🧑‍🏫Supervisions Policy

This policy was adopted on 30 August 2022 and is reviewed annually

At Natural Nurture Nursery we implement a system of supervision for all of our staff following their induction and probation period. Supervision is part of the nursery’s overall performance management system and promotes a culture of mutual support, teamwork and continuous improvement. It encourages the confidential discussion of sensitive issues including the opportunity for staff and their managers to:

• Discuss any issues – particularly concerning children’s development or well-being

• Identify solutions to address issues as they arise

• Receive coaching to improve their personal effectiveness

• Develop their own skills/training needs in order to progress in their role

• Discuss any concerns relating to changes in personal circumstances that might affect an individual’s ability/suitability to work with children. (This should include any incidents resulting in a reprimand, caution or prosecution by the police, any court orders or changes to their health. These changes are recorded as a declaration on the individual member of staff’s supervision form and appropriate action is taken, where applicable, in line with the safeguarding/child protection and disciplinary procedure).

The frequency of supervision meetings is Bi-monthly for practitioners and managers, and monthly for new staff, staff undergoing training and newly qualified staff, or according to individual needs. A template agenda is used in all meetings to ensure consistency across the nursery. This clearly sets out who does what and the timeframe, i.e. what the manager is responsible for and what the practitioner needs to do.

There should always be something that a member of staff can discuss, e.g. a particular child’s development, strengths or concerns. However, if there are times where staff may be struggling to identify areas to discuss in a supervision we will ask them to identify three things they have enjoyed about their job/done well since the last supervision and one thing they have least enjoyed/requires further improvement. They will be asked to complete this prior to supervision (as set out in their responsibilities).

There may be times when supervisions may be increased for members of the team as and when needed, i.e. if they have particular concerns about a child or if they are going through personal circumstances at home, for new starters, staff returning after long-term illness, on request from staff.

It is the responsibility of the Operations Manager to plan time to ensure that all staff have supervisions with their manager. At Natural Nurture Nursery supervision is carried out by the Nursery owner or manager. If for any reason a supervision is cancelled a new date will be rearranged within 7 days.

All members of staff responsible for carrying out supervisions are trained and supported prior to carrying these out.

Staff have a responsibility to ensure that they are available for supervision meetings and that the necessary paperwork is complete. Information shared in supervision sessions is confidential. The supervision process will be evaluated once/twice a year through staff feedback and is used as part of the overall performance monitoring system at the nursery.