Mouseketeer Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 (edited) Horrible day, nothing better to really (must be bad) so time to tackle the SEF, so even though they've moved it on to the new doc for me I'm considering whether to just start again, more bullet points than reams of drivel I'm sure no one really wants to read,so a couple of questions please... How does yours look in terms of pages (doing in word first - I hate those stupid boxes that you can only see a few lines of text), does anyone just bullet point ? Where do you include all the changes you have implemented since last update ...why isn't their just a section for that as it is all that really matters ? or is this what you're putting in the 'outcomes' box ? Can you add attachments ie could I scan in our 'provision improvement plans' and just add ? Thanks :1b Edited October 29, 2015 by Mouseketeer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 So glad you asked this .....waiting with baited breath on the answer. Need to re do mine but just cant seem to get to grips with it....I love the idea of bullet pointing but never seem to quite manage it....always ends up as a rambling mess! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panders Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Excellent question Mouse! and one I have yet to answer for myself, in fact, I haven't even summoned up the courage to take a peek at the new layout yet! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouseketeer Posted October 29, 2015 Author Share Posted October 29, 2015 Thanks Both ...if not for any 'actual' help but for making me feel that I'm not the only one who still doesn't get the SEF really...I hadn't looked at mine for almost 2 yrs ( I lost interest after my last inspector told me she hadn't seen it) and just noticed a big empty box called 'outcomes', there are boxes at the bottom of each section to add 'areas for improvement', but I'd like somewhere to put the things we have already done to improve practice and not have it all lost somewhere in the rest of it, it's not like you can bold text or highlight anything you want to flag as 'important you read this bit'. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Thanks Both ...if not for any 'actual' help :lol: 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stargrower Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Our last inspector hadn't seen ours either... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lsp Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 I will help to make you feel better as well. Not looked at mine for 18 months. Had inspection a year ago and must admit that the inspector had read it. I plan to ........ yeah! Trouble is I have so many other areas still to review before I can put it all together in the SEF. Watching with baited breathe people!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenfinch Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 I am the same too. I last updated online in 2013. Our last inspection until last week, was 2009! I have a file which had that printed version in and to which I just added comments,developments to on paper so I was still evidencing. Mine was very wordy too but I hadn't the heart or confidence or time to scrap it and start again. The inspector did read mine and was happy with evidence for how I had continued on paper. I asked her if I should now scrap my sef and do from now on - hard as it's the only way ( assuming it gets read!) to sometimes be able to contextualise developments and reflective practice.She said just to add to it (I was worried my wordy sef would be offputting) but she said it wasn't and that I should write what I want to. That said, I am not sure all inspectors would have the same opinion. It is definitely an advantage to make sure your sef is up to date online I think. More than anything it's less to have to show on the day. Sorry I'm babbling on... In answer, I am going to probably leave what I have more or less and then bullet point from now on. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancaster Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Not sure if this will help or not but I have never used the on line service due to no internet connection at work! I use the word document equivalent and have done for the last 6/7 years. Even though the format of the SEF changed this year with an extra heading I continued to use my existing SEF and all I do is each year add to each section in a different coloured font where necessary. It's usually a sentence here and there, nothing too major. Our inspection was on 26th September 2015 and in my phone call the day before the inspector informed me that she only had my old SEF - I had posted the new one only the week before - I then emailed her the new version, she had already read the old one so just read the updated additions in each section before arriving! I had booked onto an effective SEF writing course as my SEF is 30+ pages - I've since cancelled as I was informed that my SEF showed excellent reflection and direct reasons why we had changed certain aspects of our provision. We managed to maintain our outstanding grading too so all is great with the world!! I do think that as managers we can get so hung up on processes such as sef writing. If my inspection told me anything it was that as a setting as long as we could explain, why we did things in the way that we did then everything was fine! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinthinguk Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 I did mine yesterday. I struggled on with the stupid tiny box situation when editing lol I did a fair amount of cutting and pasting and just added in all the new information as I went along. The outcomes box was tricky, I have put basics in there and will be adding to it as I think of more things to say. I had to re write safeguarding and welfare as I had pretty much mixed the two together and have written * see other notes* to avoid having to re type pieces that I am sure cover both areas! God knows if its what Ofsted want but its another one of those jobs to tick off the list! they did not even read ours last time we had an inspection. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouseketeer Posted October 29, 2015 Author Share Posted October 29, 2015 (edited) Well I went grocery shopping instead which I detest and have it delivered 51 wks of the year...which just shows how much I really don't want to it :'( Greenfinch - maybe a very long paper version is the answer...by the time it's taken 3 hrs to read there won't be much time for anything else ;-p Edited October 29, 2015 by Mouseketeer 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thumperrabbit Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 My last 2 inspectors actually took my SEF away with them even though it's on line! I try (but failed this year!) to update once a year print it off and then write on it as I'm going along throughout the year my inspector liked that aspect of it. Not even looked at the new version yet, it's still sitting on the yet to be completed Summer To Do List 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouseketeer Posted October 29, 2015 Author Share Posted October 29, 2015 I've still got loads on mine to ...don't know where that half term went really, or what I actually achieved. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenimouse Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 We had an inspection last week and inspector had read SEF. We had updated the SEF online in August (just a week before they changed the format again!). I thought ours was very wordy at 9 pages long (Ancaster 30 pages... wow) so at the feedback I asked the inspector what she thought of our one. She liked ours because it meant that she knew exactly what she was coming into, that it had painted a picture for her of our setting and practice. I always think of the SEF as a back up plan in case we forget to point something out in the excitement/trauma of an inspection. It allows you to put down in words the setting's ethos and vision, all the whys of what we do with examples, all the stuff that you could kick yourself after an inspection for not mentioning to the inspector in those few hours that they are there. I do mine in Word then cut and paste into the online pages. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lsp Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Hope all went well last week Jenimouse. Look forward to hearing how you got on when you can 'share'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rafa Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 My last 2 inspectors actually took my SEF away with them even though it's on line! I try (but failed this year!) to update once a year print it off and then write on it as I'm going along throughout the year my inspector liked that aspect of it. Not even looked at the new version yet, it's still sitting on the yet to be completed Summer To Do List I have not done sef online for ages......we do our own using ofsted headings and then, like you, use it as a working document. Ofsted came in May and was quite happy, she worked her way through it and asked us a few questions. I do like it to me 'in my face' so to speak so I can refer and update when we do great things!! Ha ha! Im not a great on a computer - cutting and pasting etc etc and the thought of doing that way makes me went to - put it away for another year!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thumperrabbit Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 I find it difficult - I see a problem chat with staff we jointly come up with a way forward and then move on - having to think constantly about what the 'outcome' has been makes me cross! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnyday Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 30 pages..........9 pages.........mine is only 4 pages :blink: 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouseketeer Posted October 30, 2015 Author Share Posted October 30, 2015 I've definitely decided to go for bullet points.......I just haven't decided when :-D 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouseketeer Posted October 30, 2015 Author Share Posted October 30, 2015 How did you get it down to only 4 pages Sunnyday ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnyday Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 How did you get it down to only 4 pages Sunnyday ? I wondering that myself :blink: So - it is not too 'waffly' - have used bullet points in places - have tried not to repeat myself........ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lsp Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 And use hyphens - Sunnyday - lol!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnyday Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 And use hyphens - Sunnyday - lol!! Oh I know - that's an - extremely - bad habit of mine - 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnyday Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 I've definitely decided to go for bullet points.......I just haven't decided when :-D Procrastinators Creed: 1. I believe that if anything is worth doing. It would have been done already. 2. I shall never move quickly, except to avoid more work or find excuses. 3. I will never rush into a job without a lifetime of consideration. 4. I shall meet all of my deadlines directly in proportion to the amount of bodily injury I could expect from missing them. 5. I firmly believe that tomorrow holds the possibility for new technologies, astounding discoveries, and a reprieve from my obligations. 6. I truly believe that all deadlines are unreasonable regardless of the amount of time given. 7. I shall never forget the probability of a miracle, though infinitesimally small, is not exactly zero. 8. If at first I don’t succeed, there is always next year. 9. I shall always decide not to decide, unless of course I change my mind. 10. I shall always begin, start, initiate, take the first step, and/or write the first word, when I get round to it. 11. I obey the law of inverse excuses which demands that the greater the task to be done, the more significant the work that must be done prior to beginning the greater task. 12. I know that the work cycle is not plan/start/finish, but is wait/plan/plan. 13. I will never put off ‘til tomorrow, what I can forget about forever. 14. I will become a member of the ancient Order of the Two-Headed Turtles (The Procrastinators Society) if they ever get it organised. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouseketeer Posted October 30, 2015 Author Share Posted October 30, 2015 Haha love it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouseketeer Posted October 30, 2015 Author Share Posted October 30, 2015 I think one should say: I shall not do on this TDL something that can be moved to the next ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnyday Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 I think one should say: I shall not do on this TDL something that can be moved to the next ! Absolutely! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zigzag Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Sef still on my to do list, even painting my sons bedroom was more interesting!! I am going to completely overhaul mine, and definitely use bullet points as much as possible. I could do with one more week of half term!! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancaster Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 I think the reason my SEF is such a mammoth document is that each time I decide to overhaul it, I can't decide what to leave out!! Also I have a dim and distant memory of bullet points being frowned upon - too list like!!! The daft thing is my additions for more than three years wouldn't even fill one A4 page!! I dread completing it - have added a page in the back of our daily diary titled "Additions to sef" to help me remember what goes on through the year, which is helpful!! Maybe a sef writing service is a future business proposition - perhaps it's the idea that will lead to my early retirement!!!! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rafa Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Maybe a sef writing service is a future business proposition - perhaps it's the idea that will lead to my early retirement!!!! What are you charging Ancaster? I could be your first foot on to a brighter future?! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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