Self Registration

[Guest]

hi

I was just wondering whether the majority of you use a self registration system in Reception. we didnt last year, which was my NQT year. i now have a new early years co-ordinator who is keen to do so.

just curious really!

 

Lizz

[Guest]

I know there are some posts about this somewhere but I'm not sure where, maybe someone else will be able to direct you there!

 

One of the ideas I got from a generous person on this site was to have a board with a tree on it and butterfly cards with each child's names on, which they stick on the tree each morning. There are only 8 different pictures so the children do have to look for their name, but not too hard (or some of them would get quite stressed I think!)

 

I've adapted this ever so slightly so that I have a 'packed lunch' and 'school dinner' tree (I know that sounds very silly indeed but children just accept these things, don't they!) I just finished making it this afternoon and it will sit on my board every morning for the children to use - I was particularly pleased with the cloud I managed to fit in the corner - this is where I'll put the names of the children who are away! So we'll be able to practise counting with these each day! I am very pleased with myself for getting this done so nicely!

 

The butterflies will all stick on with velcro by the way - don't know what I'd do without stick-and-stick velcro!!

 

Dianne xxx

[Guest]

We use laminated name cards, in the four colour groups. These cards have their name typed on them, laminated, and a small picture in their relevant colour attached with sticky back plastic onto it.

After the Easter break we remove the picture, as the children should have some concept of their name shape.

After visiting other pre-school nurseries I did notice that in the summer term the children were bringing their cards in and using them to copy their name onto a large piece of paper as a form of registration. We tried this too, although after a total refurb in the building some cards were missing, but we made a register for boys and another for girls, the children found their name and copied it in the space next to it. After having watched us "tick" the proper register all year, we added a tick box for the children to tick too!!! They loved it.

We are introducing snack cards, to post into the "burger box" as they have their snack, which will be a much more informal time in the mornings (these will be smaller than their register cards, but along the same lines and we can monitor who is missing out!!!!) and a "helper of the day" board where the children's names will be displayed when it is their turn to help the staff.

 

Janet

[Guest]

Hi in our Nursery,for the first 2 terms we use card ducks with each childs name on ,laminated and velcroed .We cover one side of a large board with blue backing paper and make it into a duck pond .This year for the first term we are going to put a small digital photo of each child on their duck to help,then remove it when they are familiar with their name .For the summer term we use a large board and on it is an engine pulling carriages.each one is made out of a small cereal box covered with white paper.On each box is an initial letter sound.The children have a name card which they have to put into the box with the appropriate initial letter.The carriages are stuck on the board with velcro so we can change their position .This means the letters are not always in the same order so the children really have to look for their initial .This works in Reception also .

Hope this helps

[Beau]

Had a quick scout around and these two topics have discussions about self registration in

 

first one!

 

and this one!

[Susan]

Sounds great Dianne, well done! Hope it works.

 

I tried a system 2 years ago now, which although wasn't intended as self registration could have developed as such, but it was a nightmare so we abandoned it!

 

I do think that if you are going to go this route then you need to be sorting out your dinners as you have done.

 

The question that springs to mind though is, who fills in the register and when? Do you double check the info?

We are supposed to send our register & dinner numbers to the office within 10 mins of the start of the school day and I can't get my head around that and the logistics of self registration.

Although this is now a task that we as teachers should have delegated in practise my support staff did not like the responsability of a formal register and I think would object to the transfer of such info too.

 

I have seen systems of self registration used in our feeder nurseries but in all cases the teacher also sat down with a register and completed it quite formally, so it was really just a name recognition exercise, although it remained in place so was also a double check for others and the group leader during the session I suppose.

[Guest]

A good point Susan, fortunately my school tends to be pretty relaxed about such things & I usually get the register back by 9.15-9.20. I didn't know that TA's were allowed to use the register - I usually scrabble it done whilst talking the children as they self-register - hearing their news & having a general chat about what they are going to choose on an individual basis. It's not ideal and does distract attention away from the children but my TA is brilliant, chats with mums & dads and helps the children get settled, so it all works out in the long run!

 

By the way, I move towards the children writing their own names in the summer term as by then most of them can manage unaided and it's good practise for those who are nearly there! Also, I often do a formal registration in the afternoon so that the children are having the experience of listening for their name, speaking out in front of the whole group etc!

 

Dianne xxx

[catma]

I had self registration in Nursery and i think the reception are going to have similar this year, but it was very hard to keep records of times of late arrival for some children when we were all over the room interacting.

 

On the register point, it is seen as a legal document in terms of school attendance and punctuality and if a parent/child was being monitored for absence or heading for a court warning for instance the EWO would want this evidence very carefully recorded. Schools should have a policy with a definite Registration time (generally 10 minutes after the start of the day) and a cut off point after which late attendance would be classified as unauthorised absence. (Don't forget also that it is the school that authorises reasons for absence, not parents.)

 

As well as self registering attendance wouldneed to be recorded on the official register anyway, but any staff can do this as long as the correct codes are entered for reasons of absence. There's a DfES circular on registration requirements (probably on their web site)

 

Good attendance habits start in the foundation stage!!

 

[Guest]

thanks for all the great ideas guys (as usual!)

 

 

i'm going to see how the self registration goes, i like the idea of it progressing to the children signing in themselves. Its good to be aware of potentials probs though.

i was hoping also to establish a system whereby the children tick off/ sign when they have completed an activity or played in an area.

 

i've made some frog shaped name cards and have stocked up on velcro!

I'm thinking a pond with lilypads will be rather attractive!

 

cheers again

 

Lizz

[Guest]

Sounds lovely Lizz, you could use it for numeracy activities too!!

 

I have a sunflower and the children are the petals!! I am hoping that this year they will use the petals with their name on to place next to the activity of their choice. My self-registration is more of a name-recognition exercise as we all sit down to do a formal register, but I refer to the chart during registration.

[Guest]

Lizz, my class self register, in the morning they find their photo card (which also has their name on) and put it on the self register board. the board has the school rules along the top and we discuss at the beginning of the year that they are not only signing themselves in every day but that they are agreeing to abide by the school rules. the children love it, and if a member of the class has not signined themself in by the time i call them to the carpet the rest of the class are very good at reminding them to do it!

[Rea]

Our children have to find their name and post it into a box, but they then sit for a formal register. I love the things some of you are able to do with displays, unfortunatly in a hired church hall there is only limited space to provide notice boards, and even blu-tak on the walls is frowned on. I could perhapes try the system where the children have to put a tick next to their name, I'll give that one some more thought. Thanks

[hali]

Hi

 

Our children each have a laminated card with thier name on and a picture which they post into a box.........

[Guest]

I've just thought about making a blank chart where chdn self register by making a decision. ie there could be three columns where you could write/draw the choices at the bottom each day - 1 day the choices could be for feelings and they choose whether to put their name in happy/sad/cross column or it could be likes or dislikes of foods/activities etc. There could be a problem with time taken to choose, but I fancy trying this one out. What do others think - has anyone tried it already?

[Beau]

I had been thinking of something along these lines for my playgroup. Because of the layout of the hall and cupboards it is impossible to give the children any real choice during the sessions. However, I was thinking of setting something up where they could chose their favourites for the next session giving them a simple choice of 2 or 3. e.g. trikes, climbing frame or trampoline Would take a while to get up and running but once in place would be easy.

[Guest]

Annette that sounds like a good idea. Have you labelled it as a self register board and what classroom rules have you put down. How big is the board and how have you decorated it?

[Susan]

Welcome Fernado!

Thats an interesting idea and one I think we have discussed before, but where?

If I find it, I'll pop a link in but hope someone else gets there before me! Steve?

[Beau]

The discussion is in one of the links I posted on the first page Susan.

[Susan]

Glad I didnt spend time looking then!!

[Guest]

Hello

this is my first post but i thought i'd share some ideas about self registration which i have used in 2 different nurseries:

 

1,register by colour, i made a large elmer and stuck the children's laminated names onto it and they had to take their name and match it to the right colour, i've also done this with sheets of the 4 "basic" cols (rygb) then after "formal" register i ask how many names on red etc.

 

2, register by shape: I cut out and laminated 2 sets of circle, square, rectangle and triangle and children had to take form a shape and match to the correct shape, again after register i would ask who's name is on the circle etc or as chn were more able whose name is on the shape with 3 sides etc

 

3, initial letter matching esp capitals to lower case, jolly phonics sounds e.g. satipn one week and another set the next

 

4, children collect names and then count them as a group and find the total on a number line using an arrow ask questions like, if there was one more person here today how many would that be? if there were 2 away how many? also can ask chn to estimate how many children are present .... i worry when they say none!!

 

Of course this is all dependent on the input from parents/ TAs and teachers during the self registration process. In fact i was astounded when in my last school, a parent had to ask me the name for a rectangle because she wasn't sure what it was called.

 

hope this helps

Rebecca

[Sue R]

Hi there, Rebecca

Nice user name!! Reversing never ocurred to me ! What do you think - Eus ?

Not quite thse same ring as Sue R, has it?

 

Welcome, look forward to getting to know you.

 

Sue

[Susan]

Welcome aboard Rebecca and thanks for making some a useful first post.

 

I'm sure that will have given people lots of food for thought! I know I havent thought about self registration very much but that certainly shows the possibilites of one of those routine tasks, that we all need to do!

[Rea]

Hi Rebecca, welcome to the site. Errr, actually, bit thick I know, but...is the correct name a rectangle or oblong? It was oblong when I started school but changed to rectangle at some point in the late 70's early 80's.

[Sue R]

I think the actual name has something to do with the shape. Strictly, both are quadrilaterals!??

 

Sue R

[Guest]

Rocket, the board has the school rules on it, things like be proud, think of others, share etc. along the top and then velcro spots for the children to stick their name cards to. it isn't specifically titled as a self registration board but because we do quite alot of work about it at the beginning of the year they are all very aware of what it is for and many stick their names up as soon as they walk in the door - often before taking their coat off! They are also very good at explaining to any visitors what the board is for and what sticking their photo to it means!

[Beau]

Ok Sue - you asked for this!!! Click on the link, go down to page three and read the bit titled 'Question Time'!!

 

http://www.salt.cheshire.gov.uk/newsletter...ewsletter16.PDF

[Sue R]

Thank you, Carol, it's good to know there's someone out there ready to look after my every need!!

 

So everything's correct then!! Jolly good.

 

Sue

[Beau]

Would hate to see you lost in the Bermuda Triangle of quadrilaterals.

[Sue R]

Surely the Bermuda rectangle, oblong or square???

 

Sue

[Guest Tracey F]

I think I could say I have 2 self registration boards! On one the children put their name up at the top if they are having a school dinner, and down at the bottom if they have brought a packed lunch. The other board is used for snack time - they choose between apple, raisins and carrot. However, a more formal registration is part of our daily routine, but the children become involved in it by counting the no.s of school dinners and packed lunches - this tends to work well because inevitably there are very few school dinners, so I am able to choose my less able counters for those, and more able for the packed lunches.

With regard to the snack board, I have picture number cards 1-9 for each fruit, so the child counting this has to find the correct numeral too - at least we fit some number work in every day this way! We also use it for comparison are there more apples than carrots etc. Usually the children have half an apple each so we can even extend it into counting in 2's and halving!!

Well it works for us anyway!