JacquieL Posted January 15, 2005 Posted January 15, 2005 I have moved this from another thread and hope for some advice on joint planning with nursery and Reception where the two classes are physically seperate most of the time. I need some nitty gritty here. We use the same planning and assessment formats but I'm not really sure what planning together entails. We discuss what our overall shared theme is and what we will be doing and where we are in our hours free-flow time. Otherwise as we are physically seperate the rest of the time the planning of enhanced and directed activites is largely left to each class team. As R I have more structured phonics, reading and maths to fit in amongst my play activities. R does longer hours than nursery in the morning, and we still go out with our mixed Y1/2 class for breaks several times a week. (smallish school) The nursery has an outdoor play area so this gives my children an opportunity to use this. I also do more structred PE and music than the nursery does. Lots of ideas and advice very welcome.
mundia Posted January 15, 2005 Posted January 15, 2005 Hi there. I have to confes to being a little confused over the joint planning issue. Are you concerned that you should be planning together more? Is there a reason for this? Our reception and nursery do not plan together. We work on out long term plan together, and we plan for the outside area which is shared together. We share resources and staff and we know what each other are doing, but we dont actually plan together. We dont work any longer as a unit so I see no need. As coordinator I monitor what happens in reception and we have breakfast phase meetings to discuss issues that arise. It works well for us. It sounds to me that what you are doing is fine. I think there are different issues if you work as a unit, as we did in the past, and thats where the planning togther needs to be tighter. have I misunderstood somwhere along the line?
Guest Posted January 15, 2005 Posted January 15, 2005 Sorry JacquieL never got back to you on it. We are in a situation where there seems to be no links between reception and nursery. At the moment Nursery do their own planning/assessment etc and Reception do their own. The coordinator has been told that there are no links between the 2 teams and to make some links. There has been talk of the 2 teams planning together. I think that in this situation this is not the way to go. The FS coordinator is in Reception. The Nursery is working extremely well taking on new initiatives and Reception still has some way to go! (If you know what I mean without being too blunt!) I was after ideas to see what other settings do. I know of lots of ways of developing links and the FS coordinator has got to start looking beyond planning! Really awkward situation. We have a meeting this week to discuss issues so hopefully things might start moving forward! Thanks Mundia for your comments it reassures in my own mind which is best for our setting By the way as FS coordinator do you have a job description?
JacquieL Posted January 15, 2005 Author Posted January 15, 2005 Thanks both of you. Mundia you speak common-sense. Our situation is that our HT wants us to plan together for long-term, which is done and very easy, medium which is less easy as the children have different needs at different times, and short term. I think what we are doing is more or less fine. We hope to work towards becoming a unit, but while we are seperate for a lot of the time, complete joint planning doesn't seem realistic. We have a joint weekly planning meeting now with our TA's and discuss shared issues, and are beginning to re-examine observation and assessment and making it effective, and most importantly manageable.
mundia Posted January 15, 2005 Posted January 15, 2005 iom, i do have a job description but not in a format I can send on. Is there anything in particular you are looking for information about? JacqueiL, it seems that you have the balance right, given the circumstances you mention. Does your Head expect KS1 and KS2 to all plan together? Or does he/she see that the joint planning will lead towards the development of a unit?
Guest Posted January 16, 2005 Posted January 16, 2005 Hi Mundia I'm looking for specific tasks that the FS coordinator does to ensure there are links between nursery and reception. I know that the sky is endless and that what I am looking for is probably endless! Cheers!
mundia Posted January 17, 2005 Posted January 17, 2005 Hi Iom. if you want to pm me with an email address I can try and send my job despcritpion. Im not that sure it wil help you that much as the nature of N-R links is a more a matter of personal circumstances rather than obligation. Im just wondering what sort of links you would like that are not there already?
Recommended Posts