The role of a middle leader in school is not an easy one, but in the early years foundation stage, there are some particular aspects that make it unique.
I’ve been doing the role for almost six years now as an early years leader overseeing nursery and Reception classes. It was my dream job, and still is. However, it has been a real rollercoaster of experience and emotions, and it is both joyful and challenging in equal measure.
Everything changes in such a short period of time, and depending on the staff, the cohort of children and the budget, challenges can differ from one year to the next. Here are some I have regularly faced.
Fighting EYFS’ corner
It is sadly the case that the uniqueness of EYFS is not always understood by subject leaders and members of the senior leadership team. At times, it feels like I’m constantly fighting early years’ corner, and continually explaining why X, Y and Z within EYFS teaching are not the same as the rest of the school. It can be exhausting, so you need to be strong and stand your ground.
Motivating a team
Like everyone, I still have days when I lose my drive. As the leader, I know I need to muster the energy and enthusiasm not only to motivate myself, but my team, too. This can be difficult, especially when you hit periods where morale is low. The winter months are particularly hard, as we struggle with outdoor teaching.
Staff organisation
Trying to organise staffing often leaves me frazzled. When cover is needed, you have to be really proactive in liaising with colleagues and creative in juggling things around.
More by Helen Pinnington:
Adults should not be stretched within EYFS. In nursery, there is a legal ratio, but unfortunately, this doesn’t follow through to Reception. I wish that the government would change this, as it would save me arguing, begging and complaining that despite the legal ratio for Reception being 1:30, this isn’t manageable or safe.
Quality of teaching
Ultimately, the team you have will determine the overall quality of the setting. Maintaining the consistency of high-quality learning through effective questioning and interactions can be very difficult without skilled staff. It has taken me a long time to accept that you can push all the training, coaching and communication to your team, but the impact will be down to an individual’s attitudes, experience and, to an extent, their personality.
So, what can middle leaders do to overcome these hurdles?
Generally, the trick to surviving EYFS middle leadership is to focus on the key aspects that need attention, while constantly having your eye on other areas, keeping these multiple plates spinning. This isn’t easy, but there are practices I’ve found really useful:
- Ensure that there is really effective communication. Hold a weekly EYFS team meeting to ensure staff can share their ideas and try to use this to promote reflective practice.
- Encourage everyone to keep learning: share articles, blogs and new research regularly to build a culture of development. I often do this at our weekly lunchtime meeting and put links on our WhatsApp group.
- Be a champion for early years. Celebrate the unique way in which children learn in EYFS and be persistent with this message. Every so often, I put together a short presentation about EYFS and deliver this through a whole-school staff meeting. These have been positively received, especially since subject leaders now need to have a picture of how EYFS links to their subject.
- Know your EYFS documentation and use this to support you in your role. Share key aspects of the framework with the senior leadership team, subject leaders and governors regularly.
- Enlist help from parents and volunteers to ease the pressure when there are inevitable staffing problems. We recruit parents to help with individual reading (the school arranges their DBS check) and work with local colleges to offer long-term placements for early years students. These placements are really useful as they provide some consistency.
Beyond that, keep your eye on staff morale. As I said, working in EYFS can be a rollercoaster - for classroom teachers as well as middle leaders.
Recognise when everyone needs a bit of a lift and be ready with some humour and the chocolate biscuits.
Helen Pinnington is the early years foundation lead at St Thomas More’s Catholic Primary School in Bedhampton, Hampshire
