Quality Improvement and Resources - Inspiration Needed

[Guest]

We are currently working on the provision within our setting aiming to improve everything - the environment, the materials and resources and the way they are displayed. I have experienced only good and outstanding settings with practitioners who have a similar vision to me.

Unfortunately I am working with a staff team who have not experienced working in a setting with someone inspiring them and it seems they do not understand what I am talking about (this includes my room leaders). We had a great visit from our Early Years Advisory Teacher today who has really given me some ideas on how to show them and now I want to get some more information from you .

I am looking for resources (online or in print) giving research and practical ideas on what sort of things we should find in an environment. I have in the past used quality improvement schemes like ECERS and ITERS however I feel that at this point in time this is too much as we need to work on the basics (eg. all puzzles are just thrown on the shelf and have pieces missing but no one looks for them). So I am looking for publications I can use to back up what I am saying. Any books would be good as well, so it is not just your manager is telling you, but research says this is what we are supposed to do.

What do you do to show your staff what you expect and help them to visualise it?

I am intending to write manuals and get staff to sign them off and make them use them whenever they do whatever they are doing eg. "How to do a display at LM" and then take pictures of the way a display is supposed to look and what should be included. Then doing another manual like "An outstanding maths area" and then include pictures of the environment and a list of resources that should be included.

Do you think this will work? I will integrate this with the supervision process to ensure that we look at the practitioners work in regards to how we want it done.

Any other ideas and samples much appreciated.