🗣️ How to hold a supervision

Before, during and after, in the order of the form, with the questions to ask at each step. About 45 minutes, every two months, held by the nursery manager (directors supervise the managers).

What it is for

Our Supervision policy says supervision gives staff the chance to:

Discuss any issues – particularly concerning children’s development or well-being, including child protection concerns
Identify solutions to address issues as they arise
Receive coaching to improve their personal effectiveness
Develop their own skills or training needs in order to progress in their role
Discuss any concerns relating to changes in personal circumstances that might affect an individual’s ability or suitability to work with children.From our Supervision policy

It is not an appraisal and it is not performance management. If it needs to become one, say so out loud. Most supervision fails in the same way: a form, twenty minutes of “everything fine?”, two signatures, filed. This page is how ours doesn’t.

Before

Book it and protect it. A private room, not a corridor or the room floor. Our policy: if it is cancelled, it is rearranged within 7 days.
Tell them what it is for when you book it, so they can think about what to bring.
Read their last record (Supervision → History). Open with “last time you were going to…”. Nothing says “formality” louder than a supervisor who can’t remember the last one.
Look at what you already know: their training and practice tasks, any concerns, behaviour records or SEND concerns they have raised, and any QA actions with their name on.
Use the tablet or a laptop. You can fill the form in as you go or straight after. They read and sign it on their own phone, through the Hub, afterwards.

During: open it well

Say what it is, and that it is confidential in tone, not absolutely. That is fair to say at the start, and it means nothing later feels like a betrayal.

“This is your time: how you are, the children, what’s going well and what isn’t, and what you need from me. It stays between us, with one exception: if you tell me something about a child’s safety, or something that could affect working with children, I have to act on it, and I’ll tell you what I’m doing.”

Talk less than half the time. If you are talking more than the person being supervised, it is not supervision.

Questions that open people up

…and the ones that shut people down

During: the form, section by section

The form follows this order. Each section in the form has the same questions under “Questions to ask”. Pick two or three; you don’t need them all.

If something serious comes up

A worry about a child’s safety: it goes to the DSL the same day, in person, however it came up. Record who you told and when (the form asks), and it goes on the safeguarding concern form too. Never “we’ll pick it up next time”.

A change in circumstances that could affect suitability (police, a court, health): answer “Yes” on the form and write only what is needed to decide what happens next. The nursery manager and directors are told straight away. Don’t promise an outcome.
A concern about a colleague’s conduct goes to the manager and, where it meets the threshold, the LADO. See Whistleblowing & LADO awareness.
Work is making them unwell: offer a stress risk assessment (Staff Well-being policy). See risk assessments.
They become upset: stop the form. The person matters more than the record. Finish another day if you need to.

After

Write it the same day, while it is fresh: facts and agreements, not a transcript. Children by initials only; health only as it affects the job.
Every action has an owner and a date, including what you agreed to do. The form won’t save without them.
Save and send. The member of staff gets a notice on their Hub, reads the record on their own phone, and agrees it or adds a comment. Nothing goes by email or Discord. If they comment, talk it through; if you then change the record, they are asked to sign it again.
Do what you said you would. Nothing kills supervision faster than finding out that what you say in it changes nothing.
The next one is booked two months on. The dashboard shows who is due, and you get a Monday reminder.

Group supervision

Good for a room team: shared routines, a child the whole room works with, a change that affects everyone.
Not for anything personal: wellbeing and changes in circumstances belong in a 1:1. Offer one to anyone who seems to need it.
Each person signs the group record on their own Hub.

🗣️ Open Supervision 🎓 Supervision That Works 📄 Supervision policy 🗂️ How long records are kept