How To Develop A Staff Induction Pack

[wellerkaren]

we are trying to devlop a staff development /traning pack with in my setting at present we give the staff all the policies and proceedures in a folder when they start all we have a training form for each member of staff which we ask them where they need to training and/or where we as the nursery feel they need training so far this as been ok but resently we are finding that new staff/long term students need extra information (even how as basic as washing the childrens cups correctly)

 

Thank you in advance

Karen

[Guest]

Do you have an Operational plan? This should provide some information as to how policies are put into practice.

I also give all my staff their own copy of the national standards and the FSC folder.

(For home / self directed learning). We have little tests at staff meetings to help them think about and learn the content of these important documents, which all staff should be knowledgable on. ( as Ofsted told me). ie: first test, a week after being given the standards, To list the 14 standards, winner gets a mars bar etc.

 

We have just started producing A5 prompt cards for everyday activities showing the Aim, Objective, extension, key words...These are stored in a file. When the dough is out, for example, the prompt card is taken from the file and placed in an A5 menu holder and put out on the dough table. This is for any parent helpers, new staff, trainees etc to give them an idea of the purpose of the activity.

 

Maybe you could produce a similar file but in the format of questions and answers, for students etc to dip into as necessary. You could involve all staff in producing the "prompt cards" and have the file accessible to all. The content would be led by what becomes obvious that they need to know.

 

Hope this helps.

 

I do love this site but now I've come up with another idea, through thinking about others queries, I now want to produce one of these files for my pre-school, ah well....have to delegate again

 

Peggy

[wellerkaren]

peggy this all sound really good i will try to make the prompt cards as i think this will help. how do the staff feel about the tests? and have you always done this.

[Beau]

I have a new member of staff Karen. She's lovely but there is so much she needs to know I'm struggling with where to start first as I don't want to bombard her with too much information. The prompt cards sound great Peggy but I just don't have the time right now to fit that in on top of everything else. If anyone else has any brilliant ideas they would be gratefully recieved.

[Guest]

Hi Karen, I started the tests last year when I had quite a few new staff starting at the same time. It is done as a fun thing, with a little prize of choccy, the feedback from staff is that it helped them to learn the standards in bite size portions ( forgive the pun re: chocs and bite size).

 

Beau, why not ask your staff to make the prompt cards, give them a template on A5 paper, maybe give each member of staff a different area of work to think about. ie:

Domestics... we use blue bowl for washing up crockery, cups etc orange bowl for art, paints and messy, can't display this info on kitchen walls-shared venue but have to let everyone know. we also use different coloured cloths for different uses. etc..... These type of prompt cards could be made with simple drawings.

 

Security: ie: we use an intercom system when parents arrive, staff also have to know that they should write arrival / and leaving time on register of all adults & children ( including themselves) they also write on the sheet details of how many adults/children are in at any one time. 3 columns titled as below, every time someone leaves or enters this is adjusted- if all staff don't know this procedure then the information isn't maintained.

 

Time No Children No adults

 

Answering the phone etc etc

 

 

 

these are just a few examples that all staff could produce A5 prompt cards for.

 

Peggy

[Beau]

Delegation is a fine old thing if you've got people to delegate to. Unfortunately Peggy it's just little old me and my new assistant. (Plus a committee but we won't include them for obvious reasons. ) Perhaps might be an idea for next year though.