Planning - Individual Children Layout/format

[SazzJ]

Hi

 

Can anyone tell me how you please show planning for children's interets? Does each child have their own individual plans?

 

I am trying to make my planning easier but just feel it is always us selecting resources as very few of the children will acess them independantly.

 

Many thanks

[Guest]

Not sure if this is what your after? Every key person uses this format as a working document throughout the term to asses next steps, plan how these will be met and include parent/agency input!

Individual_Learning_Journey.docx

[Fredbear]

Hi SazzJ we select our core provision each week but will look at what has captured the children's interest, and on asking them what they would like out next week and noted on a sheet on our learning wall this then goes into our planning. Although we differentiate for all our children we may also have a particular child that may require significant support and additional resources may have to be sought.

Hope this helps.

[Guest]

Hi Bridger, we do that too! Obs of children's free flow, interests and requests are noted on the weekly planning so that resources are made available the following week! There are so many layers to the planning process, we know that we meet the individual needs of the children, demonstrating this to OFSTED is another matter!

[SazzJ]

Hi Bridger, we do that too! Obs of children's free flow, interests and requests are noted on the weekly planning so that resources are made available the following week! There are so many layers to the planning process, we know that we meet the individual needs of the children, demonstrating this to OFSTED is another matter!

 

This is exactly why I am struggling and at the moment can't see the light at the end of the tunnel so stressed out with planning, observations and assessments and I know I should be

[SazzJ]

Not sure if this is what your after? Every key person uses this format as a working document throughout the term to asses next steps, plan how these will be met and include parent/agency input!

 

Thank you - love the layout of it

 

quick question - Do you use the children's interest to plan activities for each area or do you just use the developmet matters they are at and need to build upon if that makes sense?

[Guest]

Hiya,

 

we try to combine the two, so if Harry has a particular interest in trains and his profile suggests he needs to develop calculating skills, the key person would use trains as a basis for these activities....

[SazzJ]

Thanks moo20

 

Honesty want to sit here and cry because really struggling to get my head around it all

[finleysmaid]

sazz can you go and visit some other settings..i often find when i see things in practise it helps to focus my brain cell(yes...just the one!)

[SazzJ]

sazz can you go and visit some other settings..i often find when i see things in practise it helps to focus my brain cell(yes...just the one!)

 

Think I will but need to neogiate time out of the setting with committee. I honestly can't see a way forward and the whole planning/assessment process has me in tears. Only confident about observatiosn

[Guest]

Think I will but need to neogiate time out of the setting with committee. I honestly can't see a way forward and the whole planning/assessment process has me in tears. Only confident about observatiosn

 

You poor thing, I don't think there is an easy answer to finding a planning system that fits, I'm happy with ours at the moment but it's under constant review and I'm always tweaking it (even though my deputy should be doing it).

 

Does your LA offer any support? Along with the individual learning journey we have a weekly planning (inside and out) that shows the learning bays or areas and what resources we are providing, weekly review sheet which evaluates and adds in obs and interests of children to inform following weeks plan, 1/2 termly curriculum plan for adult led, letters and sounds and backdrop to learning!!!! It's madness really, and tricky to combine it all as much as possible so it works together and is not disjointed. Oh, and have just started to use pics at the end of each week to demonstrate how each of the 6 areas of learning have been met inside and out!!!

[SazzJ]

You poor thing, I don't think there is an easy answer to finding a planning system that fits, I'm happy with ours at the moment but it's under constant review and I'm always tweaking it (even though my deputy should be doing it).

 

Does your LA offer any support? Along with the individual learning journey we have a weekly planning (inside and out) that shows the learning bays or areas and what resources we are providing, weekly review sheet which evaluates and adds in obs and interests of children to inform following weeks plan, 1/2 termly curriculum plan for adult led, letters and sounds and backdrop to learning!!!! It's madness really, and tricky to combine it all as much as possible so it works together and is not disjointed. Oh, and have just started to use pics at the end of each week to demonstrate how each of the 6 areas of learning have been met inside and out!!!

 

 

My QT is long term sick. They have just introduced a tracker - been for the training tonigh. Now have to imput 26 child records into their tracker but not sure how or when i'll do it.

 

I do have continour provisions in place but that is all. Now trying to focus on long term planning and medium. But do you break the development matters down into chunks for each term? Or do i just plan activities and use the obs to track where they are at. I graduated at a very difficult time as still in birth to three and foundatio stage but EYFS was being developed. Setting i initially worked in did no planning at all never mind obs so never really got the experience of it all. Currently doing module training and trying to keep paper work to a min but it just seems to mount up and up. ARRRHHHHHHHGGGGGGGG

[finleysmaid]

if its any help i can try and explain mine...!

i split mine (for the sake of the staffs sanity) when i first put it in place and thought of it in terms of formative and summative assessment.

the summative assessment for us is a booklet of development matters(very similar to tackers type) these are than supplemented with initial info from parents/obs from staff/photos /products etc to produce a sort of learning journey.It is not a tick list but each statement has info on why we think the child has achieved it (we also have profile points in this as i have some reception age children with me)

the formative assessment is what i base my planning on. so each fortnight (we have 41 children in total some who come 5 hours up to 15...so needs to be flexible)we do a next steps sheet for each child (needs can do's responses and interests) i then do a summary sheet and start to plan some ideas and activities and plot them on the daily sheets with suggested children...so if amy is interested in cutting then a cutting activity will be out or if oscar wants to play with dinosaurs then that will be planned for...sometimes these can be combined to do dinosaur cutting!(bad example but....!) this planning is done daily and is VERY flexible nothing is written in stone...i would try to attach examples but im not sure my it skills are up to it...wheres a 3 year old when you need one

[Fredbear]

Hi SazzJ i was absolutely petrified when i first took over our group and it felt a massive mountain to climb, however it will all slot in to place eventually and you cannot be expected to do it all on your own or straight away.

Going to other settings gives you ideas, reinforces understanding and can be really useful.

Are you part of PSLA as you should have a Development Adviser to support the setting and work with committees. You should also have a Foundation Stage adviser who can certainly help with planning, obs etc.

In our area we also have Cluster meetings and Community Learning hubs where all practitioners in nursery, pre-schools and schools meet to share.

Try not to get upset hun one step at a time.xx

[Guest]

Ok, am just going to remove identifiable bits from what we use to plan adult led within the curriculum, and what we use to track individual children's progress.....

[SazzJ]

if its any help i can try and explain mine...!

i split mine (for the sake of the staffs sanity) when i first put it in place and thought of it in terms of formative and summative assessment.

the summative assessment for us is a booklet of development matters(very similar to tackers type) these are than supplemented with initial info from parents/obs from staff/photos /products etc to produce a sort of learning journey.It is not a tick list but each statement has info on why we think the child has achieved it (we also have profile points in this as i have some reception age children with me)

the formative assessment is what i base my planning on. so each fortnight (we have 41 children in total some who come 5 hours up to 15...so needs to be flexible)we do a next steps sheet for each child (needs can do's responses and interests) i then do a summary sheet and start to plan some ideas and activities and plot them on the daily sheets with suggested children...so if amy is interested in cutting then a cutting activity will be out or if oscar wants to play with dinosaurs then that will be planned for...sometimes these can be combined to do dinosaur cutting!(bad example but....!) this planning is done daily and is VERY flexible nothing is written in stone...i would try to attach examples but im not sure my it skills are up to it...wheres a 3 year old when you need one

 

Thank you - that makes sense to me and while i'll get the dinosaurs out for Oliver I never always put it on my planning but will know.

It's trying to get next steps of key workers - think a meeting is needed.

 

Hi SazzJ i was absolutely petrified when i first took over our group and it felt a massive mountain to climb, however it will all slot in to place eventually and you cannot be expected to do it all on your own or straight away.

Going to other settings gives you ideas, reinforces understanding and can be really useful.

Are you part of PSLA as you should have a Development Adviser to support the setting and work with committees. You should also have a Foundation Stage adviser who can certainly help with planning, obs etc.

In our area we also have Cluster meetings and Community Learning hubs where all practitioners in nursery, pre-schools and schools meet to share.

Try not to get upset hun one step at a time.xx

 

We do and while they have been fab none have really said your doing it right or wrong.

 

I think my biggest concern is the assessment as I know it falls onto me to put it onto the system

 

Can I just go off gut instinct or do I need evidence say 7 times to say that can confidently do that Dev matters?

[Guest]

Here's our adult-led plan for this half term, the adults choose an area a week and base the activity around their key groups interests, the plan can then be picked up throughout the week by others. Have attached the adult led planning sheet too, let me know if you want to look at anything else and good luck!

Activity.docx

Adult_led_Activities.docx

[Guest]

Can I just go off gut instinct or do I need evidence say 7 times to say that can confidently do that Dev matters?

 

It depends on the statement! You can go with professional judgement on some if you feel confident, others 1, 2 or 3! Not very helpfull I know, just don't worry, maybe write up an action plan to show that you are tackling this one step at a time. I know you want to get it all pinned down but it will freak your team out if you chuck too much at them at once

[SazzJ]

Here's our adult-led plan for this half term, the adults choose an area a week and base the activity around their key groups interests, the plan can then be picked up throughout the week by others. Have attached the adult led planning sheet too, let me know if you want to look at anything else and good luck!

 

Thank you. So you just gradually work your way through the each of the 6 areas pulling a strand out of each one?

 

 

I think I am struggling more because i have 2 to 4 1/2 year olds - two rooms and not much space. Realised need to try and plan for across the age ranges and include more sensory and heuristic play

[SazzJ]

It depends on the statement! You can go with professional judgement on some if you feel confident, others 1, 2 or 3! Not very helpfull I know, just don't worry, maybe write up an action plan to show that you are tackling this one step at a time. I know you want to get it all pinned down but it will freak your team out if you chuck too much at them at once

 

This I plan to do lol. Trying to get more ideas out the team so going in on monday with a new tactic lol

[Guest]

They might have some good ideas too, if they feel like they've had some input they'll be more likely to take it on, well, that's what the management books tell me!!!!

[Guest]

Hi SazzJ I know where you're coming from and planning is a complete minefield!-We've just completely changed our planning this term from formally recording individual interests on a mountain of paperwork that was proving too much for our setting so now we have two sheets up of 'enhanced provision', one for the current week and one for the following week. Then day to day we record what we have observed the children enjoy and then record future planning based on this interest (the next session they attend which could be a week later or the next day). For example, alot of our children (boys) have loved the trucks in the tuff spot so we have endeavoured to have different resources out each day (soil, porridge oats, rice, sand etc)

Our plannign now allows us to be responsive (or I should say, record how responsive we are-not that we weren't before!) on a daily basis and ensure that we can record when we do something totally spontaneous with the children like the other day when we baked a cake for a staff's birthday.

We also plan activities/resources linked to a 'theme' (if there is one for the week) once a week on a Friday based on the interests over the week.

This may not seem to identify every single child's interests formally for Learning Journeys but so far this more flexible approach to planning is having a hugely positive effect on both the children and staff- the children seem more engaged and staff far less stressed with paperwork. Our CCAT stressed to us when helping us devise this method of planning that whatever you do for one specific child will always benefit several more children who access the resource/experience.

We haven't updated LJ yet this term so the impact on that remains to be seen but we are more conscious of recording incidental and focused obs.

We have another planning sheet that is completed at planning session on a Friday that has a focussed adult-initiated activity which could range from role play set up to tuff spot to a physical game to art activity (anything in other words haha). One is offered per session and is linked to a suitable Development Matters, and we keep a record of which DM are used when to allow us to identify any areas we need to focus a little more on

I hope this all makes sense, have uploaded the rolling planning sheet which was based on LA 'continuous provision' but adapted to reflect our areas

No idea if our new way of working will float O's boat but so far so good and the most important thing is that the children are benefitting and from what we have observed, our new method is definately supporting their learning and interests better as we are responding straight away whilst they are still interested

WEEKLY_PLAN.docx

[Fredbear]

What assessment tool do you use SazzJ.

[SazzJ]

I hope this all makes sense, have uploaded the rolling planning sheet which was based on LA 'continuous provision' but adapted to reflect our areas

Do you use this an overview?

 

I currently have the areas of continous provision down the right hand side and the days of the week along the top. As well as writing in what resources need to be added i also use it to note down what children have acessed that area. I just don't feel it is child initiated as much as it could be.

 

Right plan of action.

 

I won't plan anything for next week - will go in a set up as normal. Once children start entering I will note down their interests and then use these to plan tuesdays activities.

 

My hardest task is ensuring that the planning is filled in when I am not there, which does help

[SazzJ]

What assessment tool do you use SazzJ.

 

None!!! That is why i am panicing

 

LEA have just introduced there own but it electronic which is no good to me when in the setting as we have no laptop etc. There currently devising a paper copy but not sure when it will be available. I have focused so much on the statutory framework requirements to get the setting up to standards that in all honestly I have neglected the assessment which is one of the main parts.

 

I keep stumbling across the EYFS profiles but am yet to get my head around them. Most join me at 2 years so need something to work through from 2 to 4 1/2 years but also aware that some children are working at lower age bands especially SEN children.

[Cait]

I think you are making it more difficult than it needs to be. Start at the beginning with what you know about the child already from just watching them at play and from comments from home. Make a list "Things James likes and is interested in" and then below that, another list "Things James needs" (which may be something like - to get his hands messy, or opportunities for mark making) Then pull the two lists together in another list "How this informs my planning for James" and list all the activities you can think of to help him achieve the goals you have set. Make mini observations of the activities and how he reacts to them and any further steps that could be used to enhance the learning - and that's planning for that individual child - in it's basic form

[Guest]

In that case I think our planning must be similar to yours but perhaps you do need to do your suggested plan and not plan as much and see how it goes- record what they are really engaging with and ask them what they would like to do as a way of ensuring it is coming from the children, fingers crossed for you, I'm sure you will get there. It seems scary to not plan as much as we're so used to planning and recording everything nowadays but sometimes you need to let go a little- unless you have a go at being more flexible you will never know if it is the right thing to do. If it isn't for you then thats ok as you're still demonstrating you're able to adapt your practice and reflect on if it works or not.

Fingers crossed for Monday, be brave!

moreover, if the children are engaged, motivated and enjoying what they are doing you must be doing something right!

[Guest]

our planning is done for the individual child, key people do long obs at the beg. of each term (6terms per year)

we plot and plan for the individual child and work on their own interests

 

so if a child has an interest in the sand, building, role play creativity, fire man, superheros - then there next steps whether it be in kuw, psrn or psed will be planned around that interest and this is done for each child. We do now big planned activities for group key children.

 

Children choose what resources they want out the following week from a box of photographs , they also know that they can ask for something out of the cupboard. Resources and toys can be moved in and around and out of the setting as the children extend their play.

 

We have no set themes but work on what where current interests lie. So we could have 1 or 2 themes going. We do cover special celebrations and we do cover the seasons.

So this week we have done chinese new year but also another child has been looking at volcanos because that is what floats his boat! and gets him interested.

 

 

long obs and incidental obs are put into learning journals with photos.

 

parents sign these long obs and have a space to write their comment and have an input into their childs learning as does the child.

 

we also collect data sheets so i knoe cellectively where all the children are on their development matters and plot their progress over the year

Edited February 3, 2011 by Suer

[Devondaisy]

I know exactly how you feel, and I sympathise. I think it's just a case of trying something and seeing if it works, then tweaking until it feels right and is not too onerous, paperwork wise! My early years advisor visited, but she was quite woolly too. I wanted her to say: "Yes, you're doing it right" or "No, you should be doing this", but she wouldn't commit. It's very frustrating.

 

Anyway, what I do at the moment is much like evryone else, I have a continuous provision sheet to which I add enhancements. I usually only plan for Monday and leave the rest blank to fill in as the week progresses, unless I have something planned for a child who only comes in on Friday for example. It looks a bit of a mess by the time it is finished, but I don't worry about that! This goes on the wall along with a blank sheet which has "Children's interests/significant child-initiated play" at the top. Everyone scribbles on this any requests from children, or any play which has been of particular interest, which I can then take forward to the next week to start my planning off. The limitation I am finding to this is that some children are very 'busy' and are noticed more, so their names often appear on this sheet, but others rarely so, despite the fact that they have obviously been doing something! I'm now thinking that a sheet with names on, so that something is written for each child each week, might be better.

 

(I should mention that we also do obs which go in to the child's learning journey, and we now have a summary form which we fill in for each area of learning, which details the child's interests in each area, and what we are planning to provide or do to further the child'slearning and development. We have only just started these but they are really helpful to focuss the mind on the individual child. We plan to do these twice a year. We then have an informal meeting with the parents who take this home along with the folder, and add any comments/photos/ideas etc and bring it back - hopefuly!)

 

I hope all that makes some sense. Try not to worry too much!

[Guest]

Morning all.

 

I was reading the thread with interest but when I tried to open the documents I can't!!!!!

 

Anyone tell me how to please?

The box comes up and asks me about decoding but I can't make the documents readable!!

 

Help