redjayne Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 I too would be interested to see the journey you took - and some pointers Nicky ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickynooblue Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 thank you for your faith in me!!!! I don't know how insightful I can be but I will share my journey..... please bear in mind though I did have a lovely inspector who listened to everything I said. They are a rare breed!! and this has worked for me but may not work for everyone. I joined my school in May 2008 as maternity cover initially, we went to moderation in the July and was graded as unsatisfactory as the evidence we had was rubbish ( I should add I have never taught reception until this point so was unable to fight my corner like I can now!!!) Ofsted turned up a few months later and we had improved but clearly had a long way to go! Lots of things needed to change so I started from the top, meaning my head, who like so many is KS2 trained and think Year R play all day. We got him on courses and out visiting other Year R classes; we got him to value the importance of the foundation stage and that then was reflected in my budget! We then worked on the rest of the staff and eventually they began to change their views on what life was like in Year R. I then involved my Early Years governor and made her challenge everything I did. I work in a small village school and was really lost, fortunately she is an ex head and had lots of experience of Early Years. Further down the line now both her and my head challenge my data every six weeks - don't get me wrong I don't like it but one of the reasons my results improved over time was down to my accountability for the learning of these children. Next step was the parents.... I needed to work with them so that they could help me complete their childs learning journals and that they were totally on board with what was going on in class. We started with stay and play sessions, and then we invited them in for one session and asked them to identify the goals they seen their children working towards.... we emphasized the importance that seeing it once didn't mean they had achieved it and then we handed out 'wow wow' stickers (plain, white stickers) and explained that every time they experience their child working towards one of their goals they could record it and stick it on their jumpers. At least two children a day have a sticker to share and we put that into their journal. Then we decided we wanted the parents to be involved in the planning of their childrens learning so every term we bring them in and they plan the next six weeks work in groups with their children. This means that they think of ideas that I cant and they offer amazing things like; 'its easter next week and I know someone who owns a chocolate factory'... so off we went! These plans are displayed and form my medium term plans - they cover all of the interests of the children and yes they change as interests do but we go with the flow. The parents also come on all of our trips, and they have chosen to be so much more involved. One parent built bird boxes, another built us a 12 foot totem pole, one taught the children netball and one dressed up as Batman in a cave!!! When I first took over the class, I was all too aware that they were bored, so we began to look at ways in involve them in their learning, so every week we would have a board meeting, there were drinks and biscuits and we all sat around a giant table and talked about what we want to do next week. We would bring the 'parents' plans and remind them what they had said and they would fire ideas at me. We have evolved this and we changed the planning a lot. We still hold the board meeting but we have mini meetings before home time to see what else they want to add for the following day. i gave up writing plans at the weekend and really began, with my TA to focus on the need of the child, not the next step. So after the daily mini meetings my TA and I sit for 10 minutes and discuss their interests, what we have observed and what their need is. We then gather the resources and set up for the following day. We also looked so carefully at the ways in which they wanted to learn... so for example they showed an interest in frogs so we got frogspawn and they started noticing the changes... perfect for the life cycle of a frog but three years ago I would have sat at the front of the class told them what the life cycle was and then got a plate and made them draw and label four pictures of the life cycle. Now we leave out equipment according to their need; we had playdough out where they molded the life cycle, the computer, stones to paint, lilly pads to number, of course the paper plates, but puppets too and most importantly non fiction books. I no longer stay at the front of the class for more than five minutes during teacher directed learning... the learning has to come from them and in this case they were responsible for finding out about the frog life cycle by using the non fiction books and the computer. We then get to teach a majority of the individuals in the class; by visiting them at their individual chosen activity therefore, able to assess their needs even more. Next was to moderate with other colleagues; coming from a small village school meant i was working alone and still not sure I was getting it right so I organised for colleagues to meet at regular intervals off site for 4 days of the school year. Sounds easier than it actually was but my head managed to talk to others and they agreed reluctantly!!!! I also asked my governor to moderate me and question me... Some children initially didnt make much progress but because we were so focused on their needs they soon began to make rapid progress and now she understands the lack of progress in the earlier part of the year. I also visited other year R teachers, and got them to observe me because to get outstanding most of your lessons need to be outstanding so I needed lots of constructive feedback. I changed the process for transition, the focus of child initiated and developed my outside area. It has been a long journey but worth it. I am sure there are other things for me to mention but I am also sure many of you are doing these things already, I am very lucky to have a supportive head and governor and that all helped. I am sure all of this has been of no help to you all!!! but feel free to correct the way I am doing it because I still constantly think I'm doing it wrong but it works for us. Nicky 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 All I can say Nicky is..., WOW! Your FS sounds amazing I have just started as an FS lead 6 weeks ago and can only hope mine sounds as fab as yours does in 12 months time Our main development point is parental engagement and I can only dream of having the parental input you do at the moment but your post gives me hope I one day will! Thankyou so much for sharing x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 Fantastic! Thanks so much for taking the time to share all that rich, rich stuff. Who needs 'The Reception Year in Action' book?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 Me too! Our school was satisfactory last inspection and expecting the phone call any time now! Would love to know how you got to satisfactory to outstanding. Worrying that they weren't intersted in child intiated though! All depends on the inspectors I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 Sorry - obviously didin't scroll down far enough! Great stuff, thanks for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 wow!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 Well done Nicky and thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Thanks for sharing your story. Sounds amazing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidishubrook Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 You've really inspired me this evening! Thank you so much x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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