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Early years staff wellbeing: a resource for managers and teams

Early years staff love their work, but it can be emotionally demanding & stressful. Our latest early years resource shows that staff wellbeing needs to lie at the heart of nursery settings.

Early years staff love their work, but it can be emotionally demanding & stressful. Our latest early years resource shows that staff wellbeing needs to lie at the heart of nursery settings.

The resource identifies four key areas that could make a difference to the wellbeing of nursery and preschool staff:

  1. Supporting each other

  2. Supportive management

  3. The physical environment

  4. Outside support

The resource was informed from the findings of a survey of 1,458 staff working in nurseries and preschool settings across England and was produced in partnership with a number of local authorities including Bury Council, Norfolk County Council, Salford City Council, Tameside Borough Council, and the London Borough of Hackney, along with the National Day Nurseries Association.

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  • Early years staff wellbeing

    A resource for managers and teams

    Download

You can download individual activities, our Writing a policy pullout and our Putting your ideas into action poster below.

You can also watch our Supporting staff wellbeing in early years settings webinar on YouTube

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  • What you said

    What you like about your work and what you find stressful

    Download

  • Writing a policy

    You may already have a policy. If you do, you may wish to review it or re-write it as a team. If you don’t, now is the time to start.

    Download

  • What do we know about wellbeing?

    In the last two decades there has been progress in public understanding of mental health and wellbeing.

    Download

  • Planning meetings on mental health and wellbeing

    Discussing mental health and wellbeing in a meeting can be daunting and it is important that all staff feel safe.

    Download

  • Team reflection on the survey

    After reading the results of our survey, have a team discussion and ask the following questions:

    Download

  • Offering support wherever it's needed

    To help think about how to promote wellbeing, it can be helpful to divide support into three commonly adopted categories: universal, targeted and specialist support services, all of which can be incorporated into a staff wellbeing strategy.

    Download

  • Putting your ideas into action

    In this resource, we’ve highlighted some examples of good practice that early years practitioners have shared with us.

    Download

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