home  |  teddies careers  |  my day at teddies  |  head of unit life

A day in the life of a Head of unit

I've been working for Teddies Nurseries for three years now, and for the past 18 months I have been Head of unit for the Learning Centre, which cares for children aged two and a half until they leave for school. No two days are the same - which is great because work is always a challenge and I'm never bored!

My average working day begins about 15 minutes before my shift is due to start. I like to be in slightly early just to check that the unit is ready for the children and that I know what the plans for the day so that I can fully brief my team. It's also a good time to catch up with the nursery manager to get an update on anything going on in the nursery and also to give her an update on any placement students that we might have in our unit. Students like to come to our nursery as we're well established and have an excellent and experienced team to learn from. Whilst they're based in my unit it's my responsibility to encourage, supervise and monitor their learning.

Before I know it my team has arrived, as have the first couple of children. From there it gets a little hectic as more children start to arrive and breakfast is served. I encourage the whole team to greet, where possible, the children that they are key carer for. It's important to build up a good relationship from day one, and at this time of year many of the children have just moved up from Little Learners so we need to help them settle in quickly.

The morning session's activities can vary. It depends on what we have planned as a team and what we feel will best suit the children's needs and wants. Usually we give the choice of painting, drawing or free play, and invariably a bunch of children will congregate in the home corner and make full use of the dressing up clothes rack! After morning break we give the chance to go outside and run off some of their energy, we're always stringent in registering all the children as they go in and out and I take time to monitor that this happens correctly.

Once they're all back in it's time to use SMILE (Stimulating, Motivating, Imaginative Learning Environment) - the Teddies' curriculum to do some activities. Often myself and the team will get all the children sat on the rug and will start telling a story about the days of the week, incorporating the weather and numbers. We use the whiteboard and write up all the key words so that they children can begin to learn to recognise letters and numbers. It's brilliant to see that the majority of children when they leave us to go to school can write their name with ease and are beginning to read too.

In the afternoon, after a couple of the children have had a rest we do a nappy change for those that still need it and make sure that all the children potty training have used the toilet. I tend to lead this, particularly when we have a new student with us. It's important that they understand how to change a nappy properly and keep the child safe as well as filling in the appropriate form. Its also a good opportunity to start explaining the ins and outs of potty training - a science that we all have to learn about!

On the afternoons when we have slightly fewer children we like to take the children out of the nursery surroundings. A clear favourite is a trip to the local library. After a relatively short walk the children can then go and explore the books that litter the shelves and then plonk themselves on the rug ready to listen to the daily story (told with all the noises too!) by one of the library staff. By the time we return to the nursery it's time for tea and before you know it parents are starting to arrive to collect their children. This time of day is key - we always try to catch up with the parent of our key carer children in order to tell them about their child's day. I also take responsibility for assisting staff in communicating any problems to parents - although the more experienced nursery nurses tend to handle this well. Building good relationships with parents means that we can ensure we are always delivering the best levels of care for the children.

Once the children have all been safely collected, the team and I can start to clear up from the days' activities. Once a week we also all sit down together and plan for the next week's activities. I encourage input from all of the team, as with all our ideas combined we can put together an action packed and fun week for ourselves and the children!