Can Any Body Help

[sarahharry]

HI everyone

Have been reading some of these really interseting posts they are great. Im just wondering we are a small church hall based setting where we have to pack away and set up each day. There is only ever two of us a day at the mo while numbers allow, supervisor who works 5 sessions deputy works four and assistant does 1. We are all currently key workers and struggle to get our obs written up etc and planning is usually done at home after having a brief disscuison during the week refering to obs etc im just wondering how everyone else get's their obs written up and other paperwork done. Other staff are not keen about taking too much work home and i seem to be never ending doing stuff at home. If anyone has any suggestions for us ways we could think about changing i would be so greatful finding time to update obs etc is something i would like to do in session.

Thanks for any help

 

Sarah xxx

[Guest]

Hi Sarah,

We write our obs straight onto obs sheets which are then stuck into profiles alongside photos or samples of work. We do this in the room during the session and ask the children concerned if they want to help. This can lead to more obs or quotes to put in as the children reflect on what they did. This means you are still in numbers and can kill two birds with one stone.

 

 

HI everyone

Have been reading some of these really interseting posts they are great. Im just wondering we are a small church hall based setting where we have to pack away and set up each day. There is only ever two of us a day at the mo while numbers allow, supervisor who works 5 sessions deputy works four and assistant does 1. We are all currently key workers and struggle to get our obs written up etc and planning is usually done at home after having a brief disscuison during the week refering to obs etc im just wondering how everyone else get's their obs written up and other paperwork done. Other staff are not keen about taking too much work home and i seem to be never ending doing stuff at home. If anyone has any suggestions for us ways we could think about changing i would be so greatful finding time to update obs etc is something i would like to do in session.

Thanks for any help

 

Sarah xxx

[narnia]

Our lead teacher has told us to no longer get hung up over written observations............a photograph, for instance, is worth a thousand words, and she says it's what we KNOW about our children that matters. Of course, get some salient points down, but don't spend hours doing it.We take dozens of photos, which go into the children's Learning Journey books,and we write a brief comment, or what the child has said underneath it.If it relates to a particular area of development, we say what it is. (You could perhaps put coloured sticky dots under the photo, showing which area of development it covers?)Obviously, if you get some really interesting comments from the child, you would note these, and we usually use sticky notes, like everyone else for those.We are also using video tape and may buy a dictaphone to record the children's comments.

we're a small group too, with only two staff, so I know exactly what you mean about time etc, so this is one way of cutting down on how much extra you do?

Edited August 24, 2008 by narnia

[sarahharry]

Our lead teacher has told us to no longer get hung up over written observations............a photograph, for instance, is worth a thousand words, and she says it's what we KNOW about our children that matters. Of course, get some salient points down, but don't spend hours doing it.We take dozens of photos, which go into the children's Learning Journey books,and we write a brief comment, or what the child has said underneath it.If it relates to a particular area of development, we say what it is. (You could perhaps put coloured sticky dots under the photo, showing which area of development it covers?)Obviously, if you get some really interesting comments from the child, you would note these, and we usually use sticky notes, like everyone else for those.We are also using video tape and may buy a dictaphone to record the children's comments.

we're a small group too, with only two staff, so I know exactly what you mean about time etc, so this is one way of cutting down on how much extra you do?

 

That sounds a good idea i like the ideas of coloured dots that would save lots of time , and we could try and get these written up at some point in session. Its very difficult when you are a small group as time and money are both limited, do you all plan together too? or just make notes and one person writes it up?

sorry for all the questions

 

Thanks

sarah xx

[narnia]

TBH, we plan together when time allows, and sometimes it's note taking and whoever has a spare five minutes writes it up, though with keyworker approach in september it should be each of us doing this.As a small group, we haven't used a keyworker system up until now, and our lead teacher has agreed we were ok with this, as we both know the children so well, and all the parents chat to both of us equally, so it has worked just fine.