Matt is a business manager of a group of Scottish settings called the Little Beehive and has been in the nursery business for over 10 years. Matt has contributed his ideas and improvements for the sector to our Famly blog, creating popular articles about having fewer transitions, a living wage for all educators, increasing conversions from enquiries, and the value of a survey.
Matt's biggest "ick" in Early Years education is the outdated language used for job titles, such as "Early Years practitioner" or "nursery nurse," which he feels doesn't reflect the professionalism of the industry. Instead, Matt advocates for using terms like "educator" to better represent how the sector is working with children. To positively impact perceptions of those working in Early Years settings long-term, we need more professional terminology.
Matt's implemented significant changes, such as introducing the living wage and in-service days, which required careful communication with parents and carers. In the episode, he explains that, although the goal was to improve practice, there was a real challenge of balancing fee increases (to maintain high quality of care and staff retention), with supporting parents with varying financial situations. Matt emphasises the importance of becoming more efficient internally to offset costs and mitigate the impact of fee increases on families.
Matt uses a triangle approach when making decisions, considering the impact of potential changes on:
The triangle allows Matt to visualise who is positively impacted by changes and who might be negatively affected. Of course, the key is to make evidence-based decisions, but having an idea of who might be happy or unhappy can help you decide how to communicate.
Matt explains that for leaders in private, voluntary, and independent settings, it can be hard to please all "points of the triangle". Many leaders have a level 3 qualification in Early Years, not in running a business, so will have to develop expertise in leadership along the way.
Matt notes that, of course, we have to prioritise health and safety in early childhood education, as well as child development.
Leadership roles should focus on the team, asking what they need to enjoy their job more and improve retention. For managers, balancing tough decisions and relationships means employing transparency, honesty, and explaining the long-term benefits for children.
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