Supporting Snapdragons to strengthen their leadership and management
Snapdragons is a well-established nursery group, renowned for delivering outstanding childcare and early years education across multiple settings.
The Snapdragons’ leadership team is committed to continuous professional development and maintaining a consistent ethos across all nurseries, rooted in a shared vision and values.
As Snapdragons continued to expand, the team identified a need to strengthen the leadership and management capabilities of its managers and deputies. This became especially important following recent structural changes affecting leadership roles. The aim was to ensure consistency of practice across settings, empower leaders to embody and communicate the organisation’s vision and values, and enhance their ability to lead effective teams through both day-to-day operations and challenging conversations.
Training solution
Norland designed and delivered a bespoke training programme consisting of two half-day, in-person workshops tailored specifically for Snapdragons’ leadership cohort.
The workshops focused on:
- Understanding and aligning with vision and values
- exploring the importance of a shared organisational purpose
- translating values into daily practice and decision-making
- strategies for engaging and inspiring teams around these principles.
- Leadership and management: understanding the difference
- clarifying the distinction between leading and managing
- discussing why both skill sets are essential in a nursery environment
- identifying personal strengths and development areas in each domain.
- Having difficult conversations
- building confidence and skill in addressing performance issues, conflict and sensitive topics
- practising active listening, empathy and assertive communication
- tools for maintaining professionalism while achieving positive outcomes.
Delivery approach
The sessions were interactive and practical, blending short theory inputs with:
- real-world case discussions relevant to nursery settings
- reflective exercises to connect learning with individual leadership practice
- role-play and scenario-based learning for handling challenging conversations.
Managers and deputies were encouraged to share their experiences and challenges, fostering peer learning and a strong sense of shared leadership purpose.
Impact and outcomes
Feedback from participants highlighted the training’s immediate relevance and applicability:
- improved understanding of the balance between leadership and management
- increased confidence in addressing staff performance and wellbeing
- greater alignment with Snapdragons’ vision and values across teams
- stronger collaboration and communication between managers and deputies.
Post-training reflections indicated a positive shift in how leaders approached team support, communication and accountability, contributing to an enhanced and cohesive leadership culture across the organisation.
Alice Collard, Quality and Training Manager at Snapdragons, commented:
“The leadership and management training delivered by Norland was fantastic. The trainer was engaging, relatable, and inspiring. It really encouraged our managers to reflect on their own leadership styles and skillsets, helping them gain a deeper understanding of how they lead and support their teams. The trainer created such a positive and open atmosphere, offering practical ideas and suggestions that our managers could take straight back into their nurseries. It was incredibly valuable and thought-provoking training.”
Conclusion
Through Norland’s expertly facilitated training, Snapdragons Nursery Group strengthened its leadership framework, empowering managers and deputies to lead with confidence, compassion, and clarity. The workshops supported a shared commitment to excellence in early years education and staff wellbeing, ensuring the Snapdragons ethos continues to thrive across all settings.
