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In our recent report, Opening the Door to the Baby Room: Learning from the Experiences and Perspectives of Baby Room Educators and Nursery Managers (linked here: https://thebabyroom.blog/report-2/), baby room educators shared a strong desire for more baby specific professional development. While they acknowledge the need for more opportunities focused on ‘baby basics’ such as health and safety, welfare, and child development, they also expressed a desire for professional development that inspires and enhances baby room practice.

In this blog post, we dive into Norfolk LA’s inspiring baby professional development offer.

Developing a baby room offer

In 2020, The Early Years Learning and Childcare Team conducted a small-scale workforce survey in Norfolk LA to explore how many baby room practitioners were accessing baby related training. The findings revealed a significant gap in training availability. This insight prompted the team to embed baby-focused professional development into their wider training strategy.

The Early Years Learning and Childcare Team knew that to develop a high quality professional development offer focused on babies, they would need to collaborate with others. They worked closely with a range of Children’s Services health and education teams at the LA as well as baby room educators themselves. They also consulted with national and international leaders in baby room practice. These diverse voices shaped the Baby Friendly Setting Project, ensuring the offer was evidence-based, relevant, and forward-thinking.

Norfolk County Council Baby Friendly Setting Project

The Norfolk County Council Baby Friendly Setting Project is rich with inspiring elements, a few examples of which are described below:

• Babies’ strengths: The professional learning dives into the unique strengths of each baby, drawing babies’ participation to the forefront. The educators are encouraged to take an image of their babies’ faces, then both babies’ parents and EY educators share 3 words that highlight the strengths of each child. Several have displayed these images on the wall of the nursery, showcasing babies’ strengths as both a celebration of what each baby brings to nursery and a reminder to hold this ‘strengths model’ at the centre of their practice. (Inspired from ‘Bringing Hygge into the EY’s’)
• History, awe, and wonder: The professional learning encourages immersing babies into local culture and sensory arts such as the Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery: Early Years space in Norfolk. The goal is not just to look at artifacts and bask in the glow of history, but to spark babies’ sense of awe and wonder through their attuned attachment relationship with their key person. This professional learning opportunity leads to fresh ideas for educators to connect with their key children through local history.
• Local parks: The project explores how educators can work with families to explore local parks with their babies. Families (especially those facing disadvantage) may feel uncertain about accessing these spaces, wondering if it’s really meant for them and what to do when they are there. The professional learning supports educators to have conversations and actively join with families, empowering families to enter, explore, and thrive in outdoor spaces.

Delivering inspiring professional development

The project consists of 8 one-hour modules, designed to be manageable yet impactful. Each module starts with a webcast that baby room educators tune into before the work day, onsite at their nurseries. This has worked well for the current cohort, allowing them to be ready to jump into their working day as soon as they log off.

Each module also includes online resources, gap tasks, and reflection questions. The project incorporates a mentor who supports and challenges educators throughout the course, as well as the leadership team at each nursery who check-in with their baby room educators to ask about what they’ve learned and how they can effect change.

The project also delivers:

• Enrichment events that have been hosted by Early Years settings across the LA, bringing the baby room educators together in-person, and often including guest speakers from the wider world of quality baby practice.
• ‘Celebrate You’ boxes supporting workforce retention by promoting staff wellbeing, offering evidence-based moments of joy to make it easier for baby room educators to connect positively with infants.

This multi-layered approach fosters a vibrant learning community, creating a space where baby room educators’ inspiring practice with babies can grow. When it comes to offering inspiring baby specific professional development, Julia Jacka, Early Years & Childcare training officer at Norfolk LA, encourages the sector to ‘Always ask yourself; What now? What next? How can I make this better still?

Our latest report (which you can access here: https://thebabyroom.blog/report-2/) offers key recommendations that encourage central government, local authorities, training providers, and nurseries to champion baby-specific CPD. Everyone has a part to play, so have a read to find out more.

Final note: The Baby Friendly Setting project has evolved over the years. Norfolk LA would like to thank all the contributors that have made this project a possibility. ‘We all ask of ourselves from Baby room educator to Local Authority – reflectively how should I adapt my practice for Norfolk’s babies & their families to flourish?’   Flourish – Norfolk County Council