am sure they will try and make the transition as smooth as possible!

 

Best of luck!

 

jx

[Guest Wolfie]

Welcome to the forum mrsbat! Lots of great advice already - just keep asking questions...someone will always have an answer for you!

[mrsbat]

aaww Thank you so much for all your replies everyone

 

I've been on to training news and have booked myself on 5 various management courses but none start until april 2009 unfortunately so i'll just have to wing it until then lol.

 

Thank you for all the advice, I am feeling quite confident in it, it's something i've always wanted to do and childcare is soemthing I am very passionate about so fingers crossed it all goes smoothly

[mrsbat]

oohh i forgot to say, we are purely staff led, we have no committee, no parent helpers etc. I'm happy to stay without a committee but would like to introduce a parent rota - voluntarily of course. I just think it's important to involve the parents, it would also give us feedback with what we might be better changing etc

 

I think the first thing I need to do is create a parent feedback form to see what everyone thinks of the place as it is lol

[Guest Wolfie]

Who sorts out all the staff contracts, wages, etc. ? Is that something that you will be taking on?

[mrsbat]

Who sorts out all the staff contracts, wages, etc. ? Is that something that you will be taking on?

I have no idea about the contracts I have to say, the wages are decide by the "boss", which I guess is now me, and the member of staff who does the accounting.

 

crikey the more I think about this the more I realise i'm taking on

[Guest]

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your new role. I am abit confused though about the 'business model' of your setting. Who employs you?

 

Some good advice already, plus you obviously have a lot of experience, in a preschool setting and as a childminder. I'd say your most important asset is your 'passion'.

 

Here is a little reading on the 7 functions of management (written generically and not specific to education)

 

7 functions of management

 

As for friendship, this will change slightly in that you won't want to appear to have 'favourites', one consideration is to treat everyone fairly (and that doesn't mean the same), acknowledge the staffs varying skills and knowledge and deploy them accordingly. Delegate to your staffs strengths but support them in their delegated tasks. Ensure you praise all staffs support, effort and commitment and when tough decisions need to be made, which initially may be minor discipline or value based type issues, then try to deal with them openly, but maintain confidences, as soon as possible during or after an event / misunderstanding. Maintain consistent boundaries and expectations (which can be agreed by the whole team), good communication and stick to your decisions. Be open to discussion when appropriatte but also be clear when discussion (which can be confused with arguing) is no longer required to gain the information you need to make your decision. Have confidence in your decision making, after all you are a very experienced practitioner.

 

Maybe as an opening activity with your staff ask them all to write what they think is the settings AIM, devise an agreed mission statement, and maybe ask them all to write what they think their job responsibilities are. (no right or wrong answers here) This will give you an idea of where each staff is coming from, so to speak.

 

Take things one step at a time, and know that we are all here to help, however small or insignificant you may think a query or problem may be. The smaller ones are the easiest to deal with. (but can grow larger very quickly).

 

Good luck and most of all have fun, and keep a sense of self pride in your acheivements.

 

 

Peggy

[Beau]

Some really good advice here already! Well done on getting your dream position - hang onto that thought because there may be times to come when you wonder what on earth you are doing!

 

I would echo what everyone else has said about involving all the staff. They really need to feel that they have a voice which is valued and you need to foster a sense of pride and ownership about the setting. There will be times when the final decision is yours but do so after careful consideration of any points raised.

 

There will be a huge amount to do but don't try to climb a mountain all at once! Take it one step at a time and make sure that any changes you make are worthwhile and carried out properly.

 

Good luck!

[mrsbat]

Thanks again all.

 

Peggy, my current supervisor was given the job via an interview with the previous supervisor and another member of staff. We are paid from the money receive from fees and funding of the children

 

Hope that makes sense

[HappyMaz]

Hope that makes sense

Not entirely to my frazzled brain mrsbat!

 

Who actually owns your group (ie who gets to keep all the 'profit' at the end of the year)? Who employs you? Its just me being nosey - congratulations on your new job and I hope realising your dream will prove to be exciting, challenging and rewarding in equal measure.

 

As you say you are beginning to realise the enormity of what you have taken on - my advice to you would be to recognise early on that you can't possibly do everything! Once you've done what Helen suggests and discover what each staff member's talents are I suggest you exploit these shamelessly and develop good delegation habits early on!

 

Oh and welcome to the Forum - an essential managerial tool!

 

Maz

[mrsbat]

Not entirely to my frazzled brain mrsbat!

 

Who actually owns your group (ie who gets to keep all the 'profit' at the end of the year)? Who employs you? Its just me being nosey - congratulations on your new job and I hope realising your dream will prove to be exciting, challenging and rewarding in equal measure.

 

As you say you are beginning to realise the enormity of what you have taken on - my advice to you would be to recognise early on that you can't possibly do everything! Once you've done what Helen suggests and discover what each staff member's talents are I suggest you exploit these shamelessly and develop good delegation habits early on!

 

Oh and welcome to the Forum - an essential managerial tool!

 

Maz

Any profit at the end of the year is put back in to the pre school for toys, outings etc etc. we are totally self funded and self run, hhmm not relly sure how I explain it

[lynned55]

Any profit at the end of the year is put back in to the pre school for toys, outings etc etc. we are totally self funded and self run, hhmm not relly sure how I explain it

 

I understand what you are saying and that is the same for us but we are committee run. Which means our committee hire/fire staff (in theory if not in practise!!) do our contracts/wages/hiring/firing of staff any disciplines that need doing etc etc. So who writes your contracts? Disciplines the staff or who would deal with any grieviances against the manager? Who is the registered body with OFSTED, i think that is what the others mean.

[mrsbat]

I understand what you are saying and that is the same for us but we are committee run. Which means our committee hire/fire staff (in theory if not in practise!!) do our contracts/wages/hiring/firing of staff any disciplines that need doing etc etc. So who writes your contracts? Disciplines the staff or who would deal with any grieviances against the manager? Who is the registered body with OFSTED, i think that is what the others mean.

The staff as a whole hire and fire staff members. The supervisor writes the contracts and disciplines staff. As for grievances against the supervisor I have to say I have no idea, I assume you would go to the deputy or straight to ofsted?

[Guest]

The staff as a whole hire and fire staff members. The supervisor writes the contracts and disciplines staff. As for grievances against the supervisor I have to say I have no idea, I assume you would go to the deputy or straight to ofsted?

 

 

Nearly clear now, but who is registered with Ofsted? Who's name is on the registration certificate? Who has the 'legal' responsibility? This is important to know if it is now you.

 

Who writes the cheques? Are you self employed?

 

Peggy

 

Sorry to be nosey, just ignore me if you'd rather not answer, I won't mind.

[mrsbat]

Nearly clear now, but who is registered with Ofsted? Who's name is on the registration certificate? Who has the 'legal' responsibility? This is important to know if it is now you.

 

Who writes the cheques? Are you self employed?

 

Peggy

 

Sorry to be nosey, just ignore me if you'd rather not answer, I won't mind.

lol you're not being nosey, it's helping me work out what is going on

It is the supervisors name on the ofsted certificate so I guess it will now be mine, do we need to apply for this or wait for our next inspection? If we apply for it will it speed up our inspection as it is due in janunary does that mean I now have legal responsibility?

 

There are 3 signatories for the cheques and no we're not self employed

[Guest]

Are the signatories the staff or a 'committee' ? Are you a registered charity?

 

I think there is a legal duty to inform Ofsted of any change in 'registered' person, and the registered person (or persons in the case of a committee) has legal responsibility to adhere to all the legal requirements of the EYFS, these are stated as MUST do in the EYFS guidance and regulations.

 

Also the registered person has a 'fit persons' interview with Ofsted, nothing to worry about, if you do a search for 'fit person interview' you will find previous posts on this subject.

 

Peggy

[Inge]

you will need to apply to Ofsted for a change in registration before you take over,this is where the Ofsted froms to complete can be found . Seems they have changed since EYFS and they suggest you go to your local family information service for advice.

 

You may need to ring Ofsted to clarify which ones to complete, would suggest doing this as soon as if you have not already done so.

 

Application form for the Early Years Register: childcare on domestic or non-domestic premises is the area you should be looking at.

 

Inge

Edited December 14, 2008 by Inge

[mrsbat]

Are the signatories the staff or a 'committee' ? Are you a registered charity?

 

I think there is a legal duty to inform Ofsted of any change in 'registered' person, and the registered person (or persons in the case of a committee) has legal responsibility to adhere to all the legal requirements of the EYFS, these are stated as MUST do in the EYFS guidance and regulations.

 

Also the registered person has a 'fit persons' interview with Ofsted, nothing to worry about, if you do a search for 'fit person interview' you will find previous posts on this subject.

 

Peggy

The signatories are staff (we are staff led, no committee) but we're not a reg'd charity

 

omg a fit persons interview now you've scared me.

 

Thank you I will search for the post

[mrsbat]

you will need to apply to Ofsted for a change in registration before you take over,this is where the Ofsted froms to complete can be found . Seems they have changed since EYFS and they suggest you go to your local family information service for advice.

 

You may need to ring Ofsted to clarify which ones to complete, would suggest doing this as soon as if you have not already done so.

 

Application form for the Early Years Register: childcare on domestic or non-domestic premises is the area you should be looking at.

 

Inge

Thank you for the link. I hope ofsted work over xmas as I take over in January

[Guest]

The signatories are staff (we are staff led, no committee) but we're not a reg'd charity

 

omg a fit persons interview now you've scared me.

 

Thank you I will search for the post

 

 

Please don't be scared, I was a bit dubious as to whether to mention the fit person interview or not, as I didn't want you to feel 'anxious'. If you've found previous posts you will have read that the 'interview' is really a very positive experience in most practitioners views. Just take some time over the break to refresh your knowledge on the EYFS framework, especially the legal stuff and you will be fine.

 

But enjoy the break while you can, exciting and busy times ahead for you in 2009.

 

Peggy