Guest Posted October 15, 2007 Share Posted October 15, 2007 Do you all have a staff rota system for your nursery/preschool? The reason I'm asking is because I have a member of staff who is leaving on Friday and at the moment we have a rota going & she is on this. I am not replacing her because I have enough staff to cover a session anyway(always had over the ratios) & will still be within them...and then in January my joint supervisor will be returning after maternity leave. I am thinking of either changing it or not having such a structured one. We are free flow and child initiated led. What do you do & what would you think about no rota???? I feel confident enough knowing the staff are capable of using their initative(sp?) and believe the staff rota really only suited the one person leaving (she didn't like the free flow and liked more structure) which is probably why she is leaving!!!!!! So what are your thoughts???? mrsb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hali Posted October 15, 2007 Share Posted October 15, 2007 we have one just because our sessions are quite busy and it jusat reminds eveyone where they should be, but if you feel one is not needed then great less paperwork to juggle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inge Posted October 15, 2007 Share Posted October 15, 2007 (edited) we dont have one... one member of staff allocated to any focus activity , otherwise they work with the children and adapt as needed. Inge Edited October 15, 2007 by Inge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 15, 2007 Share Posted October 15, 2007 I think you may have answered your own question. What do your staff think? Me personally, I love initiative, it allows for strengths to shine and allows spontenaety (sp?). Why not try without until end of term and evaluate when the returning maternity leave staff comes back. Just remind staff that nothing is set in stone, staff changes often enable reflection on our practice / procedures. Peggy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verona Posted October 15, 2007 Share Posted October 15, 2007 We have rotas for setting up the hall, door duties first thing when parents and children come in, gathering things for snack time and circle times. We have been doing these rotas for quite a while and we just know what we're doing without looking at the charts. We have tried staff deployment during the session but it's not always feasible to stay in a particular area, so we go "with the flow" and, as Peggy says, it allows for strengths to shine and allows spontenaity (I can't spell it either, Peggy - mine looks worse than yours - or perhaps yours is right - must go find a dictionary) Sue J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted October 15, 2007 Share Posted October 15, 2007 We manage without a rota. Staff automatically spread out so that there's a member of staff in each third of the room if you like or they follow their key child to observe etc It works well for us, I guess a lot depends on your staff. We tend to follow children's interests so it is often difficult to stay in one place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 I think you may have answered your own question. What do your staff think? Me personally, I love initiative, it allows for strengths to shine and allows spontenaety (sp?). Why not try without until end of term and evaluate when the returning maternity leave staff comes back. Just remind staff that nothing is set in stone, staff changes often enable reflection on our practice / procedures. Peggy Peggy, I think you are right...I have answered my own question. I guess I was looking some words of wisdom to make me feel better......a lot of things have been going on lately and it seems to have done something to my confidence. I'm the kind of person who loves working on initiative and I know the other staff can. I'm going to do rota for register, door, snack time & adult led so that everyone gets there fair share at doing things, but like you say nothing is set in stone and working with children you need to be flexible!!! many thanks for making me realise I can make decisions on my own....mrsb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 Keep on posing questions Mrsb! Sometimes we need confirmation that our ideas can work, especially if our confidence has taken a knock. That's what's so good about this site, kind people gving their informed opinions which either confirm what we are thinking or help us to think again in a safe, supportive, non judgemental environment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 I agree Deb - you said it all, I began to read the post to see if I needed a rota as I don't have one then I got to the end of the thread and realised we are fine as we are - just nice to have the back up and like-minded views. Well said Deb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 (edited) Just wanted to back up everything already said. We went out on our EYFS training last week and the message there was that the key to successful delivery is flexibility. One example they gave was to do with always timetabling adults to be outside with children. The message was that having one adult always outside is not the best option - what if the majority of children are outside - would these be restricted and have to stay in as there's too many outside. Or what if no-one wnated to go outside - would some children be pushed to go outside cause one adult was timetabled to be out there or would the adult move inside to be with the majority of the children? They said it's really important to go with the children and be very adaptable - which we all are anyway however as Deb said it is nice to get confirmation. Edited October 16, 2007 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 We use a staff rota but purely to enable all staff to know where they are working and on which days, as we have alot of different staff at different times. We do not have it to show deployment of staff. Lesley[/size] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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