10 vital pieces of training that you will need to include in your new employee induction
When inducting a new employee in your Early Years setting there can be lots of information, policies and procedures that you will need to share with them. A good induction is important as this can help to settle the employee into your setting and will help them to fully understand the way in which the setting works, your expectations and their job role.
Here are 10 pieces of training that should be included in your employee induction.
Your mission statement
Every setting should have a mission statement outlining their purpose. This should be simple yet inspirational and fully reflect who you are as a provider. Each employee should be aware of the settings mission statement and strive to fulfill that statement.
The EYFS
Each practitioner within an Early Years setting needs to have a good working knowledge of the EYFS, in order to complete tracking, planning and observations. It is a good idea to ensure your new employee is able to use the EYFS in practice and the characteristics of effective learning to meet the individual learning and development needs of the children in their care. There is a great training powerpoint here you can purchase and save to be used as many times as necessary.
Key Person Responsibilities
Your new employee should be aware of their responsibility as a key person. You may want to share your key person policy with them and outline their roles and responsibilities in this position. This may include planning for their group of key children, tracking their development, liaising with parents daily and during parents evenings, building a rapport with the child and their parents and overall ensuring a high quality of care and individual learning for each child. It is important that you explain the importance of offering ‘professional love’ and ensure the employee understands the professional boundaries that must not be crossed such as favouritism towards children and appropriate handing of the children.
Safeguarding
Safeguarding is one of the most important issues that should be discussed during a new employee’s induction. You should ensure that each practitioner in the setting is aware of the safeguarding procedure and how to log any concerns they may have about the safety or welfare of a child. Employees should be shown who the designated safeguarding lead is for the setting and what to do if they feel a child is in immediate danger. The whistle blowing policy should be shared and the importance of being vigilant against colleagues and managers with regards to child protection issues. Many friendships are often made within a close workforce however employees must understand that professionalism and the welfare of the children must come before this.
British Values and The Prevent Duty
British Values are an important aspect of everyday practice in an Early Years setting. It is vital that new employees are aware of the British Values and how these are promoted. Ofsted will be looking to see if the setting is implementing the values into practice. All employees should also be aware of the Prevent Duty, including signs and the procedure for this. Here is an audit poster that can be used to evidence the use of British Values in your setting.
Planning and Assessment
Your new employee should be shown the paperwork that is used when planning for and assessing the children’s learning and development. Developmental tracking documents are vital in assessing the needs of each child and aiding them to move forward in their development so it is important that each practitioner is completing these documents correctly. If all practitioners are using a different system of filling in this paperwork the results for a child will vary significantly and not show a true reflection of their development. It is a good idea to use ‘mentors’ with a new employee, partnering them up with a competent member of staff who can show the new employee the correct way of completing the developmental paperwork.
Teamwork and Multi Agency working
Entering a new place of work can be daunting but a strong teamwork ethic can positively impact on the children so it is important that the new employee feels like part of the team. Using a ‘buddy’ system can help to integrate the new employee into the team and give them someone familiar to ask questions and use as a support whilst learning the ropes. The new employee will also come into contact with professionals who may not always be at the setting but are still important such as the local health visitor, the area Speech therapist or SENCO and possibly a headteacher from a connecting school. It is important that the new employee is made aware of these professionals in order for them to participate and engage with multi agency professionals.
Reflective practice
Reflective practice is key when working in Early Years as many things change and practitioners must constantly observe and assess practice to keep it relevant and ensure they are meeting the needs of the children in their care. Peer to Peer observations should be a regular occurrence in the setting and the new employee should be made aware of the different ways they can reflect on their practice, this may be through observations, supervisions appraisals and staff meetings. Sometimes a new employee may be required to attend some training courses such as first aid or food hygiene. Inductions are a great way for the manager to speak to the employee about training and get them booked onto the relevant courses.
Parent Partnerships
Building partnerships with parents is an important factor in childcare, helping parents to feel comfortable leaving their child and to trust the staff. The majority of parents will build a lovely bond with staff and it has been known that some parents or staff can begin to become overfriendly. It is a good idea that during the new employees induction, the rules of parent partnerships are made clear. Some settings may have specific rules about friendships with parents such as becoming friends on social media or offering babysitting services. Every setting has a different approach to keeping parent partnerships appropriate so it is a vital that the new employee is made aware of what is tolerated and what is not.
Health and Safety
Health and safety is another important aspect that should be discussed during an employee’s induction. New employees must be made aware of any health and safety policies such as manual handing and COSHH, in order for them to be safe in their role. It is the responsibility of the manager to ensure that all employees have been notified of any health and safety policies and procedures, and have attended any relevant training courses to maintain their safety at work. It should be explained to new employees how important displaying good health and safety is to the children to show them how t be safe and assess danger.