Laura, nanny - WS3 Pelsall

I love working with children and I feel privileged to be able to watch them grow and develop into the best school children that they can. I always feel a sense of pride when they accomplish something new and I love being able to watch how happy and proud they are with themselves for what they have been able to achieve. I enjoy being able to plan exciting activities and watching as they get all they can from the activity whether it is sensory play or role play. Most of all, I love watching children play and have fun. There will always be something special when you can observe a child pretending to be an astronaut just by putting a bowl on their head. I enjoy watching children use their imagination in order to use props around their environment in order to create their own games.

I am able to adapt to a new environment very easily and quickly meaning that I pick up the childs' routine quickly in order to ensure minimal disruption to the children. Obviously routine is key in a child’s development so I believe that this is treated with up most importance.
I am very organised so I am able to the weekly, semi weekly or monthly planning in order to ensure that we always have an activity planned for each session that meets one or more of the key aspects of the EYFS.
I have a very good understanding of the EYFS and I am able to link observations and planning/activities to it very quickly. This helps when doing learning journeys as I am able to quickly link and then apply next steps meaning I am able to spend more of my time with the children than doing journeys and books. I am very good with the paperwork we have to carry out such as the termly reports and the 2 year checks, meaning that although I put as much detail in them as possible, I am again, able to spend less time doing them.
I am a firm believer that children should be allowed to experience different textures through sensory play and also get messy. If a child leaves nursery looking as clean as they did when they were dropped off, they haven’t had a good day. I try to plan at least one exploratory activity a day. This can be in the garden such as hunting for bugs, play dough or painting. I believe children learn best when they experience the world first hand.

Although I am very organised, I am also able to think on my feet. For example, if I was to do jelly play with a group of children and none of them were interested and/or enjoying it, I would quickly find something else for them to do in order to keep them engaged and settled. This keeps them from getting bored whilst ensuring that they are having fun at all times.
I am a very artistic person and I love to paint, model using clay and play dough etc with the children. I use this ability and apply it to not only the children’s play but also the nursery and the day to day events. For example, the children could paint pictures of fruit and these can then be displayed either in the home corner or the dining area. Not only will the children learn about the fruit but they will also feel a sense of pride for their art work being on display. Events in our day to day life, such as father’s day, Halloween etc can also be incorporated into art play as masks can be made as well as cards and props for around nursery.