#7 of 10 top tips on what to look for when choosing a nursery for your child.
If this is the first time you have ever thought about using a nursery it is absolutely crucial that you know what to look for and why these things are important. This series of tips are excerpts from the book The Definitive Guide to Choosing a Nursery, by our principal and founder, Jane Smalley.
Top tip number 7. Meeting the Manager
Let’s think for a moment about what you may reasonably expect the manager to be like and the role she holds. The best way for me to do this is to tell you what is expected of a person who holds a management post. As I have indicated, just for ease I shall use the term ‘she’ in reference to the manager, however, we may agree that this position can just as easily be held by a man as a woman. (That said, I have not yet come across a male manager in a day nursery.)
The manager should be smart, clean and well-dressed. Does that seem obvious? It may to you, but I have seen many managers who regularly turn up for work in jeans, trainers, tracksuit bottoms, a sloppy tee-shirt and greasy dragged-back-into-a-pony-tail hair. Now you may think that this really shouldn’t matter if she is good at her job.
I see it like this; anyone who isn’t organised enough each morning to have a wash, do her hair and find something clean, tidy and well-pressed to wear even before she gets to work does not inspire confidence in me. How are they going to organise and manage a working nursery and its’ staff? The nursery manager’s job is extremely busy, she will hit the ground running almost every day of the week. She must be prepared for the challenges, decisions and meetings she will have. She is the ambassador of the business for the owner after all. She must inspire complete confidence in the parents who entrust their children to her care.
Look out for our Choosing a Nursery Tip Number 8 coming soon!
We really hope you have found Jane’s top tips for choosing a nursery useful. Want to know more? The book is available to purchase here.
