Some Ideas On Paperwork

[mrsbat]

Me again

 

I've had some ideas i'd like to bring in to pre school in January and wondered what people thought if you wouldn't mind.

 

Firstly we don't really have any info on display for parents to read apart from our policies and the last inspection report. I was thinking I could put a "communication with parents" folder out which would included all previous newsletters and any letters that have been sent home to parents etc

 

I was also going to put all the policies under the 5 areas of learning (i've even designed lovely dividers for each theme

The policies raised a worry with me though, is it ok to have them in a seperate file to the operational plan or should they be in there instead/as well?

 

We have absolutely no contact with other settings / child minders apart from the reception teachers coming in for one half hour visit just before the summer holidays each year, so i really want to start this up, what have been peoples experiences with this? have other settings been willing to "join forces"

 

We are self funded and have very little savings but i would really like the children to have fresh fruit and vegetables every day so I was going to ask for voluntary contributions of fruit / veg from the parents - do you think this is cheeky?

 

gosh there was lots more but they've totally gone out of my head now lol

[HappyMaz]

I was thinking I could put a "communication with parents" folder out which would included all previous newsletters and any letters that have been sent home to parents etc

We have a folder with all the latest newletters etc in which is handy for parents to refer to if necessary: also has the spin off of showing Mrs Ofsted what you talk to parents about without your having to remember to show them to her!

 

The policies raised a worry with me though, is it ok to have them in a seperate file to the operational plan or should they be in there instead/as well?

Personally I don't think it matters where the policies are kept so long as parents have access to them and they cover everything they should! I would try to keep duplication to an absolute minimum - if you need to refer to them in your operational plan you can simply cross reference them.

 

have other settings been willing to "join forces"

I think a lot depends on the setting! You may have read narnia's recent post about the difficulties of working in partnership with colleagues in different settings - however it is a noble intention and possibly the best place to start is by making personal connections with the people who work in these other settings. Perhaps you could organise a 'practitioner exchange' whereby someone from their setting comes to your group whilst someone from yours goes to theirs? We've done this and it really helps to see how the other half lives!

 

I was going to ask for voluntary contributions of fruit / veg from the parents - do you think this is cheeky?

Lots of groups have done this and have found it a useful way both of making their funds go further and of introducing the children to a wider variety of fruit than they would normally be able to try. I'd say go for it!

[hali]

As Maz says the policies dont have to be in the same folder just accessable and your communication with parents folder sounds great

[Inge]

The setting I have just left always has a copy of the policies and procedures out for parents to see/read / access on the entry table, also a copy of continuous provision with information on how the children learn while playing. It does not need to be in the operational plan as well, in there we just had a note to say where it can be found.

 

The parents have always provided the fruit and veg for snack time, it is not unusual, class it as part of parental involvement, there are several ways of doing this, some just leave a bowl and ask for everyone to donate a piece each wee, we had a list out on the table with suggestions each week and asked parents to write name down to show they were bringing something that week. This way they tend to only supply once a month, but you do find some like to give more often, and others who cannot afford it less, parents are very happy with this and it works well once they are used to doing it, children also love to come and tell us what they have chosen for us that week proudly bringing it in. If we end up with lots we made a fruit salad or used it in cooking with the children.

 

I always found response from other settings locally to be mixed, can depend on who is there at the time, sometimes we have had good responses others poor, at present local school is keen and we have has requests via parents of where did we get things from as they want to continue in school, and they invite us into reception fro half a day to see the children who have moved on and how they are working with them, same as when they visit us, this school came for a full day with us not just a half hour in July, You can but ask and try.

 

Inge

[Guest]

I'm a childminder and one of the little girls I look after has started attending preschool aswell for 2 sessions a week to help her get to know some of the children she will be attending school with. I asked parent's permission to contact the preschool and I set up a meeting for the little girls keyworker and her mum to attend. It was very successful and I shared her learning journey and targets with the keyperson to help her get to know her a bit better. We also established a contact book which goes via the parents between the settings to record interests/achievements/next steps so that we can work together holistically. The setting was very open to making this link between settings. Unfortunatey I did try this with children last year and one setting was great the other not so interested. having said that, with the EYFS in place there is now a requirement for us to work in this way and I have noticed whilst looking at new Ofsted inspection reports - how obsessive am I that Ofsted are really picking up on this aspect.

Most of the children I care for move upto 1 of 2reception classes and for those children I visited their new classes and took photo's of their classroom and newteacher and made them into laminated books for the children that I used for supporting them through the transition. The children loved these and we used them for storytelling.

[mrsbat]

Wow thank you everyone

 

Maz, I'm not sure about the practitioner exchange as the one other nursery that is in the same village as us are apparently on bad terms with us, I have no idea why but maybe I'll give the owner a call and make a fresh start so to speak - thank you

 

Thank you everyone else too, you've made me feel better about asking for the fruit lol

[Guest]

I ask our parents to bring fruit in. I dont know if you have applied but the children are entitled to free milk under the milk scheme, if you arent part of that then it may be worth investigating it. one of the other things we do is a child booklet to give to parents of children strating to read with them and we find the children settle better when they are more familiar. good luck with your new position

killowengirl

[mrsbat]

I ask our parents to bring fruit in. I dont know if you have applied but the children are entitled to free milk under the milk scheme, if you arent part of that then it may be worth investigating it. one of the other things we do is a child booklet to give to parents of children strating to read with them and we find the children settle better when they are more familiar. good luck with your new position

killowengirl

Thank you Luckily we are already on the milk scheme - and even luckier is that another member of staff deals with it

[Guest]

Thank you Luckily we are already on the milk scheme - and even luckier is that another member of staff deals with it

 

Can you tell me more about the milk scheme - never heard of this? is it open to everyone?? how do we apply??

thanks

[mrsbat]

Can you tell me more about the milk scheme - never heard of this? is it open to everyone?? how do we apply??

thanks

Hiya, these are the contact details I have, just give them a call

 

health depts reimbursement unit

po box 504

leicester

LE94 0AE

 

or call 08707 203063 to register

[Guest]

(Can you tell me more about the milk scheme - never heard of this? is it open to everyone?? how do we apply??

thanks)

 

 

 

Local geographical number is

 

01858 410510 - They answer as MRM Promotional services - Just ask for the milk welfare scheme.

 

This number will only be charged at local rates rather than premium rates.

 

also on line: www.nurserymilk.co.uk

[Inge]

Info also from Nursery milk seems you can now apply on line..

 

Inge

[Cait]

We are on the Nursery milk scheme, and it's much easier now that it was initially.

I ask for a voluntary contribution towards fruit and veg snacks from parents whose children are NG funded, as I believe that if they have to contribute something - even if it's 50p a week, they have a better appreciation for it.

In practice, several of the parents who pay for sessions also contribute. It doesn't pay the full bill, but certainly helps. What I found when we asked for fruit was that we got loads of apples or stuff that maybe people had had in their fruit bowl for a week!

I'd far rather exercise some choice and quality control over what the children have.

How did you get on with the display?

[mrsbat]

We are on the Nursery milk scheme, and it's much easier now that it was initially.

I ask for a voluntary contribution towards fruit and veg snacks from parents whose children are NG funded, as I believe that if they have to contribute something - even if it's 50p a week, they have a better appreciation for it.

In practice, several of the parents who pay for sessions also contribute. It doesn't pay the full bill, but certainly helps. What I found when we asked for fruit was that we got loads of apples or stuff that maybe people had had in their fruit bowl for a week!

I'd far rather exercise some choice and quality control over what the children have.

How did you get on with the display?

Well I've made the folder all ready to put on display when we go back on the 5th so I'm really hoping that parents will look at it

[Cait]

Well I've made the folder all ready to put on display when we go back on the 5th so I'm really hoping that parents will look at it

 

 

fingers crossed! what have you put in it?

[mrsbat]

fingers crossed! what have you put in it?

Well it started off with all the policies, a copy of the brochure and all previous newsletters and any other communication we've had with parents but it was a bit large lol so I've put the policies seperate (divided into the 5 areas) and also put a brochure seperate so basically in the parent folder I have put all the newsletters and other communications that have been sent out for the last 6 months. I've devised a quastionnaire to go out to parents when we go back so I'll add that in too

[Cait]

Well it started off with all the policies, a copy of the brochure and all previous newsletters and any other communication we've had with parents but it was a bit large lol so I've put the policies seperate (divided into the 5 areas) and also put a brochure seperate so basically in the parent folder I have put all the newsletters and other communications that have been sent out for the last 6 months. I've devised a quastionnaire to go out to parents when we go back so I'll add that in too

 

 

Sounds like a good plan, how about minutes of parent's meetings too?

[mrsbat]

Sounds like a good plan, how about minutes of parent's meetings too?

up until now we don't have parents meetings how do they work? do you mean one to one with key workers?

We had an eyfs presentation but out of the 60 parents on roll only 4 turned up