Early Years Advisory Practitioner, Tracy Graham talks to PACEY about her career highlights.

Tracy, tell us a bit about yourself?

I was born in the Midlands and had a settled upbringing, albeit on a council estate with not much money. When resources are limited, creativity and hard work become essential, sparking my interest in problem-solving and the natural world which was supported through groups like Guides and Scouts. I did well at school, taking A Levels in maths and physics, and completed an HND in Civil Engineering, which paved the way for an engineering degree at Oxford Brookes University, where I was one of only two female students. I moved to Bristol in 1994 and I’ve been living here ever since.

After university, where did your career start?

I secured a position in a graduate training scheme with an aggregates and building materials company, where I applied my engineering degree and transferable skills to the construction industry. Over the course of seven years, I held various general management roles in quarries and building material operations, and during this time I completed a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree with the Open University. Despite being one of the few females in a predominantly male industry, I have always been able to collaborate effectively, take initiative, and focus on deliverables. While I did not encounter overt discrimination, women were in the minority in the industry, and I often felt the need to prove myself in situations where my male counterparts may not have faced the same scrutiny. This experience is similar to that of male practitioners in early childhood education, who sometimes face opposition and must demonstrate their capabilities as educators and carers.

What made you move from a career in engineering to a career in early years and how did you achieve this?

Building on my construction experience I established a landscaping business in 2002, which I successfully developed and sold after five years to focus on starting a family. In 2010 I became the chair of my eldest son’s pre-school, volunteering my business skills to help create a sustainable operation and to grow the business. I began childminding in 2012 to care for my own children as well as others, and in 2013 I achieved Early Years Professional Status (EYPS) with the University of Gloucester and become a manager of the pre-school. I still had the flexibility to offer wrap-around care before and after my pre-school role, and then when the pre-school was sold in 2015, I founded ‘Wildhearts Early Years Education and Childcare’ and became of full-time childminder.

You’ve talked before about how your childminding business would often scale up and down. Why is this?

External factors, as well as the needs of my family, influenced changes to my business over 12 years. Inspired by a forest school group we used to attend, I established a similar group closer to home initially intended for early years practitioners but then expanding to include parents, carers, and grandparents. I successfully ran this group along with a friend who was a Forest School Leader for five years, which was a new venture alongside my childminding business.

In 2020, a friend and I started co-minding from my house which significantly expanded the business – just as the Covid pandemic hit the UK! Both of us then had our own children to home-school, so we scaled-down the childminding business to accommodate their needs – it was a challenging balance, but few jobs would have offered the same level of flexibility during the pandemic.

Then in 2021 I was very ill with a brain hemorrhage and had to take 3 months off work. The second lock-down and co-minding made it possible for me to take that time off, closely working with parents who were furloughed or working from home which allowed our business to keep running. Childminding is quite a dynamic business in that sense, and I am very grateful for that flexibility.  When the pandemic had passed and we were able to return to work full-time, we were in an area with high demand, and our good reputation meant we could grow again naturally.

This year you stopped childminding and started a role with your local authority, can you tell us about your motivations and what you’re doing?

My children are teenagers now and spend lots of time studying at home, so we wanted to have our family space back again in all honesty. Running a childminding business has been amazing but I want to scale my impact up, using my business skills again to support other childminders to grow their business. Previously a lot of childminders in my area would come to me for advice and I chaired the LA forum for Early Years funding and finance, so it was a natural progression to do this to support childminders further.

My new role as an Early Years Advisory Practitioner is to support newly registered childminders to build a sustainable, high quality Early Years business.  Some people come to childminding without any experience of running a business so I’m helping them to develop business plans as well as their own growth as Early Years Educators.

I help them reflect on the quality of their curriculum and teaching.  Lots of childminders I see have their own families, so caring for children comes naturally, but developing a curriculum, ensuring safeguarding practices are in place and developing an inclusive provision may where they need support. I have a 30-month window to work with childminders to build good quality provision before they have a registered inspection – this is really exciting! Seeing them come from all different backgrounds with different drivers and motivators and skills is exciting; helping them fill gaps in skills but celebrate where they are already really strong is very rewarding. Having practical real-life experience is so vital when going into a childminder’s home – knowing what they are going through, I can empathize and relate to them and offer really practical suggestions. I look at the bigger picture of supporting their business, safeguarding, supporting children who may be disadvantaged but also the little things like helping a childminder work out practical ways to carry kit for days out in nature or reflecting on a small curated selection of high quality resources in their continuous provision at home.

I’m really enjoying my role, it’s a small team with lots of ownership, autonomy and flexibility. I particularly enjoy working with other childminders and hopefully encouraging them to do practical, outdoor, STEM-based activities with their children which is what I love!

Can you share a difficult point in your career with us?

Balance is a tricky thing for every working parent; it is no different for childminders balancing the needs of your own family with needs of other children you look after.

The pandemic was particularly difficult as we had to reduce our business down to the essentials due to circumstance outside of our control. Bringing different children into the house when you were continuously told to keep to your bubbles was really worrying. Change is always tricky to manage and those that come from sources outside your control lead to insecurities about the future.

Being a childminder is also very personal – you’re very visible to community and the buck stops with you.  It can be a lonely role which can make you feel vulnerable, so my childminding friends were really important throughout my career (and continue to be so).

Any advice for someone thinking about joining the early years sector?

Qualifications have always opened doors for me into sometimes unrelated areas – my background degrees along with practical experience as a childminder allowed me to do my EYPS qualification within 6 months. I’m a huge supporter of good apprenticeships – that balance of getting your qualification but getting practical experience is critical for the early years sector.   I have always spent time and money developing my own skills when I identified an area for improvement, be that autism awareness, social story writing, outdoor play or Makaton signing.

Find people that inspire you! I know examples of great early years practice so I would advise people to find those mentors and people who inspire that passion within you. Whether that’s on social media or going to events and seeing speakers. Light that fire in your belly and keep it burning as it is a challenging job, but rewards can be greater if you have that passion along the way.

Do you see yourself going back to engineering or doing something very different again further down the line?

I won’t go back to engineering, but I have lots of transferable skills that equip me for different roles, whether that in early years or private business I’m not sure. I have a passion for early years as it’s such a pivotal moment for children and would like to lead people in the early years sector moving forward. I have seen that educators can have such an impact on children in the first few years and how important it is to give those children skills for an uncertain future. I don’t have a five-year plan, I just want to continue make a difference.