“We want our team to have their voices heard, but we also need to have that strategic direction that we’re moving in.”

– Clare Crowther, Atelier Nursery Director

In this episode we’re unpacking the kind of leadership that underpins everything we do at Atelier, both in our nurseries and through our consultancy. We’re not about traditional hierarchy, job titles or top-down management - our approach is about creating a culture where everyone leads with clarity, empathy, and purpose.

We explore the realities of what it means to be an emotionally intelligent, collaborative leader in Early Years, and how in your own Early Years setting you can build a team culture that holds challenge and kindness, strategy and vision, structure and flexibility. 

In this episode, we share:

• Why we lead with kindness, collaboration and curiosity (not control)
• What it means to build a “heterarchy” over a hierarchy in nursery leadership
• How we coach our team using reflective practice 
• Real leadership development stories from inside Atelier
• Why vision setting and relationship building must go hand-in-hand
• How we support our team through supervisions, appraisals and “walk and talk” feedback
• Strategies for growing new leaders from within your team
• The role of distributive leadership and collective accountability in our day-to-day practice
• 
  

Standing on the shoulders of giants

The magic of Atelier draws on foundational thinking from a range of influential Early Years theorists and educators. If you’d like to find out more about the voices that shape our deeply relational, child-centred practice here at Atelier, those mentioned in today’s episode are as follows:

• Peter Elfer – for the Key Person approach and emotionally attuned leadership
• Elinor Goldschmied – for her emphasis on sensitive care, intimacy and connection
• Jools Page – for the concept of Professional Love and how it extends to staff relationships
• Reggio Children – for influencing our approach to coaching, vision setting and collaborative dialogue
• Lencioni & Covey – for leadership thinking that inspires clarity, trust and accountability
• Sonia Jackson – for her work on professionalising Early Years leadership
• John Bowlby – for his attachment theory, which informs how we lead through relational trust
• 
  

Find out more:

Website and newsletter: ateliernursery.co.uk

Instagram: @ateliernurseryltd

Consultancy enquiries: Contact us via our website

Together, we’ll unlock the potential for incredible growth and learning.

Atelier Talks is a Decibelle Creative original podcast

Produced by Decibelle Creative – decibellecreative.com / @decibelle_creative

Keywords: early years leadership, nursery manager support, coaching early years teams, heterarchy vs hierarchy, early years supervision, nursery appraisals, reflective leadership, key person approach, team culture in nursery, vision-led leadership, EYFS consultancy, emotionally intelligent leadership, leading from the floor, growing nursery leaders