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Over last summer we had a complete rebuild with new pale green carpets (my heads choice...) and she demanded that in September my children had indoor shoes, outdoor shoes (stored in the cloakroom, down the corridor) and then wellies for our outdoor area (stored in classroom in a storage box). Why not have wellies just for outside i hear you say?! No, apparently wellies are not appropriate for the large playground equipment which my children access at lunch time...

This has not been too much of an issue up until now because i had a relatively small class but now i've had my January intake it's a nightmare!! AGHHH some take ages to put shoes on anyway, some can't put shoes on by themselves, others have no clue which shoes are indoor or outdoor and some i loose for 15 minutes because they've lost their shoes in the Year R,1 and 2 cloakroom!! I have spent half my day putting shoes on children AGHHH :o !

Does anyone else have this problem?! I have racked my brain but can't really think of a solution, there is just no space in the classroom for shoe storage, so am restricted to the cloakroom which is down the corridor, therefore it takes them 15 minutes to come in and change shoes and make it back to the classroom and why shouldn't it, they are 4!

Sorry, think I just need to let off steam, hopefully they will get used to the routine...!

But if anyone has any ideas about shoe storage please help!

Qx

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No, its not just you: it drives us mad in pre-school too! I have no words of wisdom or advice to offer - but the silver lining might be that with all the practice they're getting they'll soon learn how to do it themselves!

 

Maz

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I totally sympathise! When I started teaching a few years ago, my school had indoor-outdoor shoes. It was a total nightmare!!!! I had 20 in the class at the time (16 YR and 4 very young and not very mature Y1 boys) - so not the biggest class imaginable by any means, but they had to change shoes when they came in in the morning, out for playtime, in after playtime, out for after lunch, in after lunch, out for pm playtime, out after pm playtime and for hometime PLUS anytime they used outdoor in the meantime - not to mention that this was on top of the usual coats they can't do up, hats/scarves and gloves (that they also can't do) at this time of year - I was a fan I'm sure you can tell!!!!

 

And the ones who were older/able did learn over time how to do up buckles etc, but the younger ones took much longer (understandably - is that even a word?!) and some never had a clue which way round their shoes were supposed to go despite our best efforts - and the whole 'parents do it at home cos it's easier/quicker' doesn't help!

 

Anyway - and this won't help you at all if you are stuck with the regime - as a school we decided to try abandoning separate indoor shoes - started in summer term to give chn practise without really wet playgrounds - an encouraging copious foot wiping. It was such a relief that for a few years now we haven't had indoor shoes. My class have wellies for outdoor area so do get some practise with shoes for indepedence but life is so much easier!

 

Sorry for my rant - hope things get easier for you!

 

x

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What you have just described purplemagic is exactly what happens for my poor class!! Changing shoes about 8 times a day and then wellies on top ha! How ridiculous!

Does make me feel better that someone else has gone through the same thing though and some might adapt hee!

Thank you for the sympathy :o

Qx

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Nooooo! It's not just you - I was driven mad by it too. I have worked in two schools where there is the indoor/outdoor shoes and wellies policy and have had the same issues with it too. I found it very frustrating frustrating losing time finding shoes etc!

 

The good news is that there is a silver lining - they do get quicker at it as the year goes along! I had a rolling intake in both classes and a mixed year groups in one class(R/Y1). Some of the things I tried were:

  • Try buddying up some of the children who can do their own shoes with those who can't;
  • Give a special reward to children who can manage to do their shoes by themselves perhaps in stages - take them off by themselves, do own buckles and later on laces etc;
  • Have a shoes monitor/ child whose job it is to check shoes are tidy and under pegs etc

 

In our cloakrooms, we had benches under the coat pegs so stored the shoes there - if not try small fabric bags or decorated pegs to keep pairs of shoes/wellies together - perhaps you could get some wooden ones and they could decorate?

 

For me, it was part of setting routines at the start of term and with a little perseverence, it pays off! Initially, I made sure that either myself or TA were in the cloakroom to help/pair children up to help, countdown as to how long they had to line up/be sat on the carpet and always made sure I sent those who took longest to change shoes out of the class first. Another upside, you could also use it as evidence of dressing/undressing independently!

 

However, there is one drawback to all this: I cannot go into my 3 year old neices bedroom without pairing her shoes up in a perfect line! :o (Mine are kept in shoe boxes - I have over 30 pairs)

 

 

Good luck!

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Hi

 

I know what you are going through! I started at my school in September and they have indoor and outdoor shoes. Being new I didn't want to cause a fuss, but it takes sooooo long to get the children ready to go outside. I have a reception class of 26, some of which are very young and immature and have no idea how to put them on by themselves. It also effects other parts of the day, for instance I wanted to take them outside this morning for a nature walk and to look at the frost, well it took so long to get them ready just to go out, then change when we got back in, nightmare! I would never not take them out because of it, but it just makes life that little bit harder!

 

I also have an open door policy, but you know how children like to go in an out, then back out a little later, I feel so sorry for them having to keep changing their shoes each time.

 

Sorry I have no ideas how to help you, just lots of sympathy!

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Thank you for the ideas kittyknits i will try shoe partners and rewards! I noticed that one little girl was helping another today (very sweet!) also good for PSED hee!

Nutleywombat, i did exactly the same today - went for a winter walk so instead of changing 8 times they had to change 10 times ha! Probably what intensified by annoyance! Poor things, I have exactly the same open door policy as well.

Although i'm not glad that you guys are also frustrated it is good to know i'm not alone!

Thank you :o

Qx

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Our children have their shoes in Key Person coloured storage boxes, with fancy clothes pegs to keep them together. My Key Group (the older children) are responsible for 2 younger children each and help them with their shoes and slippers. This helps everyone PSE-wise, we call them Key helpers and are considering getting them polo shirts the same colour as ours!

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