earlyyears.teachwire.net
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nursery business
DRESS TO
Your choice of staff uniform can say a lot about your nursery to
prospective customers, so give it your full attention...
CARING KINDERGARTENS,
STRATFORD-UPON-AVON
When a nursery’s employees all wear a uniform it helps to
create a strong, unified image for the company. At Caring
Kindergartens, our uniform represents a commitment to
safety, as well as a sense of honour and pride in our roles. Of
course it solves the obvious ‘what to wear today’ problem, but
more importantly it ensures that children and their families
recognise staff immediately, which adds to the security of the
nursery too.
The colour of a uniform is always going to be controversial
– queries and comments along the lines of ‘Does it suit me?’
and ‘This isn’t my colour...’ will no doubt be voiced – but,
ultimately, you need to make sure the uniform you choose
represents your setting and your ethos. The green polo
shirt pictured was specifically chosen to convey a sense of
freshness, safety and harmony – perfect for the wonderful
practitioners who work directly with our children – while the
blue blouses and shirts worn by members of our senior team
represent truth and wisdom, something that we feel parents
would expect of the people in charge of organising a busy
nursery. These two distinctive styles, along with the name
and job title badges we wear, also support
parents and other service users to identify
the individuals they need to speak to. We are
proud of our uniform, as we are of the staff
who wear it.
Charlotte Rule, Nursery Manager
LEXDEN LODGE
KINDERGARTEN, COLCHESTER
At Lexden Lodge we wanted to have a really smart uniform
from day one – it was important that carers/parents and
grandparents coming to the nursery were able to easily
distinguish the staff from parents or visitors, and we wanted
the children to be able to recognise who belongs here, too,
to add to their confidence in recognising who they could
approach for support in play.
We took great care in deciding what sort of image we
wanted to portray – we felt that something that depicted our
seriousness about, and commitment to, the role of caring for
children in their formative years, without being starchy, was
perfect. We also felt that polo shirts alone were not quite what
we wanted, although they are very useful, and easy-wearing,
especially in the warmer months. After scanning the market
for availability, and listening carefully to the staff about their
comfort and ease of movement while wearing the uniform,
and the quality and life expectancy of the garment, we made
our choice.
From the beginning we knew we wanted a unique logo,
and with the help of one of our past attendees,
one was created that we are very happy with.
Having a logo that has meaning and history
makes it special, and to us is a reminder that all
children are special.
Mahila Samarbakhsh, Principal
IMPRESS
T
here are a range of factors that need to be considered
when selecting a uniform for your staff team, or
choosing, as some nurseries do, to go without.
Creating a professional image, establishing your brand
and the more fundamental concerns surrounding
being able to tell at a glance practitioner from parent must be
weighed against practicality and comfort, and, of course, price.
Here two nurseries share the thinking behind their
working attire...
