Just over 20 years ago, AngelaSpencer decided that rather thancontinuing in her office job, liaisingwith staff taking maternity leave atGlaxo, she would start her own

nursery business. The maternity leavers, sheexplains, weren’t coming back due to a lackof childcare, and armed with that knowledge– and, Angela admits, little else in the way ofearly years experience – she set up Angels atPlay and opened her first setting.

Around nine years ago she opened herthird, on Park Road in Ware, Hertfordshire: anexpansive, 114-place day nursery located inthe somewhat unlikely surroundings of aformer canteen and industrial storagebuilding. Under the leadership of manager,Louise Walsh – who started her own career

with the company 19 years ago, straight fromcollege – it’s since been judged ‘outstanding’three times by Ofsted.

Speaking to Angela and Louise about thegrowth and development of business andsetting alike, what quickly becomes apparentis that the success they’ve enjoyed hasn’thappened by chance. A huge amount ofthought and research has gone, and is going,into every aspect of childcare at Angels atPlay, built upon firmly held beliefs aboutwhat is best for children in the early years,and what will stand them in good stead oncethey leave for primary school. They have awillingness to tread their own path whenthey feel that official guidance is lacking, anda motivated and hardworking team behindthem to put their approach into practice...

1A strong teamWith three ‘outstanding’ inspections ineight years, Louise’s time as managerat the Park Road setting could hardlyhave gone better. In January, she left

to take up a role coordinating developmentacross all three of Angels at Play’s nurseries,having worked her way up from nurserynurse. “It was quite daunting being offeredthe chance to take over here,” she admits, “asit was my first management experience. Iwas on maternity leave at the time and Iremember saying to Angela, ‘I’d love theposition, but I’m not sure I can do it’. She said,‘Don’t doubt yourself – just do it!’

“We opened the nursery with just sixchildren, believe it or not, but it’s thrivingtoday,” she continues. “We currently have 30members of staff – and that’s a lot tomanage. It’s making sure that you heareveryone – what they want and what theyneed – that’s the most challenging part of thejob. But we worked collectively as amanagement team to get to ‘outstanding’. Allof them – the room supervisors, the cateringmanager and assistant, the deputy manager– have been here for over 10 years now,which I think is a key factor as it’s enabled usto train new staff members to the standardswe require in house.”

The quality of the staff team, Louise makesit clear, lies at the heart of her formernursery’s success, and motivating,

“We refuseto not dowhat’s right...”

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outstandingnurseries

At Angels at Play only the best is good enough –and that might not always be what’s in the trainingmanual. TN spoke to Angela Spencer and LouiseWalsh about a three times ‘outstanding’ setting andwhat makes good childcare...

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supporting and developing practitionersneeds to be a high priority for any settingwishing to excel. “Their drive reflects yourdrive as manager, so you have todevelop enthusiasm; sometimes youhave to rein it in too – we don’t need a lotof noise all the time!” she explains. “Justas with the children, you have to look atall staff as individuals, to see what theycan bring. My belief is that you have tomotivate the senior staff so that theirenthusiasm filters down – if you don’t dothat, the staff lower down can getdemotivated very quickly. You also haveto make sure people feel included; if theydon’t feel they have a purpose you’ll findyourself in a battle.”

2FamilyatmosphereAnother challenge faced bythe managers of largenurseries can be fostering the

kind of ‘family atmosphere’ that oftencomes naturally to smaller settings. ForLouise, however, size is not an excuse forcompromising on the quality ofpractitioner/parent relationships. “I didn’twant there to be a divide between staffand parents, like you might get at school– I wanted to make it clear that we werevery hands-on,” she explains. “We have160 families, which is a lot, but we get toknow them very well regardless. Ourroom supervisors and the staff in therooms play a key role; you need toensure that you have the correct peoplein place to make parents feel that theirchild is being treated as an individual.

“Our staff will chat to parents about

Talkingpoints

Team building “When we interview people, we look atthem within the rooms and we can seewhere, and with whom, their personalitywill fit best – and it’s not always where theythink they should be!” Louise says. “Peoplehave different qualities, and you need thosequalities spread out – you can’t have themall in one place.”

Doing moreAngela sees a need for society as awhole to do more to set boundaries andinstil a sense of self-discipline inchildren: “We should be insisting onmanners, and on presentation. Beforethe children go home, we have a ‘how Ilook’ time. We get mirrors and ask,‘Does your face need wiping?’ ‘Do youneed to brush your hair?’ Why wouldn’twe encourage children to do that?”

Getting physical According to Angela, not enoughemphasis is placed on physical skills inthe early years. “They’re a pre-cursor tocognitive skills,” she explains. “Twice aday we have something called ‘motivateme’: a targeted time for children to dophysical activity. It might involve ballskills for coordination or balancing, butwe also might do football, tennis ordrama. If we want children to develop allround, they need physical stimulation.”

Protecting standards “We were totally against the proposedratio changes,” Louise says. “The qualityof care would have gone downmassively, and I worried about healthand safety. Nobody asked the firedepartment about what they felt wassafe. Even with the current ratios of 1:3it’s a challenge to get children out; ifwe’d gone up another one, we’d havebeen strapping them to our backs!”

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If I can’t say I’ve got 100 per centtrust in the knowledge and abilityof all my staff, then I’m doingsomething wrong

ANGELA SPENCER, DIRECTOR

things other than their children,” she sayswhen asked what the secret is to forgingstrong home links. “They’ll ask, ‘How’s yourday been?’, or if they’ve seen that Mum’sstressed in the morning, ‘Can I help in anyway? Is it easier if I come and meet you inthe car park?’ They might ring or emailhome just to tell them their child’s had ‘areally good day’. It’s about reading the signsand offering support. They may be smallthings, but they can make a big difference.We appreciate that everyone is on adeadline, and if parents are feeling rushedand stressed their child will feel rushed andstressed too. Long term, going that extramile helps everybody: parents, the childrenand us.”

But, she stresses, it’s not all down to thestaff in the rooms: “Parents need to know themanager as well. It’s important that if theywant to speak they can, so small issues don’tstart to fester and things escalate. It’s easiersaid than done,” she admits. “It often meansstaying late – but that’s what you have to doif you want to be ‘outstanding’.”

3PositiveinfluencesIf you’re looking for evidence ofthe thought that goes intochildcare at Angels at Play you

need look no further than Babyopathy andNascuropathy, programmes of Angela’sdevising (for ages 0–1 and 1+, respectively),which take a unique, holistic approach tochildren’s wellbeing and development. “We look at everything that could be aninfluence, or have a detrimental effect, on thechildren,” Angela tells me, “their environment,what and when they eat, their activities andwhen they sleep.”

In practice this has meant the use ofcolour therapy and natural imagery in allthree of Angela’s settings, the idea being tocreate as welcoming and calming anenvironment as possible. “Every room iscoloured differently depending on thenatural light, what the room’s to be used forand the age group of the children,” sheexplains, “and we use the natural imagery –flowers, photographs of the sky, things likethat – because what is natural to the children,and therefore very welcoming and calming,is what they see around them, not a big,fluffy bunny!”

Children’s experiences of the nursery arealso subtly influenced by the use ofaromatherapy – “We use different aromas atdifferent times of the day, for example,calming oils first thing in the morning, acleansing oil after breakfast” – and musictherapy, which sees jazz played duringmealtimes, for its digestion-aiding tempo, andclassical music employed to begin and endthe day in relaxing fashion.

Away from the environment, there’s astrong focus on nutrition, which Angela seesas a key factor in children’s developmentand behaviour. All food is prepared on thepremises, and a weaning programme thatdeparts from official guidelines, in an effort toreduce the risk of iron deficiency anddevelop facial muscles to support emergingcommunication skills, is also in place. “All ofour food for children under one is gluten-free, too,” Angela adds; “the idea is to reduceallergies, eczema, asthma within the nurseryby removing anything from the first yearthat’s a potential allergen.”

The timing of meals and periods of resthas also been tweaked, in response toresearch carried out within the setting: “Ourchildren sleep in the morning, before they

have lunch, and we have four meals a dayinstead of the traditional three,” Angelaexplains. “The children eat better nowbecause they’re not falling asleep in theirfood, which we’d found was a commonoccurrence, and their activity level is alsobetter because, as they’re not sleeping lateinto the afternoon, parents aren’t strugglingto get them to go to bed at home.”

4Taking the leadNascuropathy’s focus on natural,sensory experiences is also evidentin the resources and activitiesengaging children at Angels at

Play, though not to the exclusion of other early years staples. As Angela tells us, “You’ll finda lot of traditional activities going on in therooms because, at the end of the day, theywork for children.”

What Louise and Angela highlight aboutstaff/child interactions at Angels at Play, inwhatever context they occur, is the balancestruck between allowing children to take thelead and directing them towards adult-ledactivities designed to develop key skills. “I reallydon’t agree with the ‘sit back and let thechildren do it all themselves’ approach,” Angelasays. “Children want to learn; they want to see,they want to experience – all you’ve got to do isgrab their attention and guide it towardssomething you want to do.”

By way of example, in the setting’s ‘my time’,Angela tells us, children are presented withthree sets of activities, each with its own distinctlevel of staff interaction. In the first, staff willdirect, point things out and explain; in thesecond, they will be on hand to engage withchildren and guide where necessary; in thethird, they sit back unless the children have aquestion. With children moving between eachactivity in small groups, they consistentlyreceive the levels of interaction with staff theAngels at Play team feel is necessary to supporttheir development while retaining the freedomto play and pursue their own interests.

The nursery takes it own approach toassessing children’s progress, too (as do itssister settings), working to its own ‘Ages andStages’ rather than relying on an official systemthat has, in Louise’s opinion, become tooflexible: “We’re seeing an increasing number ofchildren down the line who are unable toachieve, or who are achieving things much laterbecause it’s so lax; our approach enables us tosee if children are struggling sooner and dosomething about it,” she explains.

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LOUISE WALSH, DEVELOPMENTCOORDINATOR

If a child feels nurturedand they’re in the rightenvironment,

they’ll nurture others and care for others, even as toddlers

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