First 2 Days In New Job!

[Guest]

Well I have spent my first two days at my new job as Supervisor of a rural pre-school. I didnt enjoy yesterday, everything was very new etc, today was better!

 

The pre-school has had 3 supervisors in years! mmmm? I posted a previous question about staff qualifications and on some sessions the staff qualifications dont meet the standards, but the Chairman told me that she had phoned ofsted and half of staff must be qualified out of ALL staff not per session, if you see what I mean?????

 

I have been observing and there are lots of changes I'd like to make, eg the plans are not linked to stepping stones or even areas of learning?? The same toys are out each day for a week??? Tidying up is done around the children (lifting tables and chairs etc)??

 

Now my dilema is this....they had a missing child incident 2 weeks before I started and now a parent (not the missing child's parent) has made an official complaint to Ofsted! Ofsted is over due anyway, together with having a new supervisor and chairman, so they are bound to be along shortly....I was going to observe and make changes slowly (as I dont want to alienate the staff) but the pre-school cannot afford to have an unsatisfactory report? Should I make the changes immediately or slowly slowly??

 

Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom!

 

jenni x

[Chill]

This is a tricky one but were there are points of danger e.g. a missing child, or inadequate planning then you cannot afford to wait. How about involving all staff by having a staff meeting. You may find they are also aware of changes that ned to be made. Could you as a team create an action plan with timescale, review dates, responsible people etc. which will be evidence for Ofsted that things are changing. By empowering staff and valueing their contribution you could get them on your side. They could also become a more motivated workforce able to deal with an imminent ofsted. Good luck

[Guest]

I totally agree with Chill - get the staff involved and start implementing changes ASAP. Good luck!

[Inge]

The complaint and changes or outcomes will have to be addressed immediately, I assume that has been done with complaint forms, how it had been dealt with/ investigated outcomes and changes made to address it or prevent it again or answering the complaint with what happened on your side with statements etc.

 

Planning etc really would work better with staff consultation, give ownership to staff and any changes made are usually easier...but that said you often seem to have one person who is not keen on change and as it has always been done that way...why!!

 

Together, work out an action plan, timescale and begin changes to show Ofsed you are reflective practioners.

 

Inge

[Rea]

I think it's all been said Jenni,

make sure you can show Ofsted that you are aware of the problems but also make sure you have a firm action plan of how the problems are going to be adddressed and when.

If you have a staff meeting and go through the standards they will probably be able to see for themselves their weak areas, then it will be them highlighting the problems not just you, you might find thats better than you telling them.

 

Is the chair qualified, is she in possesion of the standards? There might be areas she isnt 100% with so a meeting with the committee might help too. Let them all know what you intend to change and why. They wont object to a safety policy which looks at how equipment is moved. I was in a church hall, at the end of a session all the children went to the one end of the hall with bikes/balls/singing/dance activity while one member of staff moved the heavy stuff. We had a rota to decide who s turn it was to 'do' the cupboard, clear the kitchen etc, while always maintaining ratios and safety.

 

When I took over my playgroup, my biggest problem was the staff team, there wasnt one!

The previous leader had been secretive with the plans, paperwork, letters etc from official bodies so much so that when she left and we found the FS folder we had to spend time finding out what it was before we could even use it, this was almost a year after the launch. She had also split the team into 2 groups, them and us. I was them!

I spent the first year saying yes to everyones ideas and suggestions, on the understanding that if it didnt work they got together to see how it could be changed. I drew up planning formats which we changed like the weather and they all came up with ideas. It took about a year before I could concentrate on other aspects. Ownership of a problem is the key to solving it, not always though, one staff member left.

 

Prioritise on the safety and the rest can follow.

Above all, dont get stressed. None of it is the end of the world.

[Guest]

You can't change everything immediately - not if you want it done effectively. You can however make changes around the safety of the children as a matter of urgency (as others have said), and record your other ideas down.

 

As long as you have a realistic overview, and a good vision for the setting, I don't think they can ask more of that.

 

I hope you are enjoying it more - what a challenge! They are lucky to have you.

[Sue R]

Hi Jenni,

 

I have nothing to add to the excellent advice you have already been given, just wanted to wish you well with this exciting challenge!

 

Please do keep us posted as to progress!

 

Sue

[Guest]

Thank you all for your words of advice, I do feel better than a few days ago!! I have done an Action plan already as Ofsted were at a neighbouring village school last week so......i'm certain they will be with us after half term!!

 

After the missing child incident they did put alarms on fire doors, stair gates up etc etc etc but the one thing they have put in place which I dont agree with at all is doing the register 5 times in 2 and a half hours!! this has to be maked and then signed each time. I spoke to the chairman about it and said that if your child goes missing 5 minutes after the register has been taken, if you rely on that it will be 25 minutes before you spot he's gone!!! As far as I am concerned the security of the building has been improved greatly and the staff do head counts all the time! I understand that it was a horrible shock for all concerned but 5 times a day registration????? Its even been put in the prospectus that the register is taken 5 times, in my opinion this just draws attention to it and makes the staff look incompetant when they are not. What do you think??

 

Jenni

[Inge]

Probably a bit of an overaction to a scary situation, trying to ensure it does not happen again. In time when it is not so recent they may be talked around.

 

In our missing child policy it starts with how we would prevent it happening before what we would do.

 

we display on the wall the number of children present each session and staff regularly headcount during the sessions, as well as when moving in and out of the building as we have to go to a seperate area for the garden. Keyworkers are in addtion responsible for checking thier children during the session. Ofsted were very happy with this as more than adequate security along with the alarms on all outside doors , this was made more important when they changed our firedoor as it was too stiff and now all you have to do is touch it and it flies open!!

 

we would probably not put it in prospectus but we do highlight the fact that parents need to read our policies which would contain this information.

 

I would probably go with the flow for a while and perhaps suggest a compromise with a record of the headcount at regular intervals , asking for a re-evaluation of the policy in a few months time, perhaps after a discussion with Ofsted to see what they think would be resonable security.

 

Inge