Sarah Ellis is the Nursery Manager of Bristol Children’s Playhouse, a charity led small setting in Eastville, Bristol. Sarah has worked as an Early Years Manager for 14 years, the last seven of which have been at the Playhouse.
Strengthening Setting Culture in Practice: Insights From the Playhouse By Sarah Ellis (Part 2)
Building on the ideas I defined in Part 1, I will describe how I developed these ideas in practice and what we have done to articulate, define, and understand our culture.
Our nursery, Bristol Children’s Playhouse (The Playhouse), has recently experienced challenges to our sense of stability. This prompted us to reflect deeply on who we are, what we stand for, and the central importance of our work. We have been actively engaging in processes to reflect on, strengthen, and sustain our culture – the following case study outlines the beginning of our journey.
Defining culture and ethos – what we did at The Playhouse
During a summer Inset day at The Playhouse, we dedicated time to reflect on what being part of the Playhouse means to us: what we felt it meant for children and families, and what we, as colleagues, mean to each other.
I gave prompts for staff around what working at the Playhouse means for them and the meaning that we see we are providing for children and families; we created posters for these thoughts, contributing both individually and collaboratively. We also wrote on paper plates what we loved and valued about working with one another; each team member had their own plate. This collective reflection not only strengthened our team but also became a vital step in articulating our shared culture. This was the start of us looking closely at developing our vision statement.
In doing this, we started to consider our culture by looking at our shared ethos and set of beliefs. This culture was made explicit and collectively agreed upon, leading to mutual accountability to uphold it.
Hopes and dreams – what is our vision?
After our team reflections on our current culture, we moved on with a guiding question that we thought about for the following weeks: “What are our hopes and dreams for The Playhouse?” Having first reflected on who we are, this shifted us to imagining who we want to become. This was the basis of our new vision statement. In Rodd’s work on uniting teams to ensure quality, developing organisational vision together was one of her key identifiers for building a cohesive team (Rodd, 2006). Talking about our hopes and dreams together helped to unite and strengthen us further.
We wanted to ensure alignment with families’ aspirations, and so we began asking parents during home visits about their hopes and dreams for their children. This helped us to ensure that our evolving vision reflected the values and ambitions of our families. Engaging staff, trustees, and families in reflective dialogue ensured that our new vision statement was genuinely collaborative.
Culture in context
In my previous post, I talked about looking at ward data to gain knowledge about the context of your area. Further research also shows the lived experiences of families and the context of a community. The Sutton Trust recently published the Opportunity Index. This shows, in quantitative data, the access to opportunities for disadvantaged young people per constituency. Our nursery is in Bristol East, which ranks as ‘very low’ on the opportunity index with only 8.2% of Free School Meals pupils (which can be equated to Early Years Pupil Premium) achieving Maths and English passes. This clearly defines how imperative narrowing the attainment gap is for our children, which must be reflected in culture and vision. In our revised vision statement, we emphasise the importance of setting our children on a lifelong learning journey. In developing this, we have been learning about metacognition through the EEF Evidence Store and helping everyone to recognise and value themselves as learners.
Conclusion
Building an effective culture in an Early Years setting is not a one-time task but an ongoing process of reflection, collaboration, and development. Top-down directives have little effect without collective ownership – it is shared meaning and participation that truly define the lived experience of culture. A culture understood by every team member not only supports children’s learning and development but also promotes staff well-being, with the implicit understanding that all individuals are treated according to the same values.
Thinking about what your setting means to your team, children, and families is a valuable beginning for understanding your culture, and it is a starting point for expressing your vision.
We are now starting work on discussing and expressing our values. If our vision describes where we want to be going, our values describe how we intend to get there. Together, they will act as a guide, or blueprint, for our setting.
Collaboratively exploring vision and values helps teams define their culture and develop a sense of ownership over it. Each setting is unique; celebrating and championing what makes your setting unique is invaluable for your children, families and your team.
References
Education Endowment Foundation. Promoting talk about learning
Rodd, J. (2006). Leadership in early childhood (3rd ed.). Open University Press.
The Sutton Trust (2025) The Opportunity Index. The geography of opportunity and social mobility in England. The Sutton Trust
Join Our Free Webinars and Events for Expert Guidance and Practical Support
To find out more about this evidence-informed approach and see it in real-life practice, you can attend our upcoming early maths events through the Bristol & Beyond Early Years Stronger Practice Hub.
