The Story of Atelier Nursery: Introducing Atelier Talks
An introduction to the people and principles behind Atelier Nursery
Meet the team behind Atelier Nursery and discover the story, values, and philosophy that shape this award-winning Early Years setting. From free-flow learning to mixed-age groups, find out what makes Atelier unique, and upcoming episode topics to look forward to.
Brought to you by the Atelier Nursery senior leadership team, proudly produced by Decibelle Creative.
“You walk in the door and you just get the feeling of love, warmth, of determination. Not only with our children, but with us as well.”
Beth, Senior Leader
Welcome to Atelier Talks, the Early Years Collective. This is a podcast for educators, parents and Early Years professionals who want to raise the bar and reimagine what Early Years education can be.
In this very first episode, join Atelier Nursery Director Clare Crowther and the leadership team (Beth, Laura and Lauren) as they share the story, philosophy and passion behind Atelier Nursery.
Built on internationally recognised best practice and inspired by Reggio Emilia and Froebel, Atelier is more than just a nursery—it’s a creative, connected, research-led Early Years setting where children are respected as capable learners.
In this episode:
- Meet your Atelier Talks hosts: the team behind Atelier Nursery
- The story of how Atelier was founded (and what the name really means…)
- What makes Atelier’s pedagogy different: from mixed-age groups to free-flow learning
- Reggio, Froebel and Katz: the principles that shape the rich pedagogy at Atelier
- Why this podcast exists, and what’s coming up next
Find out more:
· Website and newsletter: ateliernursery.co.uk
· Instagram: @ateliernurseryltd
· Consultancy enquiries: Contact us via the website
Together, we’ll unlock the potential for incredible growth and learning.
Atelier Talks is a Decibelle Creative original podcast www.decibellecreative.com / @decibelle_creative
Keywords: Early Years education, child-led learning, Reggio Emilia nursery, professional development for educators, pedagogy in practice.
Transcript
>> Clare: Hello and welcome to the very first episode of Atelier
Speaker:Talks, the Early Years Collective.
Speaker:We look forward to welcoming you into our podcast series as we
Speaker:start to unwrap some of the magic behind our doors at
Speaker:Atelier. So I'm
Speaker:Clare and I'm joined by Beth.
Speaker:>> Beth: Hi, I'm Beth.
Speaker:>> Clare: Lauren.
Speaker:>> Laura: Hello.
Speaker:>> Clare: And Laura. Hello. Together as the
Speaker:leadership team, we hope to take you through the doors of Atelier and the
Speaker:magic that we create daily.
Speaker:Today. We wanted to give you a little bit of an insight into the
Speaker:podcast team, what it is that we hope to bring to
Speaker:you, how we've come about, what the
Speaker:characteristics are of each of us and what you can expect of
Speaker:us over the coming series.
Speaker:>> Laura: So before we get started, I think we should
Speaker:all introduce ourselves. Clare, as the head of us all
Speaker:and the director, can you give us a bit more about who
Speaker:you are, tell us your name, where you've come from.
Speaker:>> Clare: I think these are the most awkward bits, aren't they? So I'm
Speaker:Clare, I have a background in early years. It's all I've ever wanted
Speaker:to do. It's all I've ever known actually. From about the age of
Speaker:12, I knew I was going to own my own nurseries. I knew I was going
Speaker:to, move m forward into the sector. So
Speaker:we have two nurseries now, so we have
Speaker:Atelier Bath and Atelier Chippenham. and I have
Speaker:the absolute privilege of leading the
Speaker:practise, the provision, the learning, the education
Speaker:and the teams, across both of those sites and
Speaker:our new soon to be early years
Speaker:consultancy that will be supporting other
Speaker:practitioners, other providers, other early years settings
Speaker:in their early years work as well.
Speaker:>> Beth: So, I'm Beth. I have only ever
Speaker:worked at Atelier, so Atelier is in my bones
Speaker:and I work really closely alongside Clare, on
Speaker:supporting both the nursery sites, the management
Speaker:within the site and yeah, I'm there every
Speaker:single day. Just hands on really.
Speaker:>> Clare: I think you aren't doing yourself quite proud enough that I think
Speaker:what Beth should be sharing is that actually she is the
Speaker:apps, the in terms of making everything work on a day
Speaker:to day basis. And part of that is because you've done pretty
Speaker:much every job that is to be done in the
Speaker:nursery. So starting as a student, part time in the
Speaker:offices, right the way through to a key person as an
Speaker:early years educator, to a senior, then a deputy
Speaker:to a manager in your own right, and now very,
Speaker:very much taking the helm across both sides. Yeah,
Speaker:Beth is amazing. What
Speaker:Beth doesn't know about early years isn't worth
Speaker:knowing. So
Speaker:we've got on our team the wonderful Laura. So,
Speaker:Laura is our nursery, manager at our Chippenham site. But she
Speaker:brings with her, again, a huge amount of wealth and
Speaker:knowledge and skill within her leadership journey.
Speaker:So, Laura, how would your mum describe you?
Speaker:>> Laura: Oh, my goodness, that's a really good question. I think she'd say,
Speaker:I'm very determined, very independent.
Speaker:I'd like to think I'm very empathetic. I think that's the
Speaker:word that everybody uses to describe me. I'm a real
Speaker:empath. I feel everything for everybody.
Speaker:But I also really want to
Speaker:lead with empathy and understand the decisions people make and why
Speaker:things happen, and make people feel loved and supported. I've probably
Speaker:had the shortest time at atelier of all of us, but I
Speaker:think, like all of us as well, I've been through the whole process.
Speaker:I've been a key person. I've been a senior, I've been a deputy, and then I'm
Speaker:now the manager of our Chippenham nursery. So I know what
Speaker:it's like to be in every single role within the nursery. And I think that
Speaker:gives you a really good perspective as a manager, to be able to put
Speaker:yourself into other people's shoes and think about, oh, my
Speaker:good, what are they going through at the moment? How can I support them?
Speaker:Because I've been there and I've done it.
Speaker:>> Clare: Yeah.
Speaker:>> Laura: But I'm so proud to be part of the atelier family. I'm
Speaker:proud to have. It's the best place in the world I've
Speaker:ever, ever been, let alone worked. Just to be around
Speaker:the people that are there, the children that we've got is just.
Speaker:It's just magic.
Speaker:>> Beth: I see you as like a big, warm hug, I think
Speaker:when I arrive at work, I know that you are the person
Speaker:that will be excited to see me
Speaker:or give me a big hug and just.
Speaker:Yeah, you've got so much warm and so much to
Speaker:give to everybody.
Speaker:>> Clare: And I think in terms of that, even for our listeners, you know, I can
Speaker:already see how you're going to
Speaker:transfer the knowledge or the
Speaker:theory into practise. You're going to make all of the connections and
Speaker:make sense because I see you doing that for your team every day.
Speaker:>> Laura: Oh, thanks, guys.
Speaker:What about Lauren, then? How would we describe Lauren?
Speaker:>> Clare: Where would we be without.
Speaker:>> Laura: I know you are organisational Queen.
Speaker:>> Beth: I love that you come with your highlighters and your
Speaker:pencil case and your
Speaker:organiser with an organiser in your organiser.
Speaker:>> Clare: That's me.
Speaker:>> Laura: Can you tell us a little bit about your kind of journey to Atelier
Speaker:and what your role is now.
Speaker:>> Lauren: so, I've been at atelier. I was trying to work this out.
Speaker:I think it's about seven or eight years now. and
Speaker:again, a little bit like Beth, I've done a few different roles,
Speaker:having my own key family and key working and then
Speaker:working a little bit in management. And now my job is quality,
Speaker:practise, lead. So I am in charge of making sure
Speaker:that we are outstanding on both sites to whatever
Speaker:that involves.
Speaker:>> Clare: Whether that's training our criteria, isn't it? Oh, Claire's
Speaker:outstanding criteria. Yes,
Speaker:outstanding, outstanding.
Speaker:>> Lauren: So, yeah, whether that's ordering resources or,
Speaker:training staff or joining some key family
Speaker:time. Yeah, a little bit of everything. But that's. That's what I do.
Speaker:>> Laura: What I love is that you're so. You're very
Speaker:meticulous, you're very thorough. There's nothing that would
Speaker:get past you without you going, hang on a minute. Is that right? Or can we
Speaker:check this? But I love that because I think some of us don't
Speaker:necessarily have that skill as well. So to have
Speaker:somebody alongside who's just questioning things or going. By the way, did you
Speaker:realise there's a bit of an error here? Or how's this going to work in the
Speaker:plan today? It's really, really beneficial to have
Speaker:someone. So I want to say strategic. You're like a. Like
Speaker:a really strong chess player. You know, where all the pieces are and
Speaker:how to move them in the. In the right way.
Speaker:>> Beth: I think it's your first to want to
Speaker:know more and learn more and better
Speaker:yourself all the time. And I really, really
Speaker:inspire, to be more like that.
Speaker:>> Laura: So I wanted to go back to Clare and ask a little bit about kind
Speaker:of the background of atelier a bit more, and tell us a bit more about
Speaker:how atelier started. Where did the idea for atelier come
Speaker:about?
Speaker:>> Clare: Oh, gosh. So atelier.
Speaker:Atelier is quite a long story. So
Speaker:atelier came about because a setting
Speaker:that I was working for previously decided that they were going to
Speaker:refocus back onto core business. And so actually, the
Speaker:nursery that they had as part of their organisation
Speaker:was going to close. I'd been brought in as a consultant to set
Speaker:the nursery up. I'd felt really passionately about, the
Speaker:need for it to be there. After about six months of the nursery
Speaker:opening, I'd taken a step back, and the organisation got
Speaker:back in touch and said, actually, you know, things. Things aren't quite panning out, as we
Speaker:thought. Will you come back? Will you come back and give us an extra hand to get
Speaker:it really up on its feet? So I came back, I took on another
Speaker:consultancy package with them, and actually really fell in love
Speaker:with the community, really fell in love with the nursery, the site
Speaker:itself. And, there were days when we'd, like, kind of stand
Speaker:in the office and we'd look out the window, think, oh,
Speaker:one day, what if this could all be ours? Never, ever
Speaker:for a million years thought that particular one would be. But
Speaker:then when, actually, three years later, it came, that they were going to
Speaker:close their doors, I felt really, really strongly and
Speaker:passionately that the nursery had a place in its community
Speaker:and with the staff team and with the families that had
Speaker:already served. So driving
Speaker:back up the hill, kind of pulled in and made a
Speaker:bit of a plan and kind of thought very quickly on my feet
Speaker:about how we could achieve atelier. So
Speaker:I picked up the phone to Simon, who's my business partner,
Speaker:and just said, I need to borrow some
Speaker:money. And at this point, he wasn't involved in the Nerf you at all. And he kind
Speaker:of went, well, what do you mean? And I said, I need to buy a building, I need to buy a business.
Speaker:I need this to work. And he, at the time
Speaker:was actually trekking. He was trekking in
Speaker:Cambodia. And he was kind of like, okay, give me
Speaker:a few hours and I'll call you back. And I just remember that
Speaker:call when he returned, just call back. And he went, yeah, right, then, you're
Speaker:on. And it was just this amazing moment when we kind
Speaker:of felt, oh, my gosh, this could be really real.
Speaker:And it was that goosey moment where you go, oh,
Speaker:my gosh, this is all going to happen. And it
Speaker:happened in such a quick time frame because the previous
Speaker:company, wanted to close their doors on August 31st.
Speaker:We were now on bank holiday in May, so we were kind of the end of
Speaker:May. we hadn't registered with Ofsted, we hadn't told
Speaker:any parents, we hadn't even thought about a TP process.
Speaker:And we did, and we turned it all around.
Speaker:And I remember, you know, them closing their doors
Speaker:and on that August 30th and kind of
Speaker:thinking, oh, my goodness. And, we spent
Speaker:48 hours of emptying all of
Speaker:their rubbish out, kind of peeling their names off the
Speaker:doors, using the hairdryer to get every piece of kind
Speaker:of purple off that we could possibly find,
Speaker:and then opened our doors on the Monday morning
Speaker:with 46 families on our books, families
Speaker:who'd stuck by us, who didn't know if we'd have a Ofsted registration
Speaker:through in time. It didn't come through until 5 o' clock on the
Speaker:Friday via email, but actually all came
Speaker:good. And then atelier was born and conceived.
Speaker:And, we've moved forward every day from that point, really.
Speaker:>> Laura: It's such a lovely story, isn't it?
Speaker:>> Lauren: And how many years on are we now?
Speaker:>> Clare: We're 13, ah, years this September,
Speaker:which it just feels like forever, but at the same time,
Speaker:only yesterday.
Speaker:>> Laura: A real story of community, of love
Speaker:and of heart. And that's what has always remained at the core of what atelier
Speaker:is. And it's community, its connection, it's. It's heart,
Speaker:it's love. And what. What does atelier mean?
Speaker:What is the name Atelier, for those who might not have. Have heard of it
Speaker:or be aware of what it stands for?
Speaker:>> Clare: Okay, so there's lots of different versions of atelier, whether
Speaker:it's a French cupboard or anything else. But for us,
Speaker:atelier is around the freedom, it's around the
Speaker:creativity, it's around the expression,
Speaker:it's around enabling children to fly,
Speaker:and really giving them everything they can
Speaker:to creatively achieve, within their education.
Speaker:So it's obviously heavily influenced by the Revs, by the
Speaker:Reggio Emilia and Loris Malaguzzi philosophy.
Speaker:but for us, atelier is a creative space,
Speaker:it's a creative place to be.
Speaker:>> Laura: Absolutely.
Speaker:>> Beth: It really is, in every way.
Speaker:>> Laura: So, Beth, what would you say if somebody
Speaker:asked you, so, what's. What's different about atelier? What makes it
Speaker:unique? What would you say were kind of the
Speaker:main points that would set us apart from other nurseries out
Speaker:there?
Speaker:>> Beth: I think you walk in the door
Speaker:and you just get the
Speaker:feeling. I think, yeah, you can't really
Speaker:describe it, but you get a feeling of
Speaker:love, warmth, of
Speaker:determination, not only with
Speaker:our children, but with us as well. and I just
Speaker:think, yeah, you. When you stop
Speaker:and you look, you really see some
Speaker:quite special moments.
Speaker:>> Lauren: M. Yeah. Thinking about those little pockets,
Speaker:like, when you walk through, you can see all these little pockets. Whether it's
Speaker:like pockets of investigation or
Speaker:like pockets of intimacy where they're sharing a
Speaker:cuddle or they're just like pockets
Speaker:of laughter when they kind of hide, make a den, and you can just hear
Speaker:all that mischievous laughter underneath. It's kind of like that,
Speaker:isn't it? You just wander through and then see all these little
Speaker:pockets of.
Speaker:>> Beth: Yeah, I think we're really lucky in the fact that I know
Speaker:that on every
Speaker:nursery visit that we do.
Speaker:>> Lauren: Yeah.
Speaker:>> Beth: that feedback is, I wish there was something around
Speaker:when I was young or I wish there was this around when my
Speaker:grandkids, like when my children were growing up and things like that, when you're
Speaker:talking to grandparents. And I think,
Speaker:yeah, I think it's just a really special place
Speaker:for everybody that walks through the door.
Speaker:>> Clare: It's a really strange one because I did a show around with a parent
Speaker:and, they were moving from London into Bath and he's a
Speaker:teacher, and he was going in to be a head,
Speaker:of department in one of our independent local independent
Speaker:schools. And he was coming and looking for a place for both of his children
Speaker:and I could tell that he was like catching each
Speaker:of the hooks and his face was just changing,
Speaker:through each of the rooms we went through and then we got to the top of the stairs
Speaker:to go into the garden and he went, whose
Speaker:idea is all of this? Because it just
Speaker:makes sense. And you could see all of the
Speaker:kind of, all of the information that had been shared, all of the
Speaker:things that he was seeing, like you say, Lauren, the pockets of the children
Speaker:that were working, everything I was telling him, he could
Speaker:see in practise happening immediately in
Speaker:front of him and he just went, this is
Speaker:so refreshing. It's so refreshing to know that education
Speaker:can still happen this way. I think
Speaker:that's what we're so lucky about in ateliers, that
Speaker:we have that freedom to fly for ourselves as educators.
Speaker:>> Laura: And I think the biggest thing, I guess, that makes us different is we
Speaker:are a mixed age free flow setting. So when you walk
Speaker:through the doors of our nursery, we don't have age based
Speaker:rooms, we don't have staff that are only working
Speaker:with the babies or staff that only work with our preschoolers.
Speaker:All of our children can access all of the space all of the time,
Speaker:regardless of their age. And our, staff work
Speaker:really closely alongside every single age group. And I think
Speaker:that's what makes it so unique as well, is that we are
Speaker:just one big open space where children
Speaker:come to learn in their way,
Speaker:facilitated by really, really
Speaker:clever educators who. Skillful, aren't they? Yeah,
Speaker:skillful. Who really
Speaker:trust us, who really buy into what we do, who really
Speaker:value our ethos. And I think that's what, for
Speaker:me, what makes it so special and what makes it really unique to other
Speaker:nurseries out there.
Speaker:>> Clare: And it's so strange, isn't it? Because it sounds so unique to
Speaker:nurseries in terms of nursery setting. You know, having all of
Speaker:our children working alongside each other without any closed
Speaker:doors of ages and stages. But actually it happens in
Speaker:every home across the world.
Speaker:>> Laura: Yeah.
Speaker:>> Clare: And so actually why do we, when our children go into,
Speaker:into daycare settings or into education, decide to
Speaker:then all of a sudden categorise them by age and
Speaker:restrict them from that peer scaffolding, from that
Speaker:peer inter. And you know, I think it's that brilliant
Speaker:Lillian Katzen where she says, you know, children aren't born in litter, so
Speaker:why would we choose to care for them that way? And actually it really resonates for
Speaker:me that actually the wealth of learning
Speaker:and the wealth of relationship that can come from a baby
Speaker:learning alongside a preschooler of a toddler that's
Speaker:observing, you know, what it looks like to be
Speaker:for. And actually the skills and the
Speaker:communication that can be learned through from that is just,
Speaker:it just blows me. No matter how many times we do this and no matter
Speaker:how many times you talk about it, it still makes me go see if it's really
Speaker:kind of, you know, it really is magical.
Speaker:>> Beth: Yeah. And I think to like, for anybody that's used
Speaker:to a traditional setup nursery with your
Speaker:separate room and kind of that non free flow
Speaker:aspect, I think when you're talking about it,
Speaker:they probably just feel like it's going to be absolute
Speaker:chaos. There's toys everywhere
Speaker:and the noise is horrendous.
Speaker:But actually like every day
Speaker:I go into that nursery, I, ah, stop and you can
Speaker:just. Yeah, there's, there's like
Speaker:hardly any noise because everybody
Speaker:is so busy, so engaged. It's really
Speaker:purposeful. so, yeah, it's really interesting when you
Speaker:stop and you listen and you see.
Speaker:>> Lauren: I m. Was think I thought of a phrase earlier. It's like it's
Speaker:free flow, not free for all.
Speaker:>> Beth: Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:>> Laura: That's not.
Speaker:>> Lauren: I think when people listen they might think, oh, it's just a free for all. That they're
Speaker:just. They can do whatever they want and they can go wherever they want and
Speaker:it must be a free for all. But it's not.
Speaker:>> Laura: It's so nice.
Speaker:>> Lauren: It's not a free for all.
Speaker:>> Clare: Yeah, it's not. But it's around us, isn't it,
Speaker:as leaders and for the staff team within their relationships, as key
Speaker:people to really show respect for those children
Speaker:and to hold those high expectations of them
Speaker:and to, to give them the
Speaker:autonomy to make their own choices, to make their
Speaker:decisions, but also to have accountability and
Speaker:responsibility. so actually things will go wrong and
Speaker:mistakes will happen or the bathroom might get flooded,
Speaker:but there will be a learning within that and actually how
Speaker:that's then managed for those children and with those
Speaker:children. So that actually, you know, that
Speaker:sense of responsibility and, And
Speaker:consequence can be felt with. And actually then
Speaker:learned from. And I. That really means that we
Speaker:are so fortunate because we grow
Speaker:the most confident and
Speaker:independent children.
Speaker:>> Laura: Yeah.
Speaker:>> Clare: No.
Speaker:>> Lauren: We'Re known for that, though, aren't we? When we have, like, teachers visit
Speaker:the setting, they can pick out
Speaker:the atelier.
Speaker:>> Clare: Children, reception class children. He'll say, we know that's an atelier.
Speaker:>> Lauren: Yeah.
Speaker:>> Clare: And even parents actually will come in and they'll say, oh,
Speaker:it's really obvious when we're at the park, we'll know if children are going to atelier
Speaker:because they're so confident to come up to older children or to
Speaker:younger children in terms of their responses for each other in the park or
Speaker:outside of the settings.
Speaker:>> Lauren: I found it interesting with Annabelle when we've gone to Bath
Speaker:Parks and Bath, and she will play with
Speaker:atelier children from Bath Nursery, and she doesn't
Speaker:know them. I find it really interesting. Like, I'm like, oh, I know. I
Speaker:just. I've got them. But she. Straight away,
Speaker:they just go up to each other, don't they? And they're the ones
Speaker:generally, like, knee deep in the sand.
Speaker:>> Laura: Yeah.
Speaker:>> Lauren: Adding the water to the mud. Like the ones that are kind
Speaker:of, like pushing the boundaries, but in that. But in a good
Speaker:one, in that. Invest in that curious way. Not in a destructive way
Speaker:at all. But she can. She'll see a big pocket.
Speaker:>> Laura: I can.
Speaker:>> Lauren: I can see like a little pocket of atelier children. The sand pit.
Speaker:And she's straight over there. Like, she. It's almost like a bit of a
Speaker:language, isn't it, with language of freedom? I guess. I
Speaker:don't know. But, yeah, I find that really interesting because then I'm like,
Speaker:she's over there covered in mud. I'm like, oh, hi.
Speaker:>> Laura: That's actually really nice. You talk about languages there. one of
Speaker:our. Our biggest influences, Clare, is. Is Reggio.
Speaker:And you've been lucky enough to actually travel to Reggio and kind
Speaker:of see it in practise. So what. What is it about
Speaker:Reggio Emilia that that kind of
Speaker:sparked your interest and made you want to base a lot of
Speaker:what atelier does around Reggio.
Speaker:>> Clare: Oh, gosh, Laura. There's so many principles that
Speaker:I think really feel in tune with my way of working
Speaker:and with my own value base. But, you know, when you think about
Speaker:children as being capable and creative and
Speaker:curious learners, when we think about
Speaker:Adults acting as facilitators and researchers
Speaker:alongside the child. When we think of the environment of the third,
Speaker:teacher, you know, there's so much that we can draw on
Speaker:from all of that pedagogical approach that actually
Speaker:empowers and enables and seeks
Speaker:for children to learn in a creative approach. And I think
Speaker:we sadly, you know, we've sadly fallen into an education
Speaker:system where we're now
Speaker:teaching our children not to be creative in their faith. and
Speaker:actually I think what we need to continue,
Speaker:to live and to grow successfully is to
Speaker:have confidence and self belief and
Speaker:to have a
Speaker:different way of looking at things. And I think actually
Speaker:if we can embed that in our children, right from a
Speaker:very, very young age, then actually that will carry them through the
Speaker:rest of their life. but it's not just Reggio. No, we
Speaker:stand, you know, we say it very honestly and very openly. We stand on
Speaker:the shoulders of lots of giants. and I've been like you say, very
Speaker:fortunate Toyota Reggio several times now and really
Speaker:experience in detail that educational
Speaker:philosophy. But you know, we've also been to Denmark. We're really
Speaker:hoping to go across to New Zealand. We've looked at some of the, some of
Speaker:the European curriculums and actually what we do is stand on the
Speaker:shoulders of all of those giants. and I think what we've managed to do
Speaker:and what we're really proud of at atelier is we've taken
Speaker:a little bit of everything that works across the world,
Speaker:and we've rolled it into one, but we've made it contextual to our
Speaker:communities and to our cities and to the families
Speaker:that we serve. And actually that's what makes atelier, is
Speaker:recognising that, you know, we aren't in Northern
Speaker:Italy and we aren't in New Zealand, but actually
Speaker:we can draw on some of that sense of community and
Speaker:belonging from the TIFER curriculum. We can draw on
Speaker:that environment and the use of
Speaker:everything that Reggio brings from a creative perspective as
Speaker:well as the outdoor sleepings of our Scandinavian
Speaker:partners. Actually it makes a really successful
Speaker:educational, pedagogical approach. And that's what we do
Speaker:Atelier.
Speaker:>> Beth: I think Clare, you're really good as like our, ah,
Speaker:our leader, and our head of nursery. And the fact that I know when I
Speaker:went to Reggio I came back with
Speaker:so many ideas and agendas in my head and I was
Speaker:like, we're gonna do this and we're gonna do that and you're actually,
Speaker:hang on, let's Think about this from
Speaker:where we are, what works, what doesn't work.
Speaker:And I think that we look at that for every aspect
Speaker:and going forwards, if we're able to help anybody, I think
Speaker:that's a really important part of our
Speaker:consideration, that it has to work for
Speaker:your nursery and your team. And I think, I think you
Speaker:always really remind me of that, that actually, no,
Speaker:what works for us will be different to different people.
Speaker:>> Clare: And it's really interesting. Is it? Because, you know, only was it last year, the year
Speaker:before, we had a, whole staff training deck and
Speaker:we had the amazing Martin come and spend the day with us
Speaker:and he was exploring what he had interpreted
Speaker:as their Reggio approach for his satay.
Speaker:And, actually, you know, you could hear some of the staff cogs were kind of ticking
Speaker:and all of a sud. And Mary went, oh, it's, you know, it's going to be our door that gets
Speaker:shut. And it was just like, no, that's not going to
Speaker:happen. Because actually for us, you know, when you
Speaker:look at some of the true projects and provocations that take place, they're
Speaker:in very, very small groups, you know, that might be only working
Speaker:with six or seven children at a time. You know, the
Speaker:ratios that are driven down are very different. The,
Speaker:funding and the financing is very, very different. And so actually
Speaker:what's really important for us to do is always hold on to
Speaker:what is working. Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water.
Speaker:Let's look at how we can enhance, let's reflect on how we
Speaker:things better, how can we deliver, all
Speaker:of those concepts, but in our own way that
Speaker:suits our children, our families, our staff, you know, and even our
Speaker:settings. You know, when you look at the difference between our
Speaker:Bath setting and our Chippenham setting, you know, from
Speaker:the outside it looks like they probably run very, very
Speaker:similarly. You know, they're all on one level, they've all got one floor.
Speaker:But actually just the fact that the garden access in the
Speaker:Chippenham nurses from the front door, but the Bath access to the gardens
Speaker:from the back door makes such a difference in terms of
Speaker:actually how we operate on a day to day basis.
Speaker:>> Laura: And I think that was, that was the biggest, learning
Speaker:curve I think for me is when I started at Chippenham and I went to
Speaker:visit Bath, I thought, but it's different, it's not
Speaker:the same place to be doing that. And it kind of, it
Speaker:you then kind of reflect and think, no, our values are the
Speaker:same, our principles are the same, but it's a different building,
Speaker:it's a different space, It's a different cohort in a different town.
Speaker:We can still hold on to what's true to us, but the way it's put
Speaker:into practise might be a little bit different because of.
Speaker:Of the. Of the place that we're in. And I think that's.
Speaker:I had to take a bit of time because I was like, oh, we're not as.
Speaker:We're not like the original, because Bath is kind of the blueprint, I
Speaker:suppose, for Italian. I was like, oh, we're not quite like that.
Speaker:But actually I think we can be different in our own
Speaker:right, but also still holding. Holding ground to
Speaker:what's really important to us. Lauren, you're quite a,
Speaker:keen Frobellian, aren't you? You really like Froebel
Speaker:and he's one of our.
Speaker:>> Lauren: One of our kind of, founding father.
Speaker:>> Laura: Yeah. One of our Hediweb Kolympi.
Speaker:can you talk a little bit about how Froebel's kind of come into. Into play
Speaker:with Atelier recently and how we're working on that with a
Speaker:team?
Speaker:>> Lauren: Yeah. I think what I find really interesting is a lot of the time
Speaker:we can unpick, When we had, a day's,
Speaker:training with Fro Ball Trust and lots of the practitioners
Speaker:came away from it and said, oh, we do loads of that already. And actually,
Speaker:I think that's what's really interesting about Froeball. I think
Speaker:the core values that,
Speaker:his kindergarten was set up on
Speaker:really similar principles to Reggio Emilia,
Speaker:and it is the way that we do things. But
Speaker:ultimately, his approach was that, it was all about
Speaker:unity and connectedness. And
Speaker:he would state that everything links. And that's exactly what Clare
Speaker:would say about community and connection. We take a holistic
Speaker:approach to where the child is at and the community setting that
Speaker:in. Another kind of aspect of the Frobelian approach
Speaker:is, being connected with nature and being
Speaker:outdoors and exploring natural, resources. And
Speaker:that's what we believe too. And
Speaker:one thing that we've been looking at, in depth is about, the
Speaker:Frobelian occupation. So how we can teach
Speaker:children skills for life through an occupation
Speaker:such as woodwork or through an occupation such as
Speaker:cooking. So, yeah, the Frobellian approach isn't.
Speaker:We wouldn't say we're truly forbelia.
Speaker:>> Clare: I'm not truly.
Speaker:>> Lauren: No.
Speaker:>> Clare: And I think that's that bit, isn't it? It comes back about standing on the shoulders
Speaker:of lots of giants. Actually, if we look at the value that
Speaker:blocks bring to our play, if we look at the value of woodwork, if we
Speaker:look at the value of weaving, of baking, of nature
Speaker:within our education, then of course they need to be there.
Speaker:The absolutely vital principles, and they're all for a billion
Speaker:principles, but actually they can be interwoven
Speaker:with Laura Smalaguzzi's environment
Speaker:and the role of the teachers. It can be interwoven with
Speaker:the beautiful sense of community, belonging and
Speaker:relationships that come through from New Zealand. It can be interwoven with
Speaker:our babies sleeping outside, and our forest school
Speaker:concepts that we implement from, from Scandinavia. And I think,
Speaker:you know, we shouldn't ever be shy and we shouldn't ever
Speaker:be scared of really taking a step back
Speaker:and looking at our pedagogy and where it has
Speaker:come from and how we're doing what we're doing. Because I think
Speaker:so much in early years, you know, you get caught
Speaker:sometimes in a, we need to do this because everybody's doing it and you throw the baby
Speaker:out of the bath water and all of a sudden, you know, there's no plastic. All of a sudden
Speaker:everything's beige or all of a sudden, you know, I
Speaker:don't know, I don't know because we are beige and we never have a tabard in sight.
Speaker:But you know, it, for me it becomes really quite
Speaker:Pinterest day. And I think what's really important is that
Speaker:we really know and understand our pedagogy. Because
Speaker:if we're confident in our pedagogy then we're confident
Speaker:in our approach and then actually we're unwavering
Speaker:in how we implement that with our staff and with our children
Speaker:and therefore the expectations we can hold of each other
Speaker:are always high because there's never a gap in
Speaker:understanding or there's never a gap in
Speaker:kind of recognising why something might be being
Speaker:done for that reason. It's like Beth said right at the beginning, everything
Speaker:is done with a purpose, everything is done with a research
Speaker:led approach. And I think that's really important to hold onto and
Speaker:being unwavering on that.
Speaker:>> Laura: Yeah, unwavering is kind of our key word, isn't it? That across
Speaker:the whole space and the leadership team and the team, we're unwavering on
Speaker:our commitment to being the best, doing the best to
Speaker:holding our children at the centre. And I think that's what I really hold
Speaker:on to every day when I'm walking through the nursery is, is this best
Speaker:for our children? Is this Is this unwavering to the commitment
Speaker:of being. Being the best we can be?
Speaker:So, Clare, can you tell us a little bit more about why you've decided to find.
Speaker:To develop the services of Atelier, they put a bit of
Speaker:a consultancy busier.
Speaker:>> Clare: Oh, Laura. I think we're in such a
Speaker:politically changing landscape. and I think,
Speaker:you know, when, when you've been in early years as long as I
Speaker:have, you know, I, you know, I've worked in the sector
Speaker:before children were even regulated. And we had, you know, we had an under eights
Speaker:work who'd come in and check the first aid box right the way through to, you
Speaker:know, we didn't have a curriculum for under threes. So actually we've
Speaker:seen so much change and so much investment in
Speaker:early years over the last few decades. But I think what's
Speaker:really important at the moment is we're seeing a shift between
Speaker:education and early years education and the value
Speaker:of outcomes for young children having high quality education
Speaker:to a shift into a workforce reform. So we're seeing
Speaker:a shift into, particularly mothers being encouraged back
Speaker:into work. And so we're having a change on
Speaker:the sector's perspective, and particularly the
Speaker:government's perspective of what we're here for and how we should be
Speaker:working. So the consultancy has come about
Speaker:because we want to share our expertise, we want to
Speaker:share our confidence, we want to be able to support
Speaker:people, in anything they want to
Speaker:achieve. Because actually, we're not saying that what we do is the
Speaker:right way, we're saying it's the way that works for us. But
Speaker:actually, if somebody is brave enough to be looking at and
Speaker:reflecting upon the services they offer
Speaker:and the systems that they implement or the
Speaker:pedagogy that they're developing within their
Speaker:setting, then sometimes it's nice to have what we call a critical friend to go
Speaker:alongside them. somebody who can act as a sounding board,
Speaker:a mentor, a coach, but also somebody who
Speaker:can sometimes come in and do some of the grok work. so actually that might
Speaker:be really taking a step back and observing what's happening in
Speaker:aesthetic, really trying to get to the crux of any
Speaker:issues that might be developing or, you know, really
Speaker:excitingly building on and developing practises and services that
Speaker:are available. So for us, the consultancy is about
Speaker:giving ourselves an additional time, to
Speaker:reflect, to grow, giving all of our
Speaker:staff team the opportunity to grow within their own careers as well.
Speaker:But also, as Beth said right at the beginning, just sharing some of that
Speaker:practise, seeing if we can make a difference to other children, to other
Speaker:families, to inspire other educators into
Speaker:developing their own work.
Speaker:>> Laura: And I love that. I think for me, the whole idea
Speaker:of sharing what we do is ultimately, again,
Speaker:holding the children at the centre and wanting the very best for all children,
Speaker:as many children as possible across. Across the country, is
Speaker:we want to show other
Speaker:educators, other nurseries, how you can
Speaker:be at the top of your
Speaker:game, how you can ensure that your children get the best
Speaker:outcomes possible. Even if you're in a really deprived area or
Speaker:you have a really low budget, there's still ways of
Speaker:ensuring that they have the very best experience you can provide.
Speaker:You know, it doesn't have to be really expensive
Speaker:nursery. It can just be a space where
Speaker:there's respect, there's trust, there's. There's love
Speaker:and. Yeah, and then children will.
Speaker:>> Clare: And channelling those children and championing those staff.
Speaker:you know, it's difficult years ahead, I think we've got to have. And I think
Speaker:actually the more we can focus together as a sector, the
Speaker:stronger we will become.
Speaker:>> Laura: Absolutely.
Speaker:So, if we could kind of share one key message that we want people to
Speaker:take away from who we are at TEA and what's. What's
Speaker:to come in this podcast and what to look forward to, what would you
Speaker:say?
Speaker:>> Beth: Honest?
Speaker:>> Laura: Yeah, I think that's true, isn't it? We are. We're going to be honest,
Speaker:we're going.
Speaker:>> Clare: To be very real.
Speaker:>> Laura: Yeah, real. We are. We are people who work in the
Speaker:sector. Day in, day out, we're still in the
Speaker:nurseries, running the nurseries, working in the nurseries.
Speaker:So we are on the front line, I suppose, of
Speaker:the earliest sex phase.
Speaker:>> Clare: I think, to have something that's for educators,
Speaker:all nursery owners, by educators and by nursing.
Speaker:I think it's really interesting because actually, you
Speaker:know, it is about sharing in what's going on
Speaker:and the challenges that are being faced, but also opening up that
Speaker:discussion, what it can be. I think that's
Speaker:really exciting.
Speaker:>> Laura: Laura, what do you think? What's your.
Speaker:>> Lauren: I can just picture. I can picture a bit of like a
Speaker:sledgehammer and we're like breaking down barriers
Speaker:and we're just thinking, we're
Speaker:going.
Speaker:>> Clare: For it now, we're going for it.
Speaker:>> Lauren: Like there are. Are.
Speaker:>> Clare: But some.
Speaker:>> Lauren: Sometimes when you're in. Within that, ah, kind of,
Speaker:nursery setting culture, if you've only been in that one
Speaker:setting, you might think of potential
Speaker:barriers and actually we're just here to kind of
Speaker:slash them down.
Speaker:>> Laura: So is that really a barrier?
Speaker:>> Lauren: Like, is. Is that Is that really a legitimate reason to
Speaker:not like. Like
Speaker:investigate that or try a different approach? Like.
Speaker:>> Laura: Yeah, just.
Speaker:>> Lauren: Yeah, I can. I'm just patching. Where everybody's just
Speaker:chucking babies out of bubbles. Yeah, it's just like.
Speaker:Just thinking of a different way of doing things.
Speaker:>> Laura: Yeah. Clare, what would your key message be? What do you want your.
Speaker:This podcast to do for the early years sector?
Speaker:>> Clare: I want this podcast to give people some
Speaker:inspiration, some reassurance,
Speaker:some groundedness, A
Speaker:space for them to laugh, a space for
Speaker:them to reflect, a space for
Speaker:us to come together. I'm excited for what's
Speaker:ahead of the TA talks.
Speaker:>> Laura: No, so am I. I think it's going to be a lovely time
Speaker:to. To reflect, to talk, to share,
Speaker:to plan and to. To
Speaker:hopefully inspire, many, many more people out there to follow in our
Speaker:footsteps.
Speaker:>> Clare: We hope you've enjoyed today's podcast as much as we have
Speaker:enjoyed much making it. There's many more to come, and we look forward
Speaker:to inviting you further into the doors of atelier.
