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earlyyears.teachwire.net
Employing a consultant to help you develop your
nursery can lead to outstanding results – just make sure
you choose the right person, says
Kathy Brodie...
hoosing to bring someone
from outside your nursery
in to help you improve is
a huge decision. After all,
you are the person best
placed to know all about your setting,
practitioners and parents. However, there
are times when a specialist early years
consultant will be the best person to help
and support you.
This could be because your
practitioners need to know about
specialist areas SEN (special educational
needs), information that can only be
provided by an expert. Or it may be
that everyone needs an update on new
legislation, such as British Values, and
the quickest way to do this is to have a
consultant work in the setting so you can
be sure your practitioners understand the
implications for practice.
A consultant can give a valuable
external perspective on problems that you
are grappling with. Sometimes just being
able to stand back and see things from a
different angle can make all the difference.
“Help us
to improve”
It may also be that advice from an
‘outsider’ is listened to more closely (even
if you have been saying something similar
for a long time!).
Finally, a consultant is often the
catalyst for change. Practitioners know
that you are serious about implementing
improvements because you are paying for
an expert’s services.
So, how do you choose a
consultant who will understand
and meet your needs?
DO YOUR RESEARCH
Ensure that your consultant’s perspective
matches your own ethos or philosophy, for
example, an emphasis on the outdoors. You
can determine this from the information
on his or her website, Facebook page or
advertising material. Read any articles, blogs
or books that the consultant has written
on the subject area, to check for subject
knowledge and expertise. Check especially
for how easily you understand the points
being made, as this is likely to reflect whether
you will understand the consultant’s advice
SUCCESSFUL SUPPORT
C
when you do meet face to face.
Depending on your requirements,
the specialist knowledge or level of
qualifications that the consultant has can
be important. For example, it might be
critical that you source specialist, in-depth
speech and language expertise. Therefore,
it makes sense to research the exact
qualifications that the consultant has to
make sure they match your needs.
Ideally, you should see your consultant
talk first, at a seminar or other training
event, to see if the style of delivery and
interaction will suit your practitioners.
COMMUNICATION
IS VITAL
It will be useful for the consultant if you
can give as much information as possible
about the improvements you’d like to see,
or the desired outcome of the project you
have planned. The most useful information
you can give is about the courses and
training that your practitioners have
FIVE THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND WHEN SOURCING A
CONSULTANT...
1
Make sure your consultant’s perspective matches your own ethos
or philosophy.
2
What specialist knowledge or qualifications does your consultant
have – do they meet your needs?
3
Give your consultant as much information as possible about what
you want to achieve.
4
Make sure you agree payment before your consultant
starts work!
5
Put a plan in place to sustain the improvements your consultant
helps you to achieve.
D
