Nursery World - EYFS Best Practice: All about ... Peer mentoring

A home-grown approach to peer mentoring at a nursery school and
children's centre in London is improving practice, as well as making
work more satisfying for the team. Headteacher Dr Julian Grenier offers
an insight into the setting's journey

The biggest motivator for practitioners working in the early years must surely be the desire to make a difference to the lives of children and their families. There are few things more satisfying than seeing young children make big steps forward in their development: to see a child bouncing in to nursery happily when only a week ago they seemed reluctant and overwhelmed at the nursery gate, or to hear parents say that the work of the nursery has really helped their child with something tricky like beginning to play alongside others or starting to say a few words.

If we think some more about this motivation, we can see that it is really a dynamic situation that results from how different elements interact: an individual practitioner may come into work with energy and enthusiasm, but all of that will be lost if the workplace does not enable that individual to feel confident, supported and able to make good use of their ideas and skills.

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