Essential Skills for Managers of Child-Centred Settings

Now in its third edition, Essential Skills for Managers of Child-Centred Settings looks at how you can develop the key leadership skills needed to manage people to achieve excellent settings for children. Balancing accessible theory and practical application from a wide range of settings, it explains management theory.

Dr Shelly Newstead has worked in the playwork field for thirty years as a practitioner, trainer, author, editor and researcher. She has managed a wide range of child-centred settings and developed and delivered a series of management skills training courses specifically for this field through Common Threads (www.commonthreads.org.uk). Emma Isles-Buck at one time worked as a trainer and manager in childcare and playwork. In addition, she was an assessor and external verifier for playwork NVQs, helping to develop playwork qualifications for CACHE and developing management courses and workshops for many different client groups in the UK and in Europe.

Introduction 1. Confidence 2: Vision 3: Reflective practice 4: Decision-making 5: Giving feedback 6. Change management 7. Inclusive practice 8. Time management 9. Building a team 10. Evaluation processes Further reading