TEY 13.2

P icture this: you’re a qualified practitioner in a preschool room and have just had to run into the tiny toilets to ahem toss your cookies because of the dreaded sickness bug doing its rounds. You plead to go home, but, alas, the only other staff in your room are two enthusiastic but very young apprentices who you can’t possibly leave alone for the rest of the day. Your manager apologises and says she was only given the staff to just meet ratios, and of course you know that the hard-working apprentices are paid pitifully, so it’s obviously a decision made with money in mind. There was no contingency plan for the unavoidable situation because, on paper, all the boxes were ticked for staffing that day (in an office far, far away). Unfortunately, this is a situation that many of us have faced, and it’s leading to practitioners feeling overworked, underappreciated, and unheard, often affecting the care they provide. These types of business decisions are made through profit- tinted glasses, rather than the eyes of experienced childcare professionals, and they are overshadowing the needs of children and their hardworking teachers. Another misplaced business strategy I’ve encountered is the use of the Bradford Score. If you’re lucky, you won’t know what this is, but I’d argue it doesn’t fit within a childcare setting. The system penalises employees for frequent short absences, and in another context, it might make sense. But in a nursery, where staff constantly pick up minor illnesses and are actively encouraged to return before they’re fully recovered to help meet ratios, it’s contradictory and unsupportive – particularly as employees are disciplined when their score gets too When business concerns override a focus on care and education, settings and their staff suffer, says the Secret Practitioner … Where do we draw the line? THE SECRET PRACTITIONER HAS WORKED IN THE EARLY YEARS SECTOR FOR OVER A DECADE high. When being off sick is “bad for business” and we’re told the 48-hour sickness policy doesn’t apply to practitioners because “adults know how to wash their hands thoroughly” (yes, I was actually told this during a bout of norovirus), where does staff welfare come in? Bad management In my 10 years of experience in the childcare sector, and through discussions with friends and colleagues, I’ve noticed a pattern: the larger an organisation grows, the less people- focused its decision-making often becomes. When I interviewed for one of the would-be “leading” providers, I was promised a rewarding career with growing opportunities within a passionate team – the usual buzz words to entice unsuspecting practitioners. I couldn’t have been more naive. There were new policies introduced every week when something went wrong at another branch; nurseries having rebrands and name changes to cover themselves after bad inspections; and lower management getting let go after the owners’ bad business decisions had left settings without the consistency and resources needed to avoid disaster. Inevitably, many staff would then hand in their notice, and the pattern would repeat itself. I’m not a business owner; I don’t know the exact solution to balancing the need to make a profit with the needs of care and education. However, I do know that many nursery owners have never actually worked in the classrooms or managed a setting themselves. Maybe some of them should spend a day on the playroom floor and see the pressure we’re all under being micromanaged by someone who only visits us once a year. I’m fortunate to be employed in a small private nursery that genuinely cares for its staff and children – a place where, because staff aren’t scolded for being off sick and are actually supported to improve their practice, the absence level is significantly lower and the setting is a more positive place to work in. But I understand that this is rare – that sadly, many settings are staffed by practitioners who are constantly on edge, feeling undervalued for their work, and losing their love of the job. We as practitioners are innovative and passionate people, and when there’s no room for that because of business decisions that are incongruent with the childcare sector, settings will suffer. PROFIT VS PRACTICE Many nursery owners have never managed a setting themselves 66 Teachearlyyears.com