Cricklade Manor Nursery welcomes our new Nursery Manager

‘If you are role-playing with food, why would use plastic fruit and veg? Why wouldn’t you allow children to play with the real thing? Won’t they learn more that way?’ 

I’m sitting in Cricklade Manor Nursery with the brand-new Nursery Manager, Lorna Bishop and find myself completely distracted by her enthusiasm. She is talking about the Curiosity Approach to Early Years – an ethos that encourages children to explore, try new experiences and be creative. It promotes natural, authentic resources, over plastic replica toys, and there is a particular focus on sustainability and awareness of the natural world. 

‘Playing with Duplo is fun,’ Lorna is saying, ‘but, particularly with younger children, it tends to limit the creative options to square shapes. Junk modelling offers endless possibilities.’ Her enthusiasm and her obvious knowledge are immediately engaging. 

A couple of weeks in, Lorna has been quietly making an impact. It helps that she has been enthusiastic about the Nursery from the start. She had been looking at a few career opportunities, but walking through the door at Cricklade Manor Nursery, and casting a practised eye about, the decision was made. 

‘It was the politeness, the professionalism, how approachable everyone was and most importantly how happy the children were. I just got the best feeling here. There was another position I was applying for five minutes up the road from where I live. Cricklade Manor Nursery means a 45-minute commute, but this was the place I wanted to be.’ 

Lorna has worked in childcare across a wide range of settings, from a small and cosy outdoorsy nursery to one in a deprived area where she was working with vulnerable families. She has worked with a nursery supporting 130 children, and another with just a handful. She has managed a team of four and a team of 30. 

Now with her own son turning 2 years old, she was interested in finding a place that was right for both of them; somewhere her wide experience in and enthusiasm for Early Years could be used to real advantage; and more importantly, somewhere her son could have the best possible start. 

With him in mind, I asked Lorna what should children expect from Nursery. Lorna smiles, ‘I want them to come to Nursery and be excited. I want them to be curious, to explore and learn what amazing things they can do. I’m a big fan of nature, so I love the Forest School and the chickens here! We can get outside into the garden and also bring nature in. How great is that for mental health? And the children love it too.’  

Lorna talks a lot about being led by the children, planning something and then adapting it to allow the children to follow what interests them.  

‘Last week in Acorn class, I planned a story sack – a bag full of things that relate to a story. During the activity, we all discover what’s in the bag, in this case cars and trains. Except the children decided they were more interested in making animal sounds that day. So we ditched the story sack and instead made hedgehogs out of salt dough and sticks and built a farmyard. If you do something they are interested in, they will concentrate for longer. So, we just go with the flow. They learn so much through play.’ 

Learning happens for the most part without the children realising and there is so much of it! Everything from building all-important social skills and developing creativity, to early phonics and maths with the pre-school children. They learn how to concentrate for longer periods. They practice the gross motor skills – clambering over the climbing equipment – that are so critical to developing fine motor skills, such as holding a pencil. All this is wrapped up in a fun experience, keeping the children enthusiastic and engaged. We’ll come back to how learning develops through the Nursery in another article, but it’s worth mentioning here that Lorna also has plans to add real-life skills and experiences into the curriculum: basic first aid, woodwork, dance, yoga and many more. 

One of the most important things they are learning, she goes on, is that they have a voice. They don’t have to blindly copy. They can think about what they want from their Nursery. ‘It might be nice to have a Children’s Council for the pre-school class – maybe once a fortnight to talk about what they like, what they don’t like; is there stuff they want more of? And then the staff can help that to happen.’  

Lorna talks as much about the staff at Cricklade Manor Nursery as the children. ‘You can’t have success with one without success with the other,’ she says. ‘If your staff are supported and given the opportunity for personal development, it can only be good for the children they care for.’  

There are few people more key in your child’s life: the Nursery staff keep them safe, entertain them, celebrate their successes, dust down bumped knees, help them navigate social relationships, build confidence, and act as role models for good behaviour. ‘80% of a child’s brain development is reached by the time they are 5 years old,’ Lorna says. ‘Those formative years are crucial. They create a secure base to learn from, and our staff are so important in that. Just walking around the Nursery in the first few days, I have seen so many fantastic interactions. The staff here really care.’ 

The third piece in the puzzle is the parents. I asked Lorna what the experience should be from the parent’s perspective. ‘We need to be building a secure relationship from the beginning. It’s about making sure the parent feels comfortable, and that they know I am approachable, which is why I operate an open-door policy. It’s actually more about the children – they are always front and centre – but if the parents are happy and staff are happy it feeds onto the children.’ 

Lorna is exploring other ways parents can be supported. She would like to run a series of workshops, such as paediatric first aid, how to negotiate 2-year-old behaviour, or how to support your child’s phonics at home. As she says, her door is open and I know she would love to hear from parents what they would like to see happen.  

In the meantime, we look forward to seeing how this new chapter in our lovely Nursery develops. Welcome Lorna! 

Written by Kate Ross – Wishford Education Group

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