Magical nursery tour - Deborah Wylie, owner, Little Angels Fun Club and Nursery
Ross Watson
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
If anyone from the Department for Children, Schools and Families attended the National Day Nursery Association's (NDNA) Nursery of the Year awards this year, they could be forgiven for leaving with a satisfied grin.
For the overall winner, Northumberland-based Little Angels, is a setting that positively champions the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), the government's controversial curriculum for under-fives.
Far from finding it a bureaucratic burden, nursery owner Deborah Wylie says the EYFS is a "brilliant document". "When the EYFS came in we changed very little, because we already reflect on what we do and how we can grow," she adds.
The setting was described by NDNA assessors as a "magical place", and Wylie is already being asked for advice from people taking their first steps as nursery managers or owners.
"There is no magic wand," says Wylie. "But we do everything in as much of a child-centred way as we can with our resources."
Seeing through children's eyes
Being able to see through children's eyes is key if you are going to be a member of the Little Angels staff. "When children explore something it might be the first time they have seen it. So a plant that suddenly turns into a strawberry - that is really exciting," explains Wylie.
She is a strong advocate of promoting the simple pleasures of childhood and letting imagination fill in the gaps. You won't find many plastic toys in the nursery, but you will find a secret garden with a maze and a cheap bedstead planted into the ground.
The garden was created after some building work led to the demolition of an alleyway by the side of the nursery. This meant there was a lack of "furtive hiding spaces" for the children, and that simply wouldn't do.
As for the bed, that was a 99p impulse purchase by Wylie on a shopping trip to Ikea. She took it into the nursery and within an hour her staff had been inspired to plant it in the garden. "We told the children that we had no idea how it got there," she says. "They came up with some fantastically imaginative statements. One said it had been dropped by aliens, another said it had grown from the ground and one child believed it had flown in like a scene from Bedknobs and Broomsticks." Nowadays the children weave plants into the bed frame and play on it regularly. Wylie says using everyday items like this gets the most from children's imagination.
Highly qualified staff
The setting may be underpinned by a simple ethos, but it is no coincidence that staff are highly qualified. There are two early years professionals as well as two members of staff with qualified teacher status. Wylie says the extra quality has compensated for higher salaries but that meeting pay demands is a constant challenge. "We add extra touches that perhaps other employers don't, an extra four-week holiday and free childcare for team leaders - but it is a constant issue," she says.
Wylie believes there is no short-term answer. Not unless the government is willing to fund better wages for early years staff.
She owns another setting nearby that offers 50 places, compared to the 200 places at Little Angels. The smaller nursery makes roughly the same profit because the building is leased and less staff are required to run it. "My 50-place setting to some degree subsidises this setting," she admits.
True to form, Wylie is already thinking of the future. She wants to turn the nursery into a training development centre, largely because she has been unimpressed with the current level of training in the sector. She says a lot of her new recruits, with NVQ level 3 qualifications, have lacked confidence and have not been exposed to enough good practice.
"The Learning and Skills Council has a big part to play in that," she says in a parting shot to the agency that funds and plans the training. "The NVQ system is only as good as the placement."
AWARD WINNER - HOW THE NURSERY BUILT ITS REPUTATION
- Little Angels has recently won the NDNA's Nursery of the Year award. It is based in Cramlington, Northumberland, which is 15 minutes from Newcastle city centre
- Owner Deborah Wylie opened the nursery 10 years ago due to a lack of childcare in the area
- The nursery has received a rating of outstanding in its last two Ofsted inspection reports, and has also achieved the rare level 3 rating for NDNA's quality improvement programme, Quality Counts
- Feedback from parents: "Staff are amazing and it feels like I'm leaving my children with a member of my own family"