Guest Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 After reading all about home/school diaries on here and following lots of discussions with staff I have decided to give them ago for the summer term. I am about to order books for this purpose and just wondered which type of book you all used and whether you had any good advice about where to buy from. I will need 50 books so want as low a price as possible. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Wolfie Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 I bought spiral bound books from Asda - about 30p each if I remember rightly - and then stuck a printed out cover over the front to personalise them. All the supermarkets have budget ranges of stationery that are suitable..they might even give you an extra discount for buying in bulk, you never know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 Thanks Wolfie, i was looking at using those but wasn't sure if they would be hard-wearing enough. how are yours looking with daily use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Wolfie Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 They're looking OK! The front cover is made of card rather than just paper which means that they're a bit more durable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
narnia Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 I use scrapbooks from the consortium, very hard wearing and reasonably priced, free delivery, next day if you order before 2pm and request it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cait Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 Scrapbooks might be a bit big for a home/school diary, I would have thought. We use small exercise books which wear ok. We did use spiral bound ones for a while, but found that a few parents were tearing pages out for shopping lists or whatever. The stapled book also occasionally 'lose' pages, but it's much rarer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellerkaren Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 We use exercise books from the pound shop (we get 10 for a pound) this works out well for us, we print out a picture of the child and stick this to the front of the book Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnyday Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 Scrapbooks might be a bit big for a home/school diary, I would have thought. We use small exercise books which wear ok. We did use spiral bound ones for a while, but found that a few parents were tearing pages out for shopping lists or whatever. The stapled book also occasionally 'lose' pages, but it's much rarer. People never cease to amaze me - how disrepectful - and what a poor example to their children. Sunnyday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cait Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 Yup, you got it! And they think WE won't notice! It's the awful comb-over all over again, isn't it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyMaz Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 We use small exercise books which wear ok. We do too - and I found some plastic exercise book covers in WHSmith which make them more durable. Don't remember how much they cost but am fairly sure it wasn't that much. As for parents using them for other purposes, I'm fairly relaxed about it because I'm often 'caught short' when looking for a piece of paper to write some vital piece of information on! So I'm afraid I'd probably be one of the parents you're talking about! Maz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 Hi there, We use spiral bound books from Consortium. Somehow we stumbled upon the packs of six brightly coloured (fluorescent, like the highlighter pens) ones. They are quite thick, robust and the back and front covers are made of thick plastic. We stuck labels on the front, a photo of the child on the inside of some and a little piece of paper explaining what the book was for on the first page. This has been really popular with most parents and the children love the bright colours - they are really possessive of them and can seem to recognise their own from quite long distances away! I am sure you will not regret taking this step. Good luck! Lesley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 A5 page a day diaries from discount office supplies, hard back so hard wearing when they are going to and fro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 - we send home children's learning journeys so parents/carers can add to - this is working really well Dot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cei Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Hello everyone! Have now plucked up courage to write my first message and here it goes. I run a preschool and we use home diaries to share information with the families and other settings. We fill them in regularly but the other preschool in our area has told us that we only have to fill them in once per term. Apparently this is what the lady from the PLA told them. So are we being over keen writing in them every week or should it be less. CEI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cait Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Haha well done you. Congratulations on making your first post - hopefully there'll be lots more to follow! We ALWAYS respond to a parent's comment in the diaries. We write in the books AT LEAST once a week, sometimes more if there's some WOW moments, and we have a parent who wants to know every mouthful her son eats at snacktime, so we're indulging her at the moment (He's 3) then we'll go verbal after a bit. We stick photos in our too, do you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cei Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Hello everyone! Have now plucked up courage to write my first message and here it goes. I run a preschool and we use home diaries to share information with the families and other settings. We fill them in regularly but the other preschool in our area has told us that we only have to fill them in once per term. Apparently this is what the lady from the PLA told them. So are we being over keen writing in them every week or should it be less. CEI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cei Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 I'll be honest we only started doing them from January so staff are getting used to writing in them. The parents love them as they are now able to read what their child has done. I do get a little frustrated with the other settings that write in them. They seem to write very little and nothing that we can use to add to the childrens next steps, or am I just a bit picky!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cait Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 you are lucky that other settings write in them! Ours don't in spite of frequent requests! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cei Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Yes I shouldn't grumble really as we do have quite a good relationship with the other settings in our area. I think that we will continue to fill them in as we are now until I'm told otherwise. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alison Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Hi CEI congrats on witing your first post I hope it the start of many I shouldnt worry what the other school said about home school diaries, I dont think there is a rule for how often to write in the diaries if you can manage once a week then keep at it Im sure its more valuable as a tool than once a term which doesnt really sound much like a home school diary Im toying with the idea, and like Karen I spotted the packs of excersise books at pound land 10 for a pound Id only need 3 packs! as for what books?.... why not start with cheap exercise books see what the responce is like and how managable it is before investing in a bulk buy of more expensive books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnyday Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Cei - nothing to add - great advice from everyone - just wanted to say Hi!!! Sunnyday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouseketeer Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 we use home/school diaries for children with SEN on daily basis and finding time to keep them up to speed is difficult...........cant imagine doing them for 26 a session yiks ! we use a sheet of labels for each child, split into key worker groups for recording on daily basis, if an adult is doing a specific group activity they get the sheets they need to record straight on to, these then go into assessment records (no need for anyone to re-write)which parents can see any time so think i'll stick with this until home/school books are a 'legality'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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