Fay Flude

I have taken on many operational tasks in the day-to-day running of a busy all-year-round nursery provision for the 0-5s whilst the Manager is on maternity leave, supporting the deputy manager and the owners.

I am focused on developing and sustaining high standards of teaching and learning across the Nursery, supporting all children with quality interactions and purposeful play-based learning, with a particular emphasis on the consistent use of visuals for children identified with SEND as this is an area of change that requires addressing as a result of a recent learning walk and audit.

I collaborate with room leads and Key Persons to support children identified with SEND, noticing where additional training is needed to reflect the different professional interests and strengths across each room's staff team. I am also providing mentorship to staff engaged in their Early Years Initial Teacher Training course of study.

I managed the provision and delivery of inclusive, high-quality education and childcare for children aged two to five. I was responsible for guiding and coaching staff to elevate professional development, pinpointing training gaps, and facilitating training sessions for the staff team and external participants (for West Sussex Local Authority projects and on behalf of Department for Education as Area Lead for Experts and Mentors Early Years COVID-19 Recovery Programme). I assisted staff in adhering to Early Years statutory requirements, fostering a healthy, safe, and educationally stimulating environment and curriculum. I cultivated safe, nurturing environments, to foster positive relationships with families to address individual children's needs and facilitate multi-agency collaboration, thus enhancing outcomes for children. I crafted inclusive and tailored experiences for children identified with SEND and assessedchild progress to identify specific individuals and groups requiring support in targeted areas of learning and development. I spearheaded best practice in Early Years, including participating in research trials and leading intervention groups, assessing data and reporting on outcomes.

I facilitated online training sessions for Early Years practitioners in nursery and pre-school environments, Reception class teachers and childminders on the Early Years Professional Development Programme, Phase 3, conducting 1.5-hour sessions for four groups over a 14-month period, ensuring sustained engagement and learner progress. I organised, developed, and delivered learning in speech, language, and communication, personal, social, and emotional development, and mathematics. I engaged with learners to support course completion and tailored learning experiences for those with additional needs. I facilitated mentoring for learners to strengthen subject knowledge, build confidence, and improve capability.

I managed a team of skilled experts and mentors to provide tailored training, support, and guidance to settings within West Sussex that opted to join the programme or were referred by West Sussex Local Education Authority. I collaborated with personnel from West Sussex Education and Schools Early Years team to promote and execute the programme and worked with a colleague from Sussex University to deliver the bespoke support. I promoted the programme at network meetings and liaised with Early Years and Childcare advisors where there were additional concerns about provision and practice in particular settings. I conducted extensive visits across various and diverse settings over a two-year period, providing collaborative work aimed at enhancing skills within staff teams, supporting leaders and using the aassess-plan-do-review approach with children identified with SEND. I delivered tailored training sessions for staff teams too and used sudits with leaders to highlight good practice and identify areas which needed further development. I acquired skills in coaching, mentoring, and action planning through targeted training and supplied data to the Department of Education through partners Pen Green to assess programme effectiveness.

The focus of these groups was to enhance core communication skills in young children aged 4 months to 5 years. I facilitated multiple groups within the local area (MId Sussex), delivering a programme of specially designed games, songs, and activities to encourage listening skills, enjoyment, verbal communication, movement, and positive interactions with parents and carers. Talking Tots was an established franchise group created by two speech and language therapists.

I delivered instruction primarily in Year 1 while facilitating PPA cover and providing one-to-one teaching from Nursery to Year 6. I organised and executed lessons according to the National Curriculum, assessing, documenting and communicating progress. I collaborated with fellow teachers and support staff to address diverse needs of multiple cohorts of children. I modified teaching strategies and resources, establishing classroom routines to address academic, social and behavioural requirements of the children. I delivered individual reading support programmes for children with English as an Additional Language, receiving 'Outstanding' feedback from Ofsted. I enhanced physical, social, and wellbeing development by integrating classroom games and outdoor activities. I partnered with educators to organise social activities and field trips in accordance with the National Curriculum.