Targets

[Guest]

Just a query really. Had a whole staff meeting with an advisor about success criteria. talked about having objectives for the day written for the children to read throughout lesson on board. I have done this with year 2,1 and it worked well. Did not do it in reception and have not done it in nursery. However, she seems to think that it can be done in reception and nursery as when someone asks them what they are meant to be learning they autonatically look at the written objective which apparently reminds them what it is even though they cannot read it! She told us that she has seen it done in these year groups and that it does work. Guess what? The head wants to see it being done in line with the rest of the school. Has any body ever tried this in nursery or reception and if so how is it done? I thought that when we are doing our small group teacher directed then the adult could write the learning intention on a white boeard for the children to look at. have no idea what the benefit is?

[Susan]

Have you seen my post about Afl? here

 

Not sure if it helps but I suspect I have similar concerns to you.

[Guest]

Just had a discussion today about this! It would be better to have one or two simple things to focus on for Nursery eg. "This week we are learning to be good listeners" or "This week we are learning how to put numbers in order." We suggested for the PSED type of "target" that photos could be taken of good examples during the week and added to a poster and referred to regularly. At the end of the week you have a record of children who have achieved it as well as a model for them to follow. Each poster could be added to an ongoing big book that could be looked at as a reminder.

When I was in Reception I had a puppet that introduced our maths theme each week and had a laminated poster of him with a speech bubble where I wrote what we would be working on.

This alongside all the ongoing observations, assessments and planning for next steps (AfL) is more than enough (I feel, but who am I!!!)

Anyway there were just a couple of ideas that may be useful for you.

[Guest Keen]

Sorry folks but what do these people think they are doing this is such a lot of cobblers!!!!

 

Some advisers and HT seem to think if it works for older children then it should work for FS and Nursery! It makes my blood boil!

 

We wouldn't expect 3 - 5 years olds to wear the same size shoes as a 6 - 11 year old so why the blessed targets.

 

Good EY practitioners have always explained what is happening and we take every opportunity to develop learning but please please please let them be children!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Guest]

Funnily enough my 5 yr old came home on Monday with a sheet of paper saying , Mummy, Mummy, I've got homework ( she's really enjoyed the concept of 'big school' since September and wants to do all 'school' things like her older brothers). I thought, hmmm, homework in Reception? Anyway, I had a look only to find that her 'sheet of homework' was actually the class targets for the term

 

Read - To retell stories in the correct sequence using language from the story

 

Write - To try and write for different purposes, eg lists & labels

 

Maths - Use maths ideas to solve problems involving taking away

 

Well, I read them, they have sat on my fridge since Monday, my daughter has forgotten about homework, and to be honest, they are so open ended and ambiguous that they are not really very S.M.A.R.T.

 

Don't get me wrong, my daughter is in a lovely small village primary school, total capacity approx 86 children. It just seems that Autumn term is a good transition from preschool, play based curriculum with similar daily routine then suddenly after Christmas, it's now you've settled it's 'real' school time. She's also come home saying "if I read my book 3 times then I get a sticker" another initiative to 'encourage' reading. I want her to read because she enjoys it, not to learn that reading has another 'material' gain. ( ie: stickers). She has shown interest in reading ( looking at books) since before starting school, so this motivator is I think detrimental because it is 'material reward' based, which was not needed in her case.

 

I think that what is sad is that I bet the school would much prefer to just 'get on with it' without having to produce these 'targets' which are 'group' defined rather than individual learning needs/preferences/styles defined.

 

and so the pressure starts term 2 of her 'educational 11+yr institutional sentence'...................

 

It's the governments fault, not the school or the teachers.

 

Peggy

[Rea]

I remember similar things Peggy when my lads were little. Really obscure, and somethimes age and child inappropriate 'Richard needs to think about who he sits next to so he can work'. He was in Y1!

Critical point A - Think in what way exactly?

Critical point B - This is Richard

[Guest]

I worry sometimes that I've come to te age that I am starting to sound like my mother/grandmother (I'm 48). It's just that my children ( foster) talk about, when asked "what did you do at school today?" they say "today I learnt about.." I did Literacy, or numeracy" . They are now using 'educational' jargon. I want my children to talk about what was important to them, not what they think I want to hear by using 'adult speak'.

 

When I was a child and was asked what did you do at school today, I talked about my friends (PSE), what I did at playtime, such as how well I did at french skipping etc, I talked about the adventures of the journey getting to school, and coming home ( I walked to school from the age of 5 yrs with my siblings). I certainly don't remember telling my mum about my 'literacy' or numeracy' lesson. or any 'academic' targets that I reached ( or failed to reach).

 

Am I old fashioned, I always said I would not say, in my day did..................., but here I am saying it.

 

Peggy

[Guest Keen]

Who is it on here that has children's learning is their play / play is children's learning?

 

I am even older than 48 and went to school in the 50's. I remember playing in the sand, loving reading to the teacher, painting a still life, being the blackboard monitor, cleaning the dusters, collecting scraps and doing swops in the playgorund, skipping with two ropes, playing two balls on the wall. I didn't ever have a target but I did have a good education so why do todays children at 4 need to regurgitate and inappropriate target!

 

Oh! and we played outdoors most evenings, liked our scratches and still live to tell the tale!

[piapins]

My head teacher insisted i do the same thing as you fancy full. She asked me to put up learning objectives for each session in my foundation stage classroom which is in line with the rest of the school. Well to be honest I thought this was ridiculous but when she said she would monitor lessons and check the children could recite the learning objective I thought I better do something. So I made pictures (not for every session but that last throughout the week) so the children know what we are focusing on that week in some areas, and when anyone asks what are you learning they immediatley look at the picture and tell them. Im not sure if the children are getting anything out of it which makes me angry because what is the point if they are not!

The head teacher also insisted that each child had a literacy, numeracy and social target to work on, that was the last straw and I said no THEY ARE 4! She couldn't really say anything in response to that!

[Guest Keen]

You know the worst part of this is that the Improving Outcomes for Children document makes it very clear that in reception targets are for the adults not the children but som often those who don't understand how young children learn think that if they force them sooner they will learn quicker!!!

[Helen]

Putting up targets on a wall in a FS setting does not sit at all well with the emphasis in the EYFS of the unique child does it? You would be forever sticking up new ones, depending on who comes to the water table/role play/graphics area, etc.

 

The targets for each child are known by the skilled practitioners working with that child, and they don't need to be written up on the wall. There is absolutely no suggestion in the whole of the EYFS documentation that this is good practice, and I think, if you're brave enough, you should challenge your Head.

 

A compromise is along Piapins idea: laminating some learning intentions and putting them out on a rotational basis around your setting. Still not totally comfortable with it in relation to child-initiated learning, but I'm trying to come round to it!

[Guest]

When I taught Reception, I had the relevant Early Learning Goal displayed in each area of the classroom. For each formal session I was expected to write the learning intention on the whiteboard and read it with the children at the start of the lesson. All sessions also had to have a plenary where the learning intentions were recapped.

 

This wasn't too bad as they could be in 'child speak'. The thing that really got to me was the written planning in that I was expected to record every question that I intended to ask. Then if I was being monitored the children were asked what they were learning about - could they answer probing questions - with interesting answers!!! As someone has already said, these children are only four.

[Guest]

I'm in another: "tell me what you're learning" led school. The NQT who takes the parallel class has been asked to give all the children lit and num targets, she said we'd talk about it as a team. We both feel that we need to have targets for ourselves to move the children on. Their ability to ennunciate them in 'meta-language' does not seem to be age appropriate to me. But the pressure is on. Last week we were told that the HT had joined a table of children for lunch and had enquired about their targets, none of them were able to explain them, despite the fact that 'they all have them' it was suggested that this just might be a random blip. Another table might have performed better....now we've all been asked to check up and make sure that we are all adhering to agreements etc etc. oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!

AOB