Guest Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 I've always felt that profiles are a lot of work for staff, and that they end up getting passed over when a child leaves, but that they don't really fulfil their potential while in use. At our setting they're almost like some kind of sacred document that no one wants to touch! Is there anything to stop us sharing profiles with parents on a regular basis? I was thinking we could put these in the children's trays, and set up a space where parents could sit and look through them. Obviously they couldn't take them out of the setting, but this would give them a bit more time to see how their child is progressing, to get more of an idea about what we do in session, and also how much work staff put in doing observations of their chldren. We only seem to show them at parent consultations at the moment, and that isn't really a long enough time to read them properly. My other perhaps sneaky thought is that this would be a way for my leader to ensure that staff update them a bit more regularly. Some of them seem to think once a term is enough to track progress. What does everyone else do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luluj Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 I thought exactly the same thing too as well as wanting to develop parental involvement in the setting, so this year (in Reception) we have had 2 'open afternoons' where parents were invited into class to share their child's Special Books. We have a section where parents can write comments.We linked this into Diwali and Christmas times so parents were also invited to look around our environment to see what we'd been doing,share a simple drama presentation we'd devised and have some festive fayre that we'd cooked. There was lots of positive feedback. We will plan a similar event around Easter time but parents know they can access their children's Special Books at any time. luluj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tink69 Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 (edited) As part of the EYFS and partnership with parents it is my understanding that we should be doing exactly what you have suggested. Ofsted are very hot on how setting share info with parents/carers and other settings. I think its a great idea and hopfully it would encourage parents to be more interested in their child's development and progress. In my previous setting(childminder now) they were out for parents to see at anytime and they were encouraged to add to them too! Tink69 Edited January 30, 2010 by Tink69 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pirates1 Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 I WORK IN A NURSERY AND THE CHILDREN HAVE THEIR OWN LEARNING JOURNEYS THESE ARE KEPT IN THEIR DRAWERS FOR CHILDREN TO BE ABLE TO PULL OUT AND LOOK AT AT ANY TIME AND PARENTS ARE ABLE TO TAKE THEM AWAY WHEN THEY WENT AND ALSO WE GIVE THEM OUT 3 TIMES A YEAR FOR PARENTS TO LOOK AT UPDATED OBSERVATIONS AND GET THEM TO WRITE ANY IDEAS FOR FURTHER PLANNING Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 As tink69 says this is exactly what we should be doing, we have bought a unit which is divided up for files in which is each childs profiles. It is is a space accessable for everybody, paretns, children and staff. Parents and other familiy members also contribute to the profiles as well as the children. It sounds like you know wwhat you want to do so i say go for it and let us know how you get on x x x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cait Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 All our children have always had their files in their trays which contain everything but the very confidential stuff as in the early days there were other users of the room besides us. As we're a small village we couldn't be sure that some of these other users weren't looking at the files, so made the decision on what could be 'seen' by others, and what should be kept away Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thumperrabbit Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 Bit of a sore point with us just yesterday! We have a parent rota system and this is where the parent and the keyworker sit and share the child's folder and discuss any achievements/worries. Staff always know when the parent is on duty and as such should always have the profile upto date. Parents evenings don't work for us, nobody attends, so this is the best method for us. Any working parents who can't do rota can take their profile home and bring back the next day. As we all know these profiles take up a LOT of keyworker time and the parent yesterday didn't even want to look at it, made the point that it wasn't what she wanted for her child, she feels there's enough of all of this when they get to school. We tried to explain all about EYFS etc all the benefits etc but she didn't want to know. I felt so sorry for the keyworker who had been up late into the night getting it ready (although that was her fault!) but it's soul destroying and of course we then had the "whats the point in all of this" discussions. Have to say we are getting more and more parents like this as the years go by....................is anyone else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 As we all know these profiles take up a LOT of keyworker time and the parent yesterday didn't even want to look at it, made the point that it wasn't what she wanted for her child, she feels there's enough of all of this when they get to school. We tried to explain all about EYFS etc all the benefits etc but she didn't want to know. I felt so sorry for the keyworker who had been up late into the night getting it ready (although that was her fault!) but it's soul destroying and of course we then had the "whats the point in all of this" discussions. Have to say we are getting more and more parents like this as the years go by....................is anyone else? Was it that she feels the profile is just another way of assessing and labelling and grading her child's achievement? If so I actually find it slightly encouraging, at least parents are now moving away from, "I want to know what my child can do now! Are they as good as little Johnny? No! Why not? Give them five reading books and 20 spellings; they must be the best!" We have parents like this in my class and that's just as soul destroying. If parents are moving towards, "let them play and be children" then I'm all for it! Of course moving towards a happy medium is the best thing for everyone and I do feel sorry for the keyworker becauase it is just as soul destroying when parents don't care how hard you've worked, but at least some parents are now in some way embracing the idea of letting children be children! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubblejack Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 After giving parents access to their childs learning folder this term with only a handful of parents looking I could easily be negative and say its a waste of time carrying them into cloakroom every daybut I am going to be positive and say that parents must trust us to do the best for their child.Starting from Easter I am going to give them a small report on their childs learning each term to take home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 Hi I have worked on this a lot this year as I felt last year, as you rightly say, the folders were sat on a shelf and the parents missed out! I use West Sussex Learning Journals as a basis. I send out the 'All About Me section' when a new child joins along with a letter about how LJs work in my setting and emphasise they are a partnership between EYs staff and parents. I have set up a system where new parents then meet me (with filled in section, as this acts as a useful discussion tool/prompt for those who are not as confident) and use this time to show them the child's LJ and talk through sections. I have set up posters of children where post it obs and annotated photos are added throughout the week, (with permission form parents) this is working really well as the parents drop ch off they look at this and talk to me or thier child about them. I am aware with some settings there would be a privacy issue with this. I also store the folders here and encourage the children (every so often) to grab their folder and share it with their parents. It's also useful to do this when Dad/Gran comes in for a change. Also it has helped my link with a child's Nanny to have this time. As well as this I send home invitations to come and see them later in the evenings as I am aware that some parents cannot drop off of a morning due to work restrictions. But... as you know there are still some parents that still only access them when you 'drag them' to them!! Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KST Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 I'm in a reception class and started doing learning stories this year. I have them out in the book area so they are accessible to children and parents when ever they wish to look through them. Parents love them! I also share them at parents evenings and encourage parents to contribute to them. I am the key worker for all 31 of my children but I do get my TA to help update them but I update they them everyday so I would get so behind! I think they need to be done at least weekly so you can write in their next steps to inform your planning for the next week. I am going to start sending home a sheet at each holiday which ask parents to fill what they have been doing and learning at home to encourage more parents to contribute. We had ofsted just before christmas and they really liked them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnyday Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 As we all know these profiles take up a LOT of keyworker time and the parent yesterday didn't even want to look at it, made the point that it wasn't what she wanted for her child, she feels there's enough of all of this when they get to school. We tried to explain all about EYFS etc all the benefits etc but she didn't want to know. I felt so sorry for the keyworker who had been up late into the night getting it ready (although that was her fault!) but it's soul destroying and of course we then had the "whats the point in all of this" discussions. Have to say we are getting more and more parents like this as the years go by....................is anyone else? How sad how can any parent be uninterested in their child's records we all work so hard to produce these and I would be absolutely heartbroken if any of my parents reacted like that..........actually I'd be pretty annoyed too! We have all said (staff team) that we would have loved to have these wonderful records complete with photos for our own children! Oh well I suppose you can't win them all! When I first introduced 'Daily Contact books' - there was a certain amount of 'mumbling' amongst our parents - I did write a little note home to everyone giving a full explanation of why we had introduced these - they then completely accepted them and they really do provide a useful two-way flow of info. between home and pre-school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beau Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 Bit of a sore point with us just yesterday! We have a parent rota system and this is where the parent and the keyworker sit and share the child's folder and discuss any achievements/worries. Staff always know when the parent is on duty and as such should always have the profile upto date. Parents evenings don't work for us, nobody attends, so this is the best method for us. Any working parents who can't do rota can take their profile home and bring back the next day. As we all know these profiles take up a LOT of keyworker time and the parent yesterday didn't even want to look at it, made the point that it wasn't what she wanted for her child, she feels there's enough of all of this when they get to school. We tried to explain all about EYFS etc all the benefits etc but she didn't want to know. I felt so sorry for the keyworker who had been up late into the night getting it ready (although that was her fault!) but it's soul destroying and of course we then had the "whats the point in all of this" discussions. Have to say we are getting more and more parents like this as the years go by....................is anyone else? Perhaps this is because this member of staff misunderstands herself what the point of the records are? If she is just filling them in hurriedly to show the parent then they are not being used usefully. Records we have should inform practice, they are there for us as practitioners so that we can best target activities to help the children develop at a good pace. Making them parent friendly and sharing them is in addition to this but not the primary reason for doing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catma Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 Perhaps this is because this member of staff misunderstands herself what the point of the records are? If she is just filling them in hurriedly to show the parent then they are not being used usefully. Records we have should inform practice, they are there for us as practitioners so that we can best target activities to help the children develop at a good pace. Making them parent friendly and sharing them is in addition to this but not the primary reason for doing it. smile.gif Was about to post same and then see Beau has said it!! I agree - the point of all this is so the practitioners working with the children have a very good idea of where they are so they can plan effectively and meet their needs. Getting parental input is a part of this but even if a parent completely ignored it, it would still be a very important part of our job! Cx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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