Guest Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 Hi Everyone, I have finally updated all of our planning for September 08. Part of me would like to make the switch to EYFS when pre school returns on Monday. However as I have only been the leader for 1 year this should of thrown up an inspection (still waiting) so am reluctant to start in case they inspect us within the next 7 weeks. We currently have a planning meeting every week, so at our last planning meeting for the summer term will it be ok to just plan for continuous provision and say three learning intentions to do with PSED ie settling back in, settings boundaries and routines etc, then take say two long obs each and observed interests during that week, which we will take to planning first week back and then plan from their. Hope you understand what I am trying to say. Claire x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 14 views and no replies....I could take this personally Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 Im not in preschool Claire but it sounds like a good idea to trial your planning formats this term now so that by Sept you feel more sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inge Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 We too due inspection due to change in manager, but have already begun to use a new planning format , and will be able to justify and explain why.. in fact we have hardly changed ours at all as we have worked with/for the children for a long time now. We realised that all changes take time and that it amy be a while before we ahve things just how it can work for us, all part of our vision for deleloping the pre-school. Our Support worker is more han happy and has encouraged us to change now reahter than wait. Inge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marion Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 We are trialling a new way of planning after half term in preparation for September but we're a school and not expecting OFSTED ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 Two of my staff were on a training course last week. It appears that several local settings have been inspected very recently and OFSTED are already working to EYFS criteria and have pulled a up settings which weren't yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 thanks everyone, This is very confusing, we were told by our childcare advisor that until Sept 08 Ofsted can only inspect Foundation stage, birth to three and national standards. So was reluctant to start until Sept 08, but given the replies I might have a rethink. Claire x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth1 Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 I agree Claire it is a confusing time for us all. I have only been the manager for a couple of months so I need an SPI and Inspection (due in July). I had my advisory teacher in who suggested trailing the EYFS this tem and see how it goes. Bearing in mind that I am the only person who understands both B23 and FS. I am going to do a presentation for the team (shame I arn't doing the EYPs) on the basics of EYFS and child led play. Also our advisory teacher is visiting us regarding the key person system. Beth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 Hi Beth, I had my ofsted interview three weeks after I started, she came to my house and stayed for four hours, after that she said i would be inspected at the setting (this hasnt happened) that aside the setting was ofsted'd in Jan 07, so they arent due one until 09. So am going to bite the bullet and fully implement the EYFS on Monday after half term. If we are ofsted I will just have to justify why we are doing it now. I will however still underpin everything with the National Standards, i will update operational plan and policies and procedures in Sept 08. Claire x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 Hi Claire - from what I have read about how you are going to start in September - I feel that I am on the same lines as you, however I am a little confused about how many focused "learning objectives" we shoud have each week. I have asked on the forum on a few ocassions - currently under birth to 3 and FS we would choose 2 learning objectives from each area of development for the week ie. 2 from psed, 2 from cll and so forth. As I am waiting to go on training, what have you all been told - You have said Claire that you will be making your "focused" activity on PSED when you come back, so under new eyfs are we choosing just 2 focused activities each week and not from all areas of development ? We had ofsted last year and we were awarded Good, with our child observation and records, however we were not observing the children as much as it seems is specified in new EYFS - also we had themes, have now changed to child initiated topics - it seems to me that the more a read up and look into new EYFS there are still some changes that we need to make, wonder how well we will all be ready for it in September 08. Dot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 Hi Dot, We are going to be trialling the planning format for the 3-4 year olds on the eyfs cd under enabling enviroments. The weekly learning intentions are taken from a few different children's interests and next steps. Focus activities are then planned from this, the continuous provision will be enhanced accordingly to ensure a balanced curriculum. Hope this makes sense Claire x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmawill Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 I to am still waiting for my 1st inspection only 1 year!!!!!!!!!!!! .I have completely revamped the planning for EYFS and have it already and waiting even a draft medium term plan. But, I have been told by my early years advisor not to implement if until I have been inspected as ofsted will not want to see it until sept. I am still going to show the inspector my folder of planning for EYFS (something else for them to look at and busy for a while) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emmajess Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 We are trialling a new way of planning after half term in preparation for September but we're a school and not expecting OFSTED ... Oooohh! Just to be nosey, what's your new planning like, Marion? I think you already do quite a bit of child-led planning, if I remember threads I've read - how do you record this and how are you changing things for September? I'm going from being a part-time jobshare to being full time FS coordinator in September and really excited about setting up lots of new things! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcclland Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 Hi all, I'm new to fsf, but am getting many great ideas from all your posts - thanks to you all. OFSTED visited me two weeks ago, and as many others have thought - didn't think they would until September so changed my planning over, the inspector wouldn't even look at the new planning because "it doesn't come in to force until September" and also whilst 'chatting' found out a lot of the inspectors haven't yet attended any training on EYFS - i hope this helps a little Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 You all seem to be ahead of me in this game......any chance of seeing some sample planning sheets...PLEASE??? PRETTY PLEASE!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mundia Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 First of al, welcome to Mcclland and thanks for saying hi. I work with many settings who have been OFSTEded and are using EYFS already with no adverse consequences. Having said that if you are inspected now, you will still be inspected on what we have now, and we still have inconsistency in what inspectors know, say and do. That's why its very difficult to say do this or do that. Personally I see no reason not to trail anything now, as it shows you are thinking and reflecting on your practice. Regarding focussed activities, I don't think there is a right number, it depends very much on your setting your children and can easily vary form one week to the next. When I was working in a nursery, some weeks we had very focussed activity which really needed adult support and carried on all week (for example setting up a new role play area). Othere weeks we would do several focussed activities, maybe in small groups, which were quick and easy. For me what matters is that you are flexible about what you are doing and attempt a variety of different activities across a range of areas of learning. Does that make sense? Mrs B, have you looked at planning ideas on the EYFS Cd rom (under Enabling environments, then obs ass and planning). Unless you have major concerns over what you use now, you may find that you don't need to do anything other than tweak what you do already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Hi all, I'm new to fsf, but am getting many great ideas from all your posts - thanks to you all. OFSTED visited me two weeks ago, and as many others have thought - didn't think they would until September so changed my planning over, the inspector wouldn't even look at the new planning because "it doesn't come in to force until September" and also whilst 'chatting' found out a lot of the inspectors haven't yet attended any training on EYFS - i hope this helps a little I have just had an ofsted visit and the inspector said that why on earth would they penalise people for being ahead of the game and already trialing EYFS. It appears you just can't win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Hi Woolly - we started changing how we do things for new EYFS last half term - and we are all glad we did - we are reflecting on our practice not just on a weekly basis but daily - so hopefully by September we will be on the right road. I have heard from lots of other settings locally that they cannot gain access to many courses until September this year, so I think that if any settings are due an ofsted, better now rather than in September - are all settings going to be ready in September ? - I'm glad ours is not due for hopefully 1-2 years time. Welcome to the forum Woolly - hope your ofsted went well today Dot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Hi Woolly - we started changing how we do things for new EYFS last half term - and we are all glad we did - we are reflecting on our practice not just on a weekly basis but daily - so hopefully by September we will be on the right road. I have heard from lots of other settings locally that they cannot gain access to many courses until September this year, so I think that if any settings are due an ofsted, better now rather than in September - are all settings going to be ready in September ? - I'm glad ours is not due for hopefully 1-2 years time. Welcome to the forum Woolly - hope your ofsted went well today Dot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Oooohh! Just to be nosey, what's your new planning like, Marion? I think you already do quite a bit of child-led planning, if I remember threads I've read - how do you record this and how are you changing things for September? I'm going from being a part-time jobshare to being full time FS coordinator in September and really excited about setting up lots of new things! Hi, Would be really interested to see any planning formats that people have in preparation for September. I work in a one form entry school and so have no colleague to share ideas/ plans with and the whole school is rethinking its planning for September. Thanks Nicky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmawill Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 I am as we speak in the process f compiling my final bit of EYFS planning for sept. (thought I would have a 5min break). I have recently had someone lok at my planning who said that I am possibly do far to much so , fllowing her advice I have amended to a Long term continuous provision plan. A medium term plan and a weekly plan based on the previous weeks observations both childled activities and adlutl led. I am going to disregard the sessionly evaluation and planning sheets that we do. But only looking at posts on this tonight i am beginning to wonder if I should still be doing this as well . Advice form anyone would be greatly appreciated as I don't know what to do now. I wish there was a standard set of planning material that every setting used so we all followed the same sheets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmawill Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 sorry about the spelling on my previous post but, i have been writing for the last two days and my brain is ready to explode!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Hi Woolly - we started changing how we do things for new EYFS last half term - and we are all glad we did - we are reflecting on our practice not just on a weekly basis but daily - so hopefully by September we will be on the right road. I have heard from lots of other settings locally that they cannot gain access to many courses until September this year, so I think that if any settings are due an ofsted, better now rather than in September - are all settings going to be ready in September ? - I'm glad ours is not due for hopefully 1-2 years time. Welcome to the forum Woolly - hope your ofsted went well today Dot It went well, we received good. This was my first ofsted as a pre-school manager and their last report was inadequate, so i'm really pleased. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Hi Woolly - Well done for your Ofsted Hi Emmawill - since we have amended our planning, we have one adult focused activity inside and one focused activity outside, each activity has 3 elements of different areas of learning. We use the same form for the activity each day which is evaluated each day. If a staff member has evaluated that another resource should be added, this is picked up on for the next day -the evaluation process really has proved more important that the focused form I have written. We also add the children who accomplished the aim and where they need to be challenged the next day, or children who did not access and need to be picked up on. I have not as yet created a medium term plan because I was led to believe that they were no longer needed ie. if we are planning for childrens interest a medium term plan is pointless ? I feel the same way as you, wish EYFS CD had some simple formats that we could look at - I wonder why they have nursery planning for 2-3 and then 3-4 - we have children from 2-4 so I would love the EYFS CD to show an example of this huge age range. I am yet to go on planning training, so my eyes might well be opened up. Dot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmawill Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Dot thanks for yur reply. I was advised to do a medium term showing 6 areas of learning and development matters but where at the moment we have a set theme for the term I was told to not show themes but to select different development matters for the week form this plan and plan child inictiated activites around these aresa of learning. We also are aiming for 1 or two adult led activities which are evaluated and observed. Am I doing this right ? I don't know HEEEEEEEELP!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 Hi Emmawill - are you choosing particular aspects within an area to make up your medium term planning - I have only chosen a "development matter" once we have observed which children need to be focused on this particular activity- course next week, so hopefully I will have my eyes opened and I can report back - Best wishes Dot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmawill Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 dot I was advised to select various development matters under the six headings for the medium term plan and then use these to link to a weekly plan ( I have decided to use 5 per week as we run 10 sessions and if we did any more I think we would all need brain surgery!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) we would then use these for our focus activities which all staff are involved in and it is thier job to plan and evaluate an adult led activity each day based on one of the development matters noting any observations. We also observe the children during the session and these post it notes are then put on a main sheet on our board (the sheet from the EYFS training Weekly observations,home links,interests etc. and then all of these are to be used to plan for the next steps of learning. We also set targets for each child under the six areas of learning in their profiles and then the Keyworker geets 1 week in 5 to concerntrate on their children and aim to acheive these targets . but if they do not meet them which we quite expect with some children this would then be looked at and how to plan for the next steps. As stated before a set way of working would be a great idea as everyone I seem to speak to works a different way.] I was talking to the reception teacher (we are in the grounds of a Primary) and she was amazed at the level of plannning that we did and did not know how we manage to keep on top of it as their planning was quite basic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 (edited) Hi I am about to set up foundation unit. Only been back in early years 3 months and everything is happening so fast. we are due an ofsted and I am nowhere prepared. I would love to see any plans or ideas. the courses I have been on all say something different. HELP would be the appropraite word. helen Edited June 8, 2008 by Guest Removed email address Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beau Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 Hi Helen, Welcome to the forum - you have come to the right place for support and advice. I am not in a setting at the moment and not in England so can't offer you any practical help. Be assured that many people are struggling with finding the 'right' way and you are not alone. I have removed your email address from you post as we have a policy of not allowing these to be visible on the forum, so that you don't end up with a heap of spam in your inbox. Members will be able to send you a private message (pm) via the forum or reply to you here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts