Transition Report/writing Up Observations

[Guest]

Hi All

 

I know this has probably been done to death but....

 

I really need to know how settings achieve getting all of this done at this time of year.

 

I know that key persons should not take folders/profiles home with them (I thought that this was because of confidentiality reasons) but this is the only way that we manage to keep childrens profiles up to date.

 

I now hear that the PLA guidelines suggest that all work has to be done in setting and there should be no need for anybody to do any work- paperwork or other outside of working hours.

 

As Supervisor, if I didn't do work outside working hours my setting would close. I accept that I do get paid a little more than staff so that I take overall responsibility and do extra paper work in my own time.

 

Key Persons get an extra hours pay per week to keep on top of paperwork.

 

What does every one else do and how do you balance this?

 

I would be grateful of any suggestions at all.

 

Thank you so much

[Guest]

Hi

Keypersons take paperwork home at my setting as there is no office space (apart from supervisors desk!) to do it. Plus when you work all the times at the setting that it is open not really sure how else it can be done. No way do we do our folders during session as too much going on. The files are taken home and then brought back the very next day. We are paid 1 hour per half term but in actual fact I kept tabs on how long it took me and it was more like 8 hrs. I have 11 key children.

[Guest]

This has always been an age old problem at my setting, most of my staff take their key children's learning journeys home as there is just no time to do them in the setting, even though i had upped the staff ratio, unfortunatly staff do not get any extra pay for working on their learning journey's which does seem unfair but i think this is the same for many pre-schools, the funding is just not there....It seems we are required to write more and more about our key children and this is something i am reviewing during the summer holidays, one of my ideas is to use the children's work more as a way of assessing them, we do use photographs but with 90 children on role this has become an expensive way of observing too... once again it comes down to funding.

I would be interested to hear how other settings plan their learning journeys

[Devondaisy]

I have recently persuaded the committee to pay staff for an hour per week to keep on top of their learning journeys. In reality it takes longer than this, but staff are just grateful to finally be paid for a little of the work they do in their own time. We are working on transitions too at the moment, and these take ages, so staff are being paid extra for these.

 

It's a battle with the committee, but my staff are brilliant, and I really don't want to lose their goodwill.

[Guest]

It's exactly the same at my nursery! The head and FS2 coordinator both say that staff should not be taking work home - it should be done during session times - but when?! I brought in an EY advisor who made some suggestions, but the staff were not happy about them. They were:

1. Ask year 6 children to come in during their lunchtimes to stick things in

2. Stick observations in with the help of the child

3. Utilise time during the morning when a member/s of staff could be freed up e.g. the

teacher could take the whole class for storytime so that the staff could update learning

journeys or a member of staff would update LJs while also overseeing the snack table

(which is cafe style)

4. Ask students to stick observations into the LJs

5. Ask for a volunteer helper/s, whose job would be to update LJs on a regular basis.

 

Needless to say the staff were horrified at the suggestions - none wanted anyone else to have any input into the LJs. However, I am considering 5. above. I was also told that so long as the children are absorbed in their play, safe and the correct ratios are being met, then it is acceptable for staff to sit and write up observations or update the LJs.

 

I feel that we need to help ourselves and allow others to help with sticking in obs etc. and to 'cut down' on the volume of information we are putting into the LJs.

 

I'd like to hear from a nursery/pre-school who manages to update LJs and write transfer documents/progress reports all within the session times and to know how they manage it.

 

I have two members of staff (plus myself) with 46 children in one building and three staff and 37 children in another building.

[mundia]

We always did the learning diaries with the children, they are their journeys, and have many opportunities to revisit their learning by taking ownership of their learning diaries. We would try to do this during quieter moments, but we considered it to be as valuable as an activity in its own right, as any other. For me, it isn't a case of just 'sticking the stuff in', but in actually having a conversation with the child about their special book and their learning. Ive never really understood why people don't like the idea much.

But that's just my view!

[louby loo]

We've rearranged our routines so that each KP has an hour 'out of room' each week to write up notes. Staff are also encouraged to update LJ, with their key children's help - which I do think is very important.

 

We found that during the first hour of our session this works well for us. We still do a 'formalish' registration/circle time with singing and show and tell type activities, which is then followed with free-play and snack. The children are all pretty calm and self motivated during this first hour, which allows one member of staff 'off the floor'.

 

We do have quite good ratios though 5 staff 26 children - most over 3ys.

 

My main motivation for changing this was not wholly for confidentiality reasons (although I do think that it is an important issue) - but simply because we are privately owned (not charity/community) and I didn't see why staff should work 'free' for someone elses profit...........athough they were more than happy to take paperwork home.

 

We still seem do lots of 'out of hours bits and bobs' though!!!!

[Guest]

louby lou - we do ours exactly the same as you - staff take an hour or so to come off the floor....sometimes it is not feasible - but if we all work together it gets done - first hour is always a good time to do this....I dont like them taken home - not with photographs and personal details in - who knows who goes into peoples houses?

Our children love adding bits or just looking at their files - they are proud and its another opportunity to revisit, recall and reflect on past events with them.

[thumperrabbit]

Ours are done at home.

All of the staff are busy just 'doing' during the session.

We have given it a trial doing it in the session, but 1 member of staff got called to do an emergency toilet run, and when she came back to her table found one nameless 2 year old had crayoned all over the pages and it wasn't his book!

Maybe if we had an office/another room it would work but we don't, so staff get paid 1 hour per week to complete them at home

 

Same with Transition reports done at home in rough then the Leader types them up and checks them.

Edited July 5, 2011 by thumperrabbit

[Deb]

Hi

 

Staff get paid an hour each week to print off photos and update learning journeys within the setting. They also take them home. It is useful to have this quiet time to reflect and make connections one might not have noticed before.

 

I have suggested to staff that they update their child's LJ's with them during quieter moments which I agree is a valuable activity and children like looking at them with their keyperson. I need to emphasize this again I think.

 

Staff don't get anything extra for typing up transition sheets though they should of course.

 

We are continually endeavouring to reduce the paperwork to essential, meaningful observations that will be assessed and acted upon - that of course is ongoing!

[louby loo]

We are continually endeavouring to reduce the paperwork to essential, meaningful observations that will be assessed and acted upon - that of course is ongoing!

 

 

Yes, it was going to be my summer hols job!! (unpaid!) I was going to try and make some easy format for staff to follow - but now waiting for the revised EYFS before I do that.

 

One of our problems is finding some kind of 'standardisation' within the setting. Some staff seem to do reams of stuff, whilst other do the barest minimum.

[thumperrabbit]

Yes, it was going to be my summer hols job!! (unpaid!) I was going to try and make some easy format for staff to follow - but now waiting for the revised EYFS before I do that.

 

One of our problems is finding some kind of 'standardisation' within the setting. Some staff seem to do reams of stuff, whilst other do the barest minimum.

 

:(

 

If you find the solution, please share!

[Guest]

Ditto Mundia it is i think about the process and the conversations that go on whilst the children are cutting and sticking their photo's into their LJ

 

my staff do take home journals to plot DM's and to plan for next steps, they get paid an hour a week to work at home

[mummymunch]

Hi all - I have a differing problem to most of yours I have staff who wouldn't take them home and do them - so we have to try and allocate time out for each staff member on one set day of the week. Myself and my deputy will end up taking ours home as we don't get the chance to do it in work time, and like most things this is of course unpaid!!

 

Some staff then only seem to be able to focus on learning journals and have to be reminded to watch what is going on around them

[Guest]

Hi

Just posted this on another thread...things changed for us in the last week...

 

How about if you were told you couldnt take them home? We have been told by our EY advisor that they should are not to leave the setting as confidential...now I have to do 11 journals ie scrapbooks with their profiles in our time whilst the setting is open and been told that we cannot do it while in ratio. Plus we are paid 1 hour per half term..works out at approx 5 mins for each key child for me. Also we have to do the transition documents this way. Some staff now saying they will only do what they are paid for. We are all paid the same no matter how many you have although committee looking at paying a rate of £1 per keychild per half term. Some will therefore be paid less than what they currently get. I think my scrapbooks and profiles will be a lot more rushed as I just havent got the time to spend on them within the opening times of the pre-school whereas at home I can concentrate more on them.

I would love to put that statement mouse in at the start of the learning journals so that when OFSTED do come in and there are very few obs etc we can refer to this and the fact of the limitations of time. To be honest this issue is causing a lot of ill feeling at the pre-school at the moment. Staff are willing to do in own time but under their own terms ie at home.

[Guest]

..the reason why we cant do in ratio...there are 20 of us and trying to get them done even with a couple of children helping is impossible with the way things are toileting 2 yr olds, free flow, lots of SEN children.. I wouldnt feel happy about doing them as my attention wouldnt be on the other children,

[squirrel]

Hi, Most of my staff are unwilling to take them home as they aren't paid, just not enough money Plus, apart from some tranferring and sticking photos, most of the stuff that goes into them you need to be with the child. All 5 of my team are allocated a morning each to work on the learning journeys, sometimes it's not enough time but generally it works. The main problem that we find is that there's never enough time to follow up observations and evaluate them! Still perhaps when Dame Tickell's review comes to being our lives will be easier, I live in hope!

[Guest]

why not allocate a set day for your staff to do this i do this but only have 6 staff. They each have an allocated day to key work.

If my staff are rota'd to key work they are not on rota to do anything else

 

if there are lots of staff allocate a time slot on a certain day

[Guest]

It is even harder for accredited childminders as there is only me to cover everything, we have to spend our evenings catching up on our learning journeys and we are not paid for these extra hours.

[Guest]

We were told 2 years ago that we could not take childrens files home and so my staff have to do them in their own time, usually I stay on after session with any staff who wantto catch up with paperwork, I generally provide the biscuits and coffee (mostly out of guilt for making them stay on unpaid). They do get extra pay per month at the rate of an hour per key child but as others have said this by no means reflect the actual time spent,its a dilemma, however I did get around the issue of completing school transition forms by booking us a conference room at Center Parcs where we spent 5 hours nose to the grindstone completing them all followed by the reward of 3 hours in the Spa!!!

[bubblejack]

Staff update theirs when we have large group circle times. Three staff take part in circle time and each staff member gets a turn to update each week. We all make quick obs on sticky labels throughout the week and a longer observation each term. In september circle times are very short because we have 2 year olds so i leave a one page sheet for staff to make observations on anything they observe for each new child. These will be the start of their learning folders.

 

Yes the new EYFS does suggest that paperwork should not take staff away from the children BUT there are still 50 things to observe so I'm not sure how they think we will do them. Hopefully they will take note of my comment on the EYFS review