Do You Think This Is Feasible

[Guest]

We have quite a few childminders who bring children to our nursery and I know that some of them are feeling a lot of pressure with the EYFS. I was thinking that as we produce the learning journeys for our children would it be necessary for the childminders to also produce them for the same children or could we all just contribute to one. I was thinking that this could forge great links with the childminders and would also take some of the pressure off them as far as paperwork is concerned.

 

Also what do you think Ofsted would make of it I am sure that our nursery would look good as there is evidence of sharing information but I am not sure whether it would be acceptable for the childminders to do this.

 

Any comments would be appreciated

 

Sue

[Cait]

I would have thought they'd be thrilled! Once less bit of paperwork for them to 'invent' and it would look good on their Ofsted too!

[Susan]

What do the childminders think?

[Guest]

I dont know yet it was just a Saturday night post vodka thought and I thought I would run it by you guys before I ask anyone at work what they think.

 

Sue

[Guest]

I think it is a good idea but would it be available for the childminder to use if they are due Ofsted?

[catma]

They would need access to records during holidays if you are a school nursery (or even f you are not) I presume....but I think our childminders would be pleased. Their planning would also be their record f the learning journey so they would have that for Ofsted in their own setting but with the no notice inspection it might be tricky to pass records over. Do you have a childminder network coordinator for your area you can bring in to share the idea with and discuss broader implications?

Cx

[Guest]

I think I will make enquiries because I think it would be a worthwhile exercise if we can sort out all the logistics. We do work closely with the childminders as we have the same ones year after year and we have built up a good relationship with them.

 

We have been thinking along these lines for the children who attend the surestart toddler group at our setting as well and we already share information with the pvi setting that is on site aswell. (The staff work at both settings so this is quite easy though).

 

I will let you know how we get on.

 

Sue

[Guest Wolfie]

I thikn it's an excellent idea Sue and an example of creating the partnerships and communications that the EYFS stresses are so important.

 

I'll be very interested to hear how you go about setting it all up, I think it's something that a lot of us could think about in our own settings.....

[Guest]

Do you have to get permission from the parents before showing their childs learning journey to anyone including childminders.

I know we should all be working together and I agree we should all work in partnership but we have covered ourselves in terms of passing on personal information, as once a nursery worker came to pick up a child and we passed some info on, T he parent then came in to say can we phone her to let her know what has happened and not tell the nursery staff as she didnt want them knowing everything before her.

We asked the childminder to get permission from the parents to allow us to let them see the childs booklet and discuss any personal information about the child.

Im not sure if we should have something for parents to sign to say they are happy with sharing of information.

Debs

[Susan]

Thats a good point. We have a policy of not sharing about the day with anyone other than the parents.

[Guest Wolfie]

Im not sure if we should have something for parents to sign to say they are happy with sharing of information.

 

That would definitely be "best practice".

[Guest]

i think the sharing of the learning journey with the childminder is an excellent idea once the parents have agreed to it

it would be good to share a common format of observations and recording which then could be slotted into the nursery learning journey a child minder may have more time to observe than nursery staff and will add to the depth and quality ofthhe learning journey

child minders do get notice so they can borrow the learning journey and have something to share

so often it is the child minders who bring or are the child's first point of contact after nursery school

sharing how a child feels or shared something from either setting to the other is super so often a child will be settled in one environment but not in another or have different experiences to share on how they are devloping with certain skills

it can only add to the information we hold onchildren in devloping their next stages

[Guest]

As a childminder I think it's a great idea!

 

I have all babies at the moment and have done my Learning Journeys on loose pages so information from home or other settings can be added at any time.

 

Ofsted have always been complimentary about the sharing of info with other settings shown during inspections. I've been fortunate to have received copy planning etc when I've asked for it and get my own copy of any newsletters etc sent to parents.

 

Parents have always given permission for information to be shared with me at home time etc - they've taken the view that it's in the childs best interest for me to know as I'm on the spot and it may be something that I NEED to know.

 

Nona

[Guest Wolfie]

Nona, your practice sounds fantastic, something we should all aspire to!

[Guest]

We have quite a few childminders who bring children to our nursery and I know that some of them are feeling a lot of pressure with the EYFS. I was thinking that as we produce the learning journeys for our children would it be necessary for the childminders to also produce them for the same children or could we all just contribute to one. I was thinking that this could forge great links with the childminders and would also take some of the pressure off them as far as paperwork is concerned.

 

Also what do you think Ofsted would make of it I am sure that our nursery would look good as there is evidence of sharing information but I am not sure whether it would be acceptable for the childminders to do this.

 

Any comments would be appreciated

 

Sue

Speaking as a childminder I think the idea sounds great in theory. We all need to think about how to work together, across setttings, to provide an holistic approach to best meet children's needs. As an accredited childminder I have been developing my learning diaries over the past three years and would feel a bit patronised if I was just being asked to use nursery proforma's, I think you would need to find out from each individual childminder whereabouts they were in their practice with regards to documenting learning - you may be able to learn something from them too, how they would like a partnership to develop and what support they would like from you with regards to contributing . I think it would depend on where the child was spending the most time as to who would coordinate it. In my setting I have a child who spends the majority of time with me and 2 afternoons at the local nursery and another who is at pre school every morning and 2 afternoons with me - I think that for the child who spends most time with me I would love it if the nursery contributed to the learning diary I have developed for this child and for the other child it may be more appropriate for me to contribute to the nursery's system, which would probably reduce my paperwork slightly.

I addressed the parental permission issue by asking parents to sign a form, when our contract began, sharing information on all other settings a child attended and contacting these settings to share information on a child's learning and development, it also explained the rational on why working together was in the best interests of a child attending more than one setting - which iS now backed up by the EYFS

[Guest]

Thanks, Wolfie, I'm blushing!

 

I've always tried to work closely with the other settings "my" children attend and have received great support and feedback from them.

 

Last year I did a drop-off & pick up from a setting new to me and it took a while to adapt to their ways but when EYFS was looming they suddenly took a big step forward re sharing information etc.

 

I hope EYFS has this effect on everyone!

 

Many childminders take children to and from several settings, each may have their own ideas and systems in place and children may have several Learning Journey records in different formats.

 

I wonder whether, as practitioners, we'll be able to overcome this or whether eventually it will be down to the parents to take the highlights from each and assemble their own?

 

Nona