RECAP Guest Post: Leading effectively in the early years - bringing collaborative expectations to life

Aug 26

5 min read

Jayne Carter is the Early Years Programme Development Lead at Partnership for Children, an international charity dedicated to supporting children’s mental and emotional wellbeing, and Director of Ignite Education Ltd. With extensive experience in early years education, Jayne specialises in helping practitioners develop children’s emotional language, resilience and self-regulation through practical, research-informed approaches. Using a respectful and supportive coaching model, she works with educators and leaders to evaluate provision, implement innovative practice and create emotionally rich environments where children feel seen, understood and empowered.

Jayne provides consultancy, training and professional development, drawing on real-world case studies to support meaningful and sustainable change. She has contributed to practitioner resources, research publications and professional learning initiatives, and has a particular interest in how educators navigate curriculum reform while maintaining child-centred, democratically informed practice. Her work is focused on empowering both practitioners and young children to thrive within inclusive, reflective and nurturing learning communities.

On a busy nursery morning, leadership is often found in the small moments: a calm word, a reassuring glance, or the way someone steps in to support a colleague before being asked. We can talk about early years leadership through policies, frameworks and expectations, but what really brings those things to life is the quality of the relationships in the room.

When people feel listened to, respected and part of something shared, consistency begins to feel less like a rule and more like a team commitment. That is where leadership becomes practical, human and meaningful.

Leadership begins with relationships, instead of systems

Systems are useful.

Two businesswomen talk on a city walkway, one handing the other a coffee, with modern glass towers in the background.

They give people clarity and help everyone move in the same direction. But systems on their own are not enough. In the early years, so much of the work depends on relationships. Children learn through them, practitioners teach through them, and leaders need to work through them too.

Good leadership means creating a culture where practitioners feel seen, trusted and supported. It is hard to offer calm, thoughtful care to children when you do not feel cared for yourself. A handbook can set out expectations, but it is the day-to-day behaviour of leaders that shows people what those expectations really mean.

This might look like:

• listening with genuine curiosity

• noticing emotional cues and responding with care

• creating spaces where practitioners can speak openly about challenges

• valuing the emotional labour of early years work

When relationships are strong, consistency becomes something the team holds together, rather than something a manager has to keep asking for.

Clarity is kind: making expectations visible

Shared language and shared expectations matter, but they work best when people have been part of shaping them. Clarity does not need to feel heavy-handed. At its best, it helps everyone understand what matters, why it matters and how they can contribute.

Clear expectations can reduce uncertainty and make the work feel more manageable. They give practitioners confidence, because people are not left guessing what good practice should look like. In that sense, clarity is not about control; it is a form of support.

In practice, this means:

• co creating expectations with the team

• revisiting principles regularly so they stay alive

• using shared language to reduce ambiguity

• ensuring everyone understands not just what we do, but why we do it

When clarity is kind, it strengthens professional confidence and deepens collective ownership.

Reflective cultures are intentionally nurtured

Reflection is a big part of early years practice, but it does not need to feel formal or intimidating. Often, the most useful reflection happens in short conversations: after a tricky moment, during a team discussion or when someone asks, “What did we notice?” or “What could we try next time?”

Two women brainstorm at a glass wall covered with pink and teal sticky notes, one writing with a marker in a bright office.

Reflection is not about catching people out. It is about helping practitioners notice what is working, think through what feels difficult and grow in confidence over time.

A strong reflective culture helps practitioners to:

make their thinking visible through honest professional dialogue
strengthen their confidence and professional identity
see themselves as thoughtful contributors to practice, not simply as people applying guidance
approach their work with curiosity, agency and evidence-informed judgement

When reflection becomes part of everyday practice, practitioners start to see their own thinking more clearly. They become more confident in observing, interpreting and shaping learning with purpose.

Evidence-informed, not evidence-imposed

Frameworks are helpful, but they are not scripts. Effective leaders use evidence to guide practice, while still paying attention to the children, families and community in front of them. Research matters, but so does the knowledge and experience of the practitioners using it every day.

This means:

drawing on research without losing sight of the children in front of us
adapting frameworks to fit the setting, not the other way around
valuing practitioner knowledge as part of the evidence base
encouraging critical thinking rather than compliance

When leaders treat practitioners as thoughtful professionals, rather than people simply following instructions, they make space for curiosity, confidence and good judgement.

Consistency grows through collective ownership

Children need routines and responses they can trust. That does not mean every adult has to sound exactly the same or do everything in exactly the same way. Consistency is strongest when the team understands the shared principles behind their practice and feels ownership of them.

Leaders can build that ownership by:

involving practitioners in shaping approaches
using collaborative tools to align practice
ensuring everyone understands the rationale behind decisions
creating opportunities for practitioners to lead aspects of practice

When practitioners feel ownership, consistency becomes more sustainable. It is no longer something leaders have to enforce; it becomes something the team upholds together.

Wellbeing is a leadership responsibility, not a bonus

Children’s wellbeing is closely linked to practitioner wellbeing. Early years work asks a lot from people emotionally and that needs to be recognised. Protecting wellbeing is not a nice extra; it is part of keeping practice thoughtful, calm and responsive.

Smiling teacher claps with preschool children seated in a colorful classroom with chalkboard and wall art.

Leaders can support wellbeing by:

setting realistic expectations
leading with emotional literacy
valuing rest, boundaries and professional joy
reducing unnecessary pressure and administrative load

When the team is supported, children feel the difference too. A settled, valued team is better able to create a settled and nurturing environment for children. A thriving team creates thriving children.

Leadership is a pedagogical act

In the early years, leadership is not separate from practice. Every decision a leader makes affects the atmosphere of the setting, the confidence of the team and the experiences children have each day. Leadership shapes how people work together and that shapes how children experience belonging, curiosity and joy.

This means leaders need to:

think about team development as impacting curriculum and support
treat professional learning as a relational process
see leadership as part of the learning journey, not above it
align leadership behaviours with the same principles that underpin high-quality early years practice

At its best, early years leadership is practical, relational and deeply human. It is about creating the conditions where adults feel trusted and children feel secure. When leaders focus on relationships, clarity, reflection, ownership and wellbeing, expectations stop being words on a page. They become part of the everyday culture of the setting where both children and practitioners can flourish.

You can connect with Jayne over on Linked In