Hello
I was just wondering if anyone could give me some advise on the Key Person Role and if I am on the right lines please. I am a teacher in a special school and have 12 "very special little ones" in my care with 4 TA's, so obviously our situation is different to many others.
I have given each TA - 3 key children (have called them key workers) and I oversee all of the children and join each group when they have time together (I am called the key person). This works well for us, and the children and staff think it works great, but ever confident Annie here, worries and wonder if I should have the class split 5 ways. The staff are all brilliant at their jobs and it gives me the flexibilty to join in and give additional support as and when needed.
Would really appreciate some advice if anyone has time
Thanks
PS Can't believe last year I was worrying about continuos provision and asked for support and was overwhwlmed to receive so many replies to my post.
Thanks everyone this forum is fantastic
Happy New Term when it arrives

Click to view attachment

This is something i put together for my staff handbooks that are given out on inductions, it may help a little bit x

Thank you Bubbles you had replied before I had pressed send wow!!! Not sur ewhat I am doing wrong but I can't download the doc - it comes out in funny language when I try to download???? Any suggestions????
Thanks for reply though would love to read your article if I can work out what to do thanks
x
Can any clever people help please? Ta

Thank you Bubbles you had replied before I had pressed send wow!!! Not sur ewhat I am doing wrong but I can't download the doc - it comes out in funny language when I try to download???? Any suggestions????
Thanks for reply though would love to read your article if I can work out what to do thanks
x

It was ok when i just downloaded it....maybe someone will come along and help that knows what there are doing...i dont

I think this is because its in the newer version of Word which many of us don't have. Bubbles, if you have a moment could you resave it in an older version and upload it again? Im sure many members would be very grateful!

I'm sure that's what it is - where's that Cait when you need her she's brilliant at doing this sort of thing!!! I have sent her a pm - so that when she joins us she will know she's needed!

Maybe someone else will come along in the meantime and 'sort it out'! Ah - well done Vicky!

I have saved it as 2003 doc

Hi Bev

I am the nursery teacher and unit manager in a FSU - last year we had more staff so I decided not to have a key group but to work like you're suggesting and support each group in turn at key group time and/or to release staff. I found this really useful as i had an overview of all the groups and could do some modelling for my TAs.
This year I'm going back to having a group and I am quite looking forward to it.

Bev, I think it is ideal doing what you are doing, it makes perfect sense, its also called delegation, where possible those in charge should do it! It is better for all the children as you will be able to give them all equal time rather than worrying about specific key worker children, and it means all children get equal access to a TA and as you say you are free to go where is needed at a particular time

Clare xxx

Too late was the cry!

Thank you again everyone you are all wonderful and I am happy to go with what works in my setting. Just wish I had some self confidence at times, because usually what I feel as a gut reaction is ok, and if nothing else the children are always at the heart of all we do. My only rules in class are TO PUT THE CHILDREN FIRST and HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOUR - think then all else falls into place.
Thanks again for a brilliant site - to share ideas, pick brains and of course instil confidence. You wouldn't think I was 48 would you!!!!!!

With the staffing and number of children you have I think that works perfectly. I have 6 SEN children with 2 staff including me. We haven't found a fair way of dividing the group up due to the varying needs of the children so I am the named key person ...but we work very closely together.

Could I ask?.......do you have a mixed age group? We can have children from nursery up to year 2 but still deliver an EYFS curriculum. How does your day/ timetable run? Do you do lots of individual activities? My difficulty is staffing, when there are only two of us it limits everything we do. Last year I planned going by there interests and also looked at schemas which worked quite well. We also have lots of continuous provision areas. However this year will probably be a lot more difficult due to the needs of the children. It will be harder to plan for their interests and they will need a lot of input to access activities in general. So I would be really interested to know how you work.

Hi This year my group is a bit different as I will have lots of nursery who only do am or pm, plus two reception who there all day. I usually have different sessions set up and supported by me or one of my fantastic TA's, and staff then encourage children to try different activities, while others are exploring unaided in the different areas we have set up all the time eg water, sensory den etc. I don't often do group time with such differing needs, though we start and finish the session together with "hello" and "bye" time. We also have PE and music sessions and join in whole school times All the children this year have pmld needs so not sure how things will work out - will let you know!!! We try to give the children as many different experiences as we can, encourage their favourite motivators and let them explore at their own individual level. I absolutely love my job, and the WOW moments, although only little achievments, are absolutely massive to us and everyone shares their successes!!!!!!
Hope some of this makes a bit of sense, am writing in between printing off rotas, planning my food topic and keeping two very cheeky dogs as quiet as I can while the builders are in!!!!
Have fun and will share at any time if I can be of help
x

Thank you for getting back to me. That sounds pretty much similiar to us. Its interesting to see how another special school does it as it isn't as clear cut as in a mainstream. If anything I think the EYFS has benefitted us as its given us 'go ahead' to do what we really feel we should be doing with the children. When i first started at the school we had to do Literacy and Numeracy hours the same as everyone else and it was awful.

In an ideal world I could do with an extra person but know that won't happen so we have to do the best we can. One other question, you said you were doing a food topic. Do you still do topics and how do you choose? Last year I tried really hard to go with interests but felt i gave myself a lot of work and got quite stressed. This year i have plotted all of the seasonal activities/ festivals etc and know some of their interests so although their will be some planning in place it is still flexible. I also can have some children for up to 4 years so try to vary it so that they get a broad range of experiences.

Anyway thank you for your reply...at what I know is a busy time. Like you I love my job [and don't ever switch off] and those small achievements are the best in the world.

Hi Great to hear from you. I too feel the EYFS is better for us as it it more to do with the individual, which we are very focused on. We follow the whole school topic plan - but the topics are flexible enough for all ages and I always do what is relevant for my little ones
Happy Wed and thanks for your reply
x

I have been surprised by "The key person should Prevent other adults from developing a relationship with the children
they have been given."

That is a bit hard if children go spontaneously towards someone else isn't it?

QUOTE (missgrump @ Aug 26 2009, 14:10)

I have been surprised by "The key person should Prevent other adults from developing a relationship with the children
they have been given."

That is a bit hard if children go spontaneously towards someone else isn't it?

That doesn't sound quite right.

Surely being a key person is about being the first point of contact but not to the exclusion of other members of staff. Children need and benefit from interactions with other staff and children and they often choose to be with other staff and that needs to be respected.

It says the key person should not.... didnt want people to think i was saying they should xx that would be awful!!!

Chuckle....I thought it was a bit strange!!!! LOL