Mission Statement And Aims

[Guest]

I know that there have been posts on this before - in fact I may even have been the one to start one of them!

 

I have set aside a staff meeting to start working on the mission statement and aims for our nursery. I can't believe this was never done in the 2 weeks when the staff were employed before the nursery opened 2 1/2 years ago. On the other hand, that may be a good thing, because heaven knows what the mission statement would have been (!!).

 

Anyway, in my mind I know what I want the mission statement and aims to be, but having done loads of reading around the subject, I know that it is not going to be effective if I suddenly produce a piece of paper with them on - and expect people to 'buy in' to them.

 

Can anyone give me any advice on where to start, and how to make it as productive as possible? It's all being done in a very muddled order, but I feel that the team are currently in the frame of mind to take this on and move forward with it.

 

We did some action planning over Christmas as a whole team. I know that I have a realistic view of where we are at - and it surprised me at how many people felt the same, and how we agreed on the actions easily - so this has filled me with a bit more confidence.

Edited January 6, 2007 by Guest

[Guest]

just a quick response of the top of my head ( should be doing, but avoiding account work).

 

Great to hear your action planning went well and it has shown that you all have similar views of where you are and where you plan to develop etc.

 

I agree, the mission statements, aims are more effective when decided together and it will give everyone a real sense of ownership if done this way.

 

I would suggest having some examples ready of mission statements, get them from nursery websites.

Mine is: Providing the Foundations on which future development can build ( based on my preschool name-Foundation years preschool, and a DFES statement for Foundation Stage curriculum).

 

Ask the staff to consider ways to make a statement which is personal to the setting, to me a mission statement needs to identify, clearly and consicely your ethos and aims. Maybe do the mission statement after the aims are formed, or before.

Keep it short, memorable, and personal to your setting. It is a bit like an advertising slogan.

Think about 'What is it like for a child here?'

 

( don't get too bogged down with it either, it can always be reviewed, sometimes something that sounds great one day, once used a lot, sometimes doesn't actually feel quite right after a while . It can be changed)

 

Aims, again get some examples, I do think that most of the aims of a setting are already written ie: within FSC publication, BTTM stuff, NVQ principle aims, etc. It is just a case of agreeing which statements you find describes your service, your development plan and your ethos.

 

Ask questions such as: does the 'style' of how we have written our aims, really reflect who we are? ie: do you use professional early years jargon within your statements or should you / do you want to try a different more consumer friendly language?

 

It may be useful to list aspects you want to cover in your aims. ie: statements of legal requirements: Aim: To adhere to and monitor implimentation of the National Standards, Birth to Three matters and the governments outcomes as detailed in 'Every child Matters'.

 

Employment aims

Environment aims

Childrens aims including and beyond the FSC / BTTM curriculum

community aims

Financial aims

 

etc

 

My aims and objectives were derived partly from the United conventions on Childrens Rights ( obtained from the Childrens Bureau). I think I have posted them before, so try a search if you think they will be useful. I personally used these because they kept the children at the forfront of my message / aims / thinking.

 

let us know how you get on.

 

Peggy