Practical Play work Development

Executive Summary This paper focuses upon the examining the aim and objectives of Little Dreams Nursery and determining the importance of team work. In this paper, a framework is developed which is effective for developing the standard of service provided by Little Dreams Nursery. Moreover, this paper identifies various powers and explains the distribution of power in Little Dreams Nursery. This report emphasizes on analyzing the effectiveness of team work in context of Little Dreams Nursery for achieving its aims and objectives. Table of Contents Executive Summary. 2 Introduction. 4 Aim and Objectives of Teamwork. 4 Soft Systems Methodology in context of Little Dreams Nursery. 8 Types of Power. 10 Distribution of Power. 11 Effectiveness of the Organization in Achieving Aims. 12 Conclusion. 12 References. 14 Introduction Little Dreams Nursery offers quality experience to the children from six weeks to five years. As team work always helps in enhancing performance, it can also be applied in children learning and development framework. Nursery play schools provide service to the children and make them involved in various activities. There are various jobs in a nursery performed by a group o staffs. Teams can be developed in accordance to their nature of job. This will lead to better performance as everybody will concentrate upon his/her own job responsibilities. Moreover, team work helps in maintaining integrity of an agency. In case of Little Dreams Nursery, the several teams are developed in accordance to its aims ad objectives. The effectiveness of each team depends upon distribution of power and exercise of power. The power distribution in Little Dreams Nursery is also discussed n this paper. Aim and Objectives of Teamwork Team work always helps in enhancing the performance of an agency and leads to achieve the objectives. Teams in the agency must be built in order to effectively fulfill the aims of the agency. Little Dreams Nursery aims to provide a safe a healthy environment to the children aged between six weeks to five years. In every stage, they are made involved in different types of activities. Teams are built to cater various activities of the children. Teams are motivated to achieve a common goal along with its team members. In Little Dreams Nursery teams are built so that each team can cater to specific activities. Various activities are carried out by several staffs of Little Dreams Nursery. The teams are developed so that job responsibilities can be clearly designated. Each team will focus on performing its own job along with its team members. The job role of the team members must be defined clearly. Hence, effective teams in Little Dreams Nursery will assist in achieving the aims and objec tives of providing safe, welcoming, healthy and happy atmosphere to the children aged between six weeks to five years (Little Dreams Nursery, 2014). In this section it is discussed how teams of Little Dreams Nursery helps in proving quality experience for the children. Little Dreams Nursery has a consistent security entry system which is managed by a team containing selected team members. The objective of the team is to ensure authorized entrance to the nursery premises. The security team is responsible for dealing with the security issues of nursery. It has communicated to the requirement of notification in order to know the authorized person to collect children from nursery. The security team of Little Dreams Nursery does not allow the children to leave nursery premises with an unauthorized person. This rule is strictly followed by the security team of Little Dreams Nursery. A team is built for taking care of the children in the introductory period. A team consisting of team members having knowledge of children communication and psychology deals with the children in the initial session. This session takes place before the actual or full day session starts. The aim of the introductory sessions is to make the child used to with that particular environment and people. Expert team members having relevant sill interact with the children to make him/ her accustomed with the nursery. In this period, the parents are allowed to join with the children. The team members are responsible for deciding upon the length of the introductory period. The objective is to make the children feel relaxed and comfortable in the nursery setting. A team is built in Little Dreams Nursery for monitoring the children in small Baby Room and preparing daily report for the children. The daily report is handed over to the parents as a useful reference. The daily report sheet will contain the eating as well as sleeping patterns, consumption of fluid, frequency of toileting etc. It is also informed whether any abnormality is observed in the daily activities. Moreover, daily reports contain the detailed information about the participation of children in different activities. In Little Dreams Nursery, there is a room where children can sleep. In the sleep room a small team consisting two members monitors the children. The responsibility of the team members is to check whether suitable arrangements have been made where the children can sleep. The team must ensure that the bed linens are clean and properly settled. They are also responsible for maintaining calm atmosphere in the sleep room so that children can have uninterrupted sleep. A team is developed in Little Child Nursery for keeping track of the progress of the children. This nursery aims to provide superior experiences by organizing quality activities as per Curriculum for Excellence. It tries to promote development of children through learning in eight areas. It is very important to assess the development or progress of a child. A team is responsible for preparing the progress report of the children. The teachers or educators who made the children involved in the activities are the best person for assessing their progress. The progress report is sent to the parents twice in a year. Moreover, the parents can anytime approach this team to get an insight about the childs progress (Little Dreams Nursery, 2014). Little Child Nursery follows the Curriculum for experience for promoting childrens development. In order to enable children to become an effective, confident and successful learner as well as a responsible contributor to the society most importance must be given to activity planning. Undoubtedly it is one of the most difficult as well as significant task. A team must be developed consisting experienced and expert individuals n order to plan nursery activities for meeting achieving the desired learning outcomes. The activity plan must be flexible and address the individual need and interest. The activity plans will be different for various developmental stages. The activities for children below three years are less structured and focus upon responsive learning. On the other hand, activity planning for children above three years is structured and emphasizes on the learning outcome. The team responsible for designing activities plays a crucial role in attaining the objectives of Little Dreams Nursery (Little Dreams Nursery, 2014). Little Dreams Nursery provides superior quality healthy lunch to the children. A two course lunch is offered by the nursery which consist high standard ingredients. A team is built for catering the lunch of the children. The role for team members must be designated. Some members are responsible for preparing meals and some will assist in serving those. The team must designate a member who will monitor the standard of the meals and make sure all the ingredients are fresh and healthy for children. Moreover, few team members will feed the babies and teach the children how to eat (Little Dreams Nursery, 2014). A team must be built for taking care of the cleanliness and hygiene of the children. Sometimes, children take part in some activities which makes their clothes dirty. The team members must encourage the children to wear apron when needed. The team members are responsible for ensuring all children who belong to the age group of three to five have brushed their teeth regularly after lunch. A small team must be built with experts who can handle the children suffering from illness. Sometimes, children get injured while involved in the activities. The team will be responsible for providing comfort to the ill children. Moreover, if the child is detected with infectious disease the team members must provide separate accommodation so that it does not affect other children (Little Dreams Nursery, 2014). All the teams in Little Dreams Nursery should promote positive behaviors. The children must be encouraged and praised from all the team members. The children must feel protected and it is the responsibility of every team member. Children must receive enough attention in order to fulfill their needs (Drake, 2009). This is an effective way in which various teams with designated job responsibilities will perform together in order to achieve the aims and objectives of Little Dreams Nursery. Soft Systems Methodology in context of Little Dreams Nursery Soft Systems Methodology is an approach that assists in identifying solution for real world problems. This methodology was developed by Peter Chuckland. The Soft Systems Methodology can be described with the aid of following diagram: In order to build a rich picture three analyses are required. First analysis will involve scrutiny of the intervention. Second analysis will examine the roles, rules and regulations and values. Third analysis is known as political analysis which will be responsible for distribution of power, list of activities needed to be done for influencing people etc. Analysis of the intervention will give a vivid idea about the problem situation. In context of Little Dreams Nursery, the problem situation is it needs to develop teams for achieving the objectives efficiently. By analyzing the social system, the roles of each team and team members must be designated. The regulatory framework and the objective of Little Dreams Nursery must be defined clearly while assigning various job roles. Political system analysis will help in distribution of power in a specific agency. Types of Power There are different types of power that re relevant in case f Little Dreams Nursery. Various type of powers are discussed below: Position Power Position power is also known as the legitimate power. This power is naturally gained by people who are in higher position. The organizational hierarchy gives the authority to control the sub-ordinate people. For example, CEO or owner of an organization has the control over entire organization in terms of setting goals and determining the direction of various activities. Expert Power Expert power can be achieved when a person gains enough knowledge about a certain job or task. Expert power is generated from individual skill as well as experiences. When a person gains knowledge from real life problems and he can use it in other problems. Thus a person becomes expert in solving challenging issues in a specific area (Kadushin and Harkness, 2002). Dependence Power Dependence power can be referred to the power which can be gained from others influence. In other terms when a person receives favor from a powerful person it is known as dependence power. In most of the cases, dependence power is gained from short period of time for carrying out a specific activity. Personal Power Personal power can be gained when a person is respected and trusted for his qualities. A person gets trusted for its previous works and skills. Very often, power is given to a person when it is observed that the person has been able to managed difficult situations. Distribution of Power Right distribution of power helps to achieve the desired goals of an organization. In Little Dreams Nursery, the distribution of power is very significant. The children are served in this nursery and any mismanagement or misuse of power will affect the children. Gillian McKnight is the owner of the Little Dreams Nursery. She has the legitimate of position power. She has greater control over the nursery and its activities. She has experience of fifteen years in childcare sector. Hence she also has the expert power. Mrs. McKnight can always give suggestions and take decisions regarding management of several activities in the nursery. She is responsible for monitoring the everyday activities of Little Dreams Nursery a well as running the nursery. Mrs. McKnight has the power to deal with all types of childcare issues, management of employees, monitoring the quality of service provided by the staffs etc. The nursery is extensively dependent upon the use of power by Gillian McKnight. The co-owner and manager of Little Dreams Nursery is Michelle Macrae. Being an owner and manager Mrs. Macrae has the position power or legitimate power. She is also experienced in childcare and child education. Formerly, she had worked in two nurseries as manager. She can apply the expert power in resolving issues regarding childcare, staff management etc. She monitors all the activities of nursery and takes decision in order to improve the quality of service. Misuse of the position power very often affects the agency. She must be careful in exercising power. Various teams are developed in Little Dreams Nursery and each team must be headed by a team leader. The team leader will be responsible for designating tasks among the team members. The team members must be given independence in order to perform their task effectively. But, if any misuse of power is observed, it must be informed to the manager and owner of the nursery. Name Position Power Gillian McKnight Owner Position Power, Expert power Michelle Macrae Co-owner, Manager Position Power, Expert power Ainsley Bruce Security Team Leader Position Power Dolina Gordon Introductory Session team Leader Expert Power Gracie Aiken Sleeping Room Monitor Position Power Ina Gibson Progress Report Team Leader Expert Power, Personal Power Finola Patton Team leader: Activity Planning Expert Power Kenzy Norris Team leader: lunch Expert Power, personal power, Position Power Margaret Sterling Nursing Expert Power Effectiveness of the Organization in Achieving Aims Little Dreams Nursery has a lot of potential to provide quality experience to the children belonging to the age group of six week to five years. The aim of the nursery can be achieved if the above stated teams are built and each team member performs efficiently. The nursery follows the best practice described by the National care Standard. Additionally, code of practice indicated by Scottish Social Services Council is followed by Little Dreams Nursery. Getting it Right for Every Children (GIRFEC) approach is applied by the nursery for transforming the children into a confident learner and successful contributor. The nursery treats every child equally irrespective of their nationality, religion, caste ad gender. Little Dreams Nursery emphasizes on promoting positive behavior by encouraging and praising the children. The feedback of parents is considered for improving the quality of service and the parents are encouraged to share their inputs (Little Dreams Nursery, 2014). Conclusion The above discussion can be summarized by saying, Little Dreams Nursery have enough potential to achieve its aims effectively by building efficient teams. According to the nature of task, teams must be built. With the aid of Soft Systems Methodology, various types of power and distribution of power in Little Dreams Nursery are discussed. Little Dreams Nursery effectively follows the prescribed guidelines by Scottish Social Services Council, National Care Standard and Child at the Centre. Hence, team work profile must be developed in order to achieve the aims and objectives of the agency. Moreover, distribution of power is an important aspect that helps in achieving the aims of Little Dreams Nursery. References Drake, J. (2009).Planning for children's play and learning. 1st ed. London: Routledge. Kadushin, A. and Harkness, D. (2002).Supervision in social work. 1st ed. New York: Columbia University Press, p.89. Little Dreams Nursery, (2014).Aims and Objectives - Little Dreams Nursery. [online] Available at: https://www.littledreamsnursery.com/aims-and-objectives [Accessed 12 Jul. 2014]. Little Dreams Nursery, (2014).Healthy Eating - Little Dreams Nursery. [online] Available at: https://www.littledreamsnursery.com/healthy-eating [Accessed 12 Jul. 2014]. Little Dreams Nursery, (2014).Information - Little Dreams Nursery. [online] Available at: https://www.littledreamsnursery.com/information [Accessed 12 Jul. 2014]. West, M. (2012).Effective teamwork. 1st ed. Malden, Mass. [u.a.]: BPS Blackwell. Wilson, B. (2001).Soft systems methodology. 1st ed. Chichester: Wiley.