Harry, Nursery Manager at Kido Battersea
From Apprentice to Nursery Manager and beyond: Harry's Journey at Kido. Starting in one of our first UK nurseries to managing a brand new Kido nursery, Harry is now working in our hub within the people team. Learn from his vast experiences and expertise in early years about life at Kido.
What’s been your career path with Kido so far?
I started as a Nursery Educator and now I’m a manager and joining the hub team soon! I joined Kido at their Windsor branch in February 2020 as a Nursery Educator in the Toddler room. I was then promoted to the Preschool Room Leader and a few months later I was made the Third in Charge for the nursery. After a few months in this position I was promoted to Deputy Manager and then I went on to be promoted again to Nursery Manager and joined our Tooting nursery in this role. When one of our new nurseries was opening, Battersea, I moved there as Nursery Manager for the launch. In this time I have also taken over Health and Safety for our nurseries, as our Health and Safety Champion I do regular audits to support all our Kido sites. I’m currently transitioning to be a member of the People Team due to personal aspects in my life. My partner lives in another country and travelling between the two countries began to get a bit difficult. I was able to speak to work to try and come up with a solution. I’ve worked really hard and they have been so supportive so we came up with the idea that I could join the People team and work mostly remotely so that I was able to go and be with my partner in their country and also stay with Kido, the company I love. I'm currently doing weekly training and onboarding for this new role as it is quite a big transition from nursery life to office and remote work. The team has been so supportive coming up with the solution with me and it has been really great to have all the support and guidance and continue to work for a company I really love.
Who or what inspired you to choose early years?
My family. I come from a big family. I have 6 siblings, 5 of which are younger than me and I also have 4 nieces and nephews so I have always been supportive in caring and playing with them growing up and always had a knack for sparking curiosity in children.
What does a typical workday look like for you?
As a Nursery Manager there are key elements such as the daily checks and risk assessments and organising a daily plan, but every day is different. Depending on what’s going on I could be office based, kitchen based, room based or out on outings or visiting other Kido nursery sites. It has such variety and I really love the unpredictability of it as it is exciting and challenging coming up with solutions and plans and seeing all your hard work pay off.
What support have you received from your line manager and team?
Too much to share it all! One example would be the regular phone calls and catch ups just to run things through. They are a good chance to request support and advice if it’s needed so I really value these conversations.
What training have you completed in your early years career so far?
I have Early Years Level 2 and Level 3 qualifications which I completed through apprenticeships. These are the ones that are required to progress your Early Years career. I’ve also completed First Aid, Safer Recruitment, Designated Safeguarding Lead, SENCO, Prevent and many more mandatory and optional trainings related to safeguarding, the EYFS, and running a nursery. I am a visual hands-on learner so I like to be shown things. Having an in-house people training team and having managers to go to who can give you knowledge, support and guidance has been really helpful. It has got me from a position of being a Nursery Educator to a Manager. I have been dedicated to working towards my goals and work has been super supportive to get me there working alongside me and my learning style to help me achieve them. They’ve made learning fun, easy and attainable for those with different styles of taking in information.
What’s some of the challenges you’ve faced in your job and how have you overcome them?
Transitioning from being a colleague to a leader, the responsibility and the relationship changes and boundaries that comes with this was one of the biggest challenges. I spent 10 years in the classrooms directly, so this was very different for me. I overcame this by showing empathy with the team, understanding their needs and struggles but also setting boundaries and realistic expectations of what is needed from them for me to successfully manage them. I work closely with my team and I ask them ‘what is it you need from me?’ and ‘what is it I can do for you?’ and ‘what is the nursery lacking?’ and their input influences my action plan and helps me implement things that the staff are identifying we need. The staff know that they can come to me with any questions and queries, for advice or support but at the same time know it’s a professional setting and that it's a two-way street. They need to support me as much as I need to support them and there needs to be a level of respect and understanding. I managed to do this on a one-to-one basis with all my staff, to fully understand everyone's uniqueness and opinions so that I can support them the best I can.
What's been your biggest achievement since working for Kido?
Launching my own site at Battersea. I have learnt so much from this experience and it has made me not only grow to new heights as a person but also in my career, with my increased knowledge and skill base.
Before you started in early years, what did you think it would be like? How is it different from what you expected?
I thought I would mainly be playing with the children all day. I quickly learnt that although play is a part of it, there is so much that goes into educating children. They are our next generation and I love it when the children learn something new.
What's one piece of advice would you give to someone who is just starting out with Kido?
Set yourself goals and make a plan for your career because if the leadership team knows where you want to go they will do all they can to help you achieve your goals.
What do you enjoy the most about working at Kido?
The support! The systems and people are really there for you and really care about you as a person not just as an employee. They will support you in any way possible.
Describe working for Kido in one word…
Dynamic