You would think by now that we would all know what we are doing but I am still unsure!!

I left childcare nearly a year ago amid lots of confusion over planning/recording etc and now I have an interview and would like to at least sound like I know what I'm doing!

I really like the Southampton Learning Journey and have tried to adapt it to suit my previous setting. Since rejoining this invaluable forum I have also looked at the PRAMS and think that this is a great resource!

So, my question is: If each child has a learning journey and their achievements are also recorded on the PRAMS is this the only paperwork required? Obviously there will be sticky notes, photos in the journeys but do we need the reams of paper my setting seemed to use?

Planning also seems to be an issue but one thing at a time!

personally i would say that is ok if the occasional longer ob with next steps and age bands are identified and some sort of 6 weekly review is also present. Good luck

Thanks Hali.

And all obs can go into learning journey? We don't need a seperate folder?

in with the LJ so its a complete story of childs time with you

Hi Emna -
I think we wouldn't want to do anything that tried to substitute for learning journeys which can build up into a wonderful memento of a child's early years experience. But you might like to know that the PRAMS upgrade we're currently working on includes the option to add notes to each EYFS judgement that you make (eg you could refer out to a learning journey page, or mention a specific observation that caused you to select that particular age band/aspect/area of learning).

We also hope to give people the option to attach photographs to judgements if appropriate.

Wow Steve that sounds fantastic!!

Like you say there will always be a place for the Learning Journeys for the children and parents to share but this will be great for our records!

We don't put our observations in children's 'special books' because our parents are generally less interested in those than in their children's photographs and their pictures and so on. I suspect that children's observations and trackers get quietly binned by their parents whilst I know that children's special books are kept as a memento of their time with us.

Great news about PRAMS Steve - I think you're going to have a fantastic piece of software once you're done!

Maz

Thanks Maz!

There are a few nice surprises in the next version, which we hope (but are very definitely not promising....) will be out before the end of term.