Case Study

You are new in your role as the Room Leader for a large inner-city pre-school and you have four key members of staff who have 8 key children each allocated to them. The demographic of the pre-school largely consists of families with English as an additional language (EAL). One of your key members of staff is showing signs of irritation when speaking to the parents at the end of the day as they do not always seem to understand what she is saying. Plan a meeting with this member of staff to discuss your concerns.

1. Consider how this meeting should be planned so that you are supporting this member of staff, but not compromising on good quality care for the families of the pre-school.
2. Consider if this should be an informal ‘chat’ or a formal meeting.
3. Contemplate if you are the best person to support her, or if the support should be allocated to someone else, if so – why and what would the support look like?

It is rare that there is just one way to respond to a scenario or situation, so do not consider that the response you have chosen to this scenario will be judged as right or wrong. Share your scenario with a work colleague and ask them to tell you if they think you have responded appropriately. Ask them to challenge your response if necessary. You do not need to submit this task for assessment unless asked to do so by your tutor.