Staff supervision isn’t something you always connect with a setting development plan, but having read more than 50 recent Ofsted reports, it’s clear that this is what many “Strong” and “Exceptional” settings do.
A setting development plan (SDP) is a strategic, actionable document that helps to evaluate current provision and outline targets for continuous improvement.
The setting development plan is likely to cover how a setting wants to improve aspects of their provision, as well as things specific to the setting – engaging families in children’s learning or improving children’s speech and language skills.
Reviewing the Ofsted reports, it was clear that many settings identify areas for improvement for staff and provide suitable training and professional development opportunities.
However, there was little evidence to suggest that leaders view supervisions as intrinsically linked to their setting development plan.
For settings rated “Expected standard” or “Needs attention”, inspectors report that basic requirements are met, but that the strategic link is missing.
This “compliance-only” approach might say something like, “Managers carry out regular supervisions and check staff workloads. However, leaders do not precisely target staff development to ensure the highest quality of teaching across the setting.”
In contrast, “Exceptional” judgements describe a clear link between supervision and a setting’s strategic plan and might say, “Leaders are highly effective in monitoring staff practice. Supervisions are used incisively to identify precise training needs that align directly with the nursery’s improvement priorities, rapidly raising the standard of teaching.”
Similarly, the Early Years Inspection Toolkit is clear about what “Strong” includes in the Leadership and Governance section:
“Professional learning and expertise opportunities are of high quality and are precisely matched to improvement priorities and the individual needs of practitioners. They have a positive impact on the quality of provision and on practitioners’ practice.”
Supervision can be an important aspect of how you implement a setting development plan. Otherwise, there’s a danger of it becoming a stagnant document sitting on a manager’s desk separate from what happens day-to-day at the setting.
I expect many managers understand that discussions with staff are essential if they are to implement their setting development plan. However, they may not think supervision is the right place.
There are also challenges that get in the way of effective supervision.
Many early years managers are promoted from within a setting. Transitioning from being a peer on the floor to a leader who must hold former colleagues accountable can be hard.
Managers often fear challenging an employee on a development target or introducing strict performance measures.
As a result, supervisions stop being a place where honest, development-focused conversations take place, and become comfortable, cosy chats.
Safeguarding checks, health and safety updates, and policy sign-offs can dominate supervision sessions. While these are non-negotiable, they are operational rather than strategic.
There needs to be space for professional dialogue and reflection, and this should include conversations about the setting development plan.
Early years managers need to deal with lots of unexpected issues, whether last-minute staff absences, responding to parent and carer queries, administering first aid, or stepping into rooms to maintain legal staff-to-child ratios.
Time is an incredibly scarce commodity. Supervision can be the first thing we postpone or rush through in 15 minutes.
The setting development plan establishes the strategic direction for your setting. However, implementing it requires you to embed the SDP across your team.
Broad goals need to be broken down into individual actions for staff, and supervision is the best place for this to be discussed.
Two changes can help to make this happen. Firstly, split supervision sessions into two clear sections, with the first being for operational updates (such as safeguarding or attendance) and the second for professional reflection, development and the setting development plan.
This conscious divide helps prevent operational matters dominating and acts as a reminder of the importance placed on the individual’s professional development and their role in supporting the setting development plan.
Secondly, create a bank of open-ended, reflective questions linked to the setting development plan for use in supervision sessions. These might include:
For supervision to be effective in supporting the setting development plan, staff need to feel safe enough to talk about their gaps in knowledge and experience, or where things have gone less well.
Supervision should offer a space in which individuals can have open and honest professional discussions in a respectful and trusted way.
Supervision is far more than an admin task that needs to be ticked off during a busy day; it’s a key tool for improving the quality of your provision, and my review of Ofsted reports underlines this.
Good supervision also fuels individuals’ professional growth and supports staff wellbeing. We need to reframe how we think about supervision and see it as valuable time for helping staff understand the setting development plan and their role in taking it forward.
Keep a physical or digital copy of your setting development plan on the table during every single supervision session to anchor your conversation.
Assign specific development plan priorities to different staff members based on their strengths and use supervision to check in on their progress as “project leads”.
Treat supervision as a critical, unmovable appointment. Cancel it only in an absolute emergency and reschedule it immediately to signal its value to your team.
Instead of writing ‘Discussed sustained shared thinking’, record the tangible outcome: ‘Sarah will practise asking more open-ended questions when working one-to-one with each of her key children. Review at the next supervision.’
Give staff a brief three-question reflection sheet two days before the meeting. Ask them to identify their biggest success, their primary challenge, and how they feel they are supporting the setting’s current goals.
End every single supervision across the setting with the same question that focuses on the setting development plan: “What can we do in your room next month to help us towards our overall development goals?”
Dr Helen Edwards is co-founder of childhood education platform, Tapestry.
