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A day in the life of a Nursery nurse

I have been working at Teddies Nurseries for 6 months now as a nursery nurse. My time here has whizzed past, it seems like only yesterday I had my first day and met all the team in Little Learners (who cater for 12 - 24 months) - the unit I'm based in. The first 12 weeks during my induction went remarkably smoothly especially as this is only my second qualified posting, and there is still plenty to learn.

Every day is different at the nursery and I like it that way. We still have set meal and rest times but the flexibility available enables our unit team to plan activities around the children's wants and needs, incorporating elements of the Teddies curriculum - SMILE (Stimulating Motivating Imaginative Learning Environment).

My day generally begins at 7.30am when I run out the door and jump on a bus in order to be in for work just before 8.00am. This gives me and the rest of the team a chance to see how many children we have in that day, set up any activities, start to prepare breakfast and make up any bottles for the younger children. There is usually a trickle of children arriving to start with, and then it tends to get a little hectic as we try to welcome them all and serve breakfast simultaneously. I always make a special effort at the start of the session to say hello to any of the children I act as key carer for. It is often difficult to get time to talk to parents in the morning, but I trust the rest of the team to make me aware of any medication or special needs and action the appropriate form.

The morning session usually consists of a variety of activities from messy play to home corner fun, including dressing up! Where possible we split the unit into two groups, taking the older group into a spare activity room - this enables us to pitch the activity to better suit their interest levels and it also makes messy play much more manageable! Despite being in the town we are lucky enough to have a play area outside for the children. It's imperative to get the children outside at least a couple of times a day - they can make use of the slide, sand pit and water pool and build up a hunger for lunch.

Lunch, like breakfast can be a challenging time of the day. All the children are at different stages but nevertheless, they all sit down at the table to eat together. It's incredible how quickly they learn from each other - and with certain children you'll suddenly realise they're using their knife and fork competently and all on their own! After lunch, all the children have a sleep and this gives us a chance to clear up lunch, pack away the morning's activities and have a lunch break ourselves - so we can pop into town and switch off for a while. Another key task is to sit down and update the children's blue profile folders. The folders are a brilliant idea as they are a simple way of maintaining communication between nursery nurses and parents - it's nice for them to know what their child has been up to during the day and any new things they have learnt or skills they have mastered. Before you know it, the children start to wake and it's important to do a nappy change to set them up for the rest of the afternoon!

One of my favourite afternoon sessions is when the local farm bring in a selection of animals for the children to be introduced to. The lambs and goats are usually a hit and are patient in dealing with all the prodding fingers and high pitched giggles! By the time tea is served, the day is drawing to a close, and as parents begin to arrive to collect their children its satisfying to receive a big hug and take time to tell the parent about their child's day. It's rewarding to think that with our help each child is developing in leaps and bounds ready to start school.

As we clear up the unit after yet another action packed day it's a good opportunity for the team to all catch up and discuss plans for the next day. Once a week we all sit down and plan the next week's activities. Over the past couple of weeks I've also been having discussions with my nursery manager about the possibility of promotion. Although I've only been qualified for two and a half years (and have been with Teddies a short while) my manager is keen for me to start thinking about a Head of unit position, so we're putting together a development plan detailing what I need to do to achieve this. It's great to be able to look forward and see what other challenges you can move onto and feel fully supported at the same time.