How to retain staff in Early Years Settings

The early years sector is one of the most rewarding places to work. You’re surrounded by hilarious, unique, growing minds every day. No day is without a healthy dose of laughter!. It truly is a one-of-a-kind job, but it can also be demanding at times.

For a variety of reasons, there is a limited pool of passionate and qualified Early Years staff. This is challenging as an employer, and makes retaining great staff and building a solid workforce of utmost importance.

At Cliffe House Training Academy, our apprenticeships can provide your staff a chance to develop their skills, qualifications, confidence and future career prospects – giving them purpose and a clear path of progression. I’m sure we can all agree just from personal experience that feeling valued and important as an employee is vital, and working towards a qualification can give employees a real sense of value.

Why is retention so important?

In early years, consistency is everything. Being in consistent contact with the same adults day-to-day creates a stable environment that’s key for allowing children to start forming secure bonds outside of their family.

When a child joins a nursery setting in the UK, they are given a key person, as mandated by the EYFS. The key person relationship provides children with a secure base to explore and develop. When this relationship is inconsistent (for example, due to high staff turnover) it can have a negative impact on children’s emotional and social development.

Not to mention, when staff are retained long-term, teams become stronger and more efficient, friendships are made between staff, and settings run more smoothly in general.

How apprenticeships can improve staff retention

One of the most effective ways to improve retention is to invest in your staff. If you have a staff member that is clearly thriving in their position, enjoys the role, and shows a lot of potential, it makes sense to invest in them. When staff feel like their input makes a difference, they’re more likely to stay long-term.

Apprenticeships offer a structured route into the sector that focuses on providing consistent development and also (and maybe most importantly!) a sense of purpose and progression. When staff feel as though their knowledge is constantly improving and they are working towards something recognised and concrete, picturing themselves in your setting 2 years, 5 years, or even 10 years down the line becomes a lot easier to imagine.

Turning learning into practice 🧠💡🌟

Strengthen your team 💪🏆🫂

As apprentices will be clued-up on ‘the why’ and can see their own progress developing over time, they begin to see themselves as competent, valuable staff members. This jump in confidence can be felt on a team-wide scale.

Combining theory with practice is a tried-and-true learning method, and is the basis of all apprenticeships.

A setting with apprentices as a part of their workforce is bound to thrive. Bringing in new, fresh perspectives and up-to-date learning to the day-to-day running of the nursery not only benefits the apprentice, it benefits all staff and children too.

When professional development is at the heart of your team’s culture, staff support each other more effectively, communication improves, and pressure is shared – not carried individually. A team that is always learning is less likely to fall victim to blame culture – as everyone is given a chance to learn and make mistakes.

Choose a training provider that understands Early Years

Not all training providers are created equally! Unfortunately, for some training providers, cutting costs is at the forefront. Coaching sessions are delivered online, contact with a tutor is limited to an hour a month, and classes are full to the brim. The importance is on getting people passed, and passed quickly, without any care for quality.

At Cliffe House Training Academy, we like to think we do things a little differently.

First and foremost, we understand the sector.

Our tutors all have a lengthy history of working in Early Years – whether that’s as nursery managers, degree lecturers or heads of rooms – they have done the job.

They know what the day-to-day is like, they’ve truly walked in the apprentices’ shoes. This may seem common sense, but it’s not always a given!

Secondly, our tutors teach through a blend of face-to-face and online teaching.

Our monthly coaching sessions are delivered in-person, in your nursery setting. There’s no travelling to college needed. This blend allows learners to create a really solid and special bond with their tutor, as face-to-face communication allows for those all-important non-verbal cues (body language, eye contact), immediate feedback, and spontaneous and natural interactions between tutor and learner.

The online element of our courses provides learners with a platform for interacting with their tutors throughout the rest of the month – so support can be provided throughout. Fully online learning can feel less personal and more structured, which simply doesn’t work for some students.

Lastly, at Cliffe House Training Academy, we pride ourselves on not only supporting our students, but supporting our partner nurseries, too.

We can advertise our apprenticeships in your setting free of charge, and even conduct screener interviews for interested applicants, so more of your time can be spent elsewhere.

Let’s continue the conversation…

Our new bespoke training courses can equip your staff with skills that go above and beyond what’s covered in the curriculum. We deliver courses on how to be a good employee, induction support, professional practice, the why of child development, safeguarding, the EYFS, mock Ofsted inspections and much more.

Please get in touch for more information about our bespoke courses! If you’re thinking about how apprenticeships could support your setting, or you’re looking for a training partner who understands early years, please get in touch. Let us show you how we’re different!