Cait Posted April 1, 2009 Posted April 1, 2009 Welcome to the forum and I'm awaiting your first post with bated breath!
sunnyday Posted April 1, 2009 Posted April 1, 2009 A very warm welcome to the forum Bunny - I have nothing but respect for childminders I think you all do a great job! Looking forward to 'talking' to you. Sunnyday
Guest Posted April 1, 2009 Posted April 1, 2009 Hi I am new to writing in I am also a childminder and I have had nothing but a strugle with settings and excepting I am also a professional the same with some of my parents about the EYFS they dont see the need for it so I feel I am doing only for myself and the child sometimes and ofsted
Guest Posted April 1, 2009 Posted April 1, 2009 A very warm welcome to the forum Bunny - I have nothing but respect for childminders I think you all do a great job! Looking forward to 'talking' to you. Sunnyday thanks for that we do try our best I make a point to help new childminders and we get together to talk about what we are doing and share what we have come up with.
Guest Posted April 1, 2009 Posted April 1, 2009 Bunny - you need to click fast reply or add reply sorry about that just gettint the hang of things
narnia Posted April 5, 2009 Posted April 5, 2009 I have been in contact with 3 local settings......................(one of which is only a few hundred yards from us, so I hand delivered letters to them and, surprise, surprise, NO response, though I have heard from a parent that this setting has now started to do a home/setting diary, but they only write in it IF the parent writes something first!!).Another has invited us to a meeting to discuss ways forward (HURRAH!!!!) and the third said that I should write to them and they will respond 'officially' (!!).Now we have had our Ofsted inspection, the inspector told us to ignore the local group, as we have clearly done our best to get things going........................well, it's a requirement, so how do I 'ignore' them?? The other two settings look like they're up for a real working relationship, so that's a positive move, though it does bother me that NONE of them realised it IS a requirement rather than a nicety, to work together! Cait.............................LOVE the labels, have tweaked slightly and stolen them,thankyou! Sorry, forgot who suggested the acronym 'KEYPIE', but another theft added to my list of sins for this week, thankyou!!
Cait Posted April 5, 2009 Posted April 5, 2009 Cait.............................LOVE the labels, have tweaked slightly and stolen them,thankyou!Sorry, forgot who suggested the acronym 'KEYPIE', but another theft added to my list of sins for this week, thankyou!! Ooh - do tell - what have you tweaked? Have you changed the font to comic sans - everyone seems to use that - I just don't think it capitalizes well, that's why I don't use it. It was Shazwat's husband who made the acronym
Guest Posted April 16, 2009 Posted April 16, 2009 I am new to this like some others so put me right when I go wrong. Very interesting thread. We have had some direction from our Advisers and this is what we are being asked to use to share information between settings. We are being asked to share information one a term. The information on the forms is a summary of observasions done over the term. You make a judgement as to which level a child is operating in each area and comments as needed. The other setting is then able to compare this with their observations and summary (which they should send to us as well). I have made contact with 4 local settings we share children with and visited them all and invited them to visit us. No visits as yet but I am hopeful. No information from other settings yet but I also haven't sent information to them as I am a little unsure of the sheet. We will get there with our confidence. Info_Summary_Sheet.doc
sunnyday Posted April 16, 2009 Posted April 16, 2009 Hi and a very warm welcome to the forum. The sheet looks good and I could see how that would work - I would be very happy to get that sort of info. (actually I would be happy to get any sort of info.!!!) from another setting. Sunnyday
Guest Posted April 16, 2009 Posted April 16, 2009 Oooh that sheet seems rather simple! I was envisaging lots of work. Is that all that the powers that be are after? ppp
HappyMaz Posted April 16, 2009 Posted April 16, 2009 Welcome to the forum, humpty's - congratulations on making your first post. I'm intrigued by your form, and how it gets filled in. Are you supposed to tick the relevant age band for each area of learning and then make comments in the final column to back up your assessment? If so I wonder how realistic it is to be able to make a judgement overall when a child might be operating at different levels within that area - for example they may be really interested in and confident with shape space and measure but not really interested in counting. That said, I think it is an interesting way of reporting progress - might be good for a termly update for parents, too! Thanks for sharing! Maz
Guest Posted April 16, 2009 Posted April 16, 2009 Thank you for my welcome. Yes on the form you tick the level you judge the child to be operation at. A child aged 36 months might have a tick in creative at 22 -35, Physical at 40 - 60 and the rest 30 - 50. This might help you to look at the 'spike' areas to see if next steps can be used in these areas to help the child 'catch up'. The 'spike' area might be different in different settings. Why?
Havennursery Posted April 17, 2009 Posted April 17, 2009 i find that most the settings are not always interested and you make the first move for nothing or they find it odd you try and contact them. strange ay lol
bubblejack Posted April 17, 2009 Posted April 17, 2009 Havennursery this is exactly as I have found it with other settings and childminders.
sunnyday Posted April 17, 2009 Posted April 17, 2009 I would really like to know..........has anyone been contacted by another setting? As I said in a previous post - we are all aware that we need to do this and have been making approaches to no avail - they can't be fsf users! Sunnyday
HappyMaz Posted April 17, 2009 Posted April 17, 2009 I would really like to know..........has anyone been contacted by another setting? Well at half term I visited both the children in their other settings (we only have two) and invited them informally to come and visit us. Haven't heard anything over the second half term so I will try the direct approach this term and see what happens. However I am not holding my breath since both are full day care settings and the staff informally said they doubted whether their management would pay for the cover to enable them to visit. I shall have to word my letter carefully! Maz
sam2368 Posted April 17, 2009 Posted April 17, 2009 Are people sending info via parents/carers or directly to the other setting? Can't quite see the benefit of this as yet but I'm sure all will become clear as time progresses. We haven't been approached by any other settings as yet but then I haven't contacted anyone yet either. Need to get the permission letter sorted first. Sam
Havennursery Posted April 17, 2009 Posted April 17, 2009 yes bubble jack it is very frustrating dont you think......do they not know its to help them lol
bubblejack Posted April 17, 2009 Posted April 17, 2009 Yes Havennursery I am only trying to do whats best for the child. as you are. I personally asked the childminder if she would like to contribute to the sheets that we already use only to be told to "Ask their mum what they can do" I don't see their mums.I hope that the childminder is inspected soon and then she might be interested in contributing. Some of the childminders in my area are anti-pre-school anyway because they are not getting paid when the child is at pre-school and they normally only agree to bring the child to 1-2 sessions a week.Some of the childminders are very against the EYFS anyway.When I attended the first meeting about the new EYFS i was sitting on the same table as them and during the breaks i was trying to tell them that the curriculum is only made up of things that every child does anyway. Regarding approaching a nearby group. I mentioned to the parent of a child who attends another group that I would to share achievements. The parent mentioned it to the group and said that the group was very cross that I had asked.??????? I have just re-read my post and it sounds as though I am "anti-childminder"I have been a registered childminder myself for 30 years and only stopped minding at home when I changed to extended care four years ago . My grandchildren always enjoyed the company the same as my children did.
HappyMaz Posted April 17, 2009 Posted April 17, 2009 I have just re-read my post and it sounds as though I am "anti-childminder" I don't think you came across as ''anti childminder at all, bubblejack - but your post does highlight the sorts of difficulties we all face in working together in what is after all (as you point out) in the best interests of the child. We all have our own problemss and issues and working across boundaries with different types of organisations can be very challenging if the objectives don't seem clear or if it is seen as some kind of threat. Keep plugging on - and when you finally crack it you can enlighten us all as to how you managed it! Maz
Upsy Daisy Posted April 17, 2009 Posted April 17, 2009 No Bubblejack, you don't sound anti-childminder. You are just expecting the childminders in you area to act professionally. For a start they would be within their rights to charge while the children are at pre-school if they wanted to. I found it quite scary as a childminder when the EYFS first came out. It sounds as if they might be helping each other to keep their minds firmly closed on the subject. I had a similar experience when I picked up a childminded child from his nursery. I asked about linking with them and the room leader looked at me as if I had gone slightly strange and said that she didn't think it was necessary. I offered to show her the page in the statutory frameork and she said she didn't have a copy there. Not sure how you can run a nursery room without a copy of the EYFS but never mind. I've made a note of it and given up. I have arranged termly meetings with the village nursery and the first school so at least I'm getting somewhere. Whether it will affect the outcomes for the children is another matter.
velvet Posted April 17, 2009 Posted April 17, 2009 I am also a childminder and agree with Alison the childminders just need to get more professional (as for payment I have always been paid when a child attends playschool who I then collect). I have also come across other childminders on training who aren't bothered about being there and doing it - they put out a bad example of the rest of us who are professional and want to do are best for the children. I myself have had problems making links with the playschool a minded child of mine attends and when I did finally get a meeting with them it didn't seem like they were very interested in sharing info or hearing what I had to say! I know from reading on here that it seems lots of us are trying (people in all settings) its just a shame that we are not getting very far!! (it would be so much better if everyone on here was in one area - we would be well away! Lets hope the more settings that are inspected the more they will start to realise they do need to share with other settings. saying that have any of you been inspected lately and did Ofsted ask about how you communicate with oter settings??
bubblejack Posted April 17, 2009 Posted April 17, 2009 Just a few quick question for childminders please. Is there any reason why childminders don't claim for sessions not used at pre-school. I did once have a childminder that shared the funded hours but none of the present ones do it. I have mentioned it to a few of them but they don't seem to want to do it and I don't understand why.
bubblejack Posted April 17, 2009 Posted April 17, 2009 .......... and second question. If a child was non-funded would parents have to pay pre-school + childminder? thanks
velvet Posted April 18, 2009 Posted April 18, 2009 Hi Bubblejack To be able to claim for the free sessions a childminder needs to be accredited and part of a Network. Not everyone can become this even if they want to be as it is not available in all areas (like mine)!! About charging parents for children whilst they are at playschool it is up to personal choice what a childminder does but as we can only care for 3 under 5's (this includes any of our own children in this age bracket) I have always charged full fee whilst they are there if I am taking them and collecting them as I would find it very hard to fill a space for 2-3 hours a day!! If a child went for 5 sessions this would then be quite a fall in my weekly income for that child if I didn't charge anything whilst they were there! It is a hard one but all the parents I have had have understood and not had a problem with it especially as it means on development days or day when shut for snow, voting etc I can still have them with no problem and during the holidays.
HappyMaz Posted April 18, 2009 Posted April 18, 2009 It is a hard one but all the parents I have had have understood and not had a problem with it especially as it means on development days or day when shut for snow, voting etc I can still have them with no problem and during the holidays. That is an excellent point, velvet. Are you ever asked to care for the children when they are not well enough to attend pre-school? Maz
velvet Posted April 18, 2009 Posted April 18, 2009 Yes Maz I have had parents ask me to have them when playschool have said they were too unwell to attend. It has really depended on the situation at the time why the child was unwell and what other children I have had on that day to weather I have had them or not. If it is sickness/upset stomach then I wouldn't take them. Although I have had a parent try and send them to me one morning after they were sent home from playschool the day before because they were sick!! - I didn' normally collect the child that day but lucky the next morning had to take my own child in and the childs keyworker happened to mention it (otherwise I would have been non the wiser) because Mum was waiting for me outside palyschool to hand over child to me like we normally did on this day. I felt really horrible having to say I couldn't take the child epecially with them right there but it is in my policies I give them! I have had children with me with ear infections who just want to lay on sofa all day but if they normally walk on school runs etc and got worse and I don't feel it would be fair to make them do this I do call parents and ask them to collect or if looking after them effects how I can care for the other children they get sent home.
purplewednesday1 Posted April 18, 2009 Author Posted April 18, 2009 Hurrah for a setting which has returned our link form! - we have made contact!!!! pw
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