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Scrapping Learning Stories?


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I walked into work this morning to be greeted by 2 members of staff who were over the moon because they had seen on "daybreak" and heard on the news that ofsted have said they will be stopping the requirements for any learning stories??????????? Now I would like to think that I know this isn't happening and I've read the new EYFS etc and can't see any mention of it. Did anyone see this programme and be able to shed some light at all please??

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mrs bat...there isn't a requirement for learning stories now...the eyfs says that we must track childrens progress from before they start, through the setting and summarise at the end. I think with the emphasis on parent partnership in the new model we will still need to provide for this....though i didn't see the news this morning so can't comment on that. But lets face it when the current framework came in it was dubbed the nappy curriculum and given a very hard time.

People just don't like change !

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hhmm This really needs clarifying doesn't it........ I wholeheartedly agree that paperwork should be at a minimum and our time should be spent with the children,, BUT if we need to be observing every day etc etc then for me a learning story is the "easiest" way of recording all that.......

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I really don't think we are all going to stop gathering observations etc as a record of progress. It's professional practice. For the EYFSP there will still be a need to gather evidence in whatever format. It's a question of balance and professional judgement. I don't think we are all going to start committing all observations to memory just to avoid any writing!!

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I agree with Catma, you will still need to show evidence and have some written form to 'inform' your transitions to school. It is also needed to show progress

 

which Ofsted will need but also that you need to show that staff are progressing with their children

 

I will not stop our lovely LJ (which are scrap books) the children, staff and parents really love them

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I agree with Catma, you will still need to show evidence and have some written form to 'inform' your transitions to school. It is also needed to show progress

 

which Ofsted will need but also that you need to show that staff are progressing with their children

 

I will not stop our lovely LJ (which are scrap books) the children, staff and parents really love them

 

Hear Hear! :1b

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My youngest child will be 20 this year, I have his Learning Journey from our nursery, I was the supervisor there then. It's not as in depth as they are now, but we have done some form of LJ for over 17 years, I don't see us giving them up now, they are treasured by the parents and children alike. I try not to prescribe too much to my staff how much they put in them, but ask them to do what they can cope with because a lot of the work is done at home and I can only afford to pay them for one hour per week.

Edited by Panders
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The ITV lunchtime news was very misleading as the newsbroke about the EYFS, the reporter was flicking through a learning journey as he was talking about the reduction of paperwork and saying how this was no longer necessary. I was sat shouting at the tv saying yes it is its good practice!!!!

 

The Early Years Pedagogues in Essex had a training day on the EYFS the day after it came out. Learning journeys featured highly in our discussions and we will be providing further training on them in the summer term for practitioners.

 

The govt have very much taken the tack that they trust the expertise of practitioners to make the correct decisions re good practice. Assesments still have to be made but how you do it to tick the boxes is up to you as long as you have confidence in it and can justify it.

 

Personally as a parent and pedagogue I love learning journeys and we have made them work for our setting. Good learning journeys tick all the boxes for the new eyfs from parental and childrens involvement, tracking each childs individual learning and development and understanding that children all develop at different rates. Learning journeys can mean a reduction in paperwork if they are done efficiently by being updated in the session with the child, observations being made on sticky labels which can be stuck straight in etc, In fact the only thing our practitioners do at home is linking any observations directly to development matters statements which is the one bit we will need to change in our setting as I want to adopt the new development matters to make it easier for our practitioners to relate to prime and specific areas in their planning.

 

Kx

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I agree with what everyone is saying about learning journeys. Did anyone else see the Daybreak programme? One of my learners was saying they had watched it and was a bit surprised to see a practitioner saying she welcomed the new EYFS because it meant she could actually play with the children rather than focus on paperwork. She was a bit concerned to know what this person had been doing and who had been playing with these children all this time? :ph34r:

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Very big generalisation I know, but the media so often talk or write such tosh about pre-school matters. Have learnt over the years to take very little notice of what reporters have to say on these such programmes.

 

 

is that not what i intimated in my first post panders!!! xD:D

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I don't think its a generalisation at all - we've been having a very similar conversation over on the EYP forum. I suggested that maybe the media should retain the services of an early years specialist for moments when they feel they need to comment but lack the knowledge... :P

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What is observation - I walk into many an EYFS room and am making observations from the time I do to the time I leave. I have no clip board or post it and my observations are usually out of really interesting conversations with children (that I write down for the teacher if I think it is really relevant e.g. evidence towards a scale point).

 

I don't like it when "observation" has been interpreted as a task - walking around with a clip board trying to gather everything in a random way at the expense of engagement or seeing a teachable moment. For example: watching a TA who was standing next to a group game on a climbing frame - nothing too amazing happening and she was writing down things that probably they already knew. If however she had put down the clipboard and joined in she may have discovered some real insights into the children's language or PSED etc which could have been recorded after the activity. I think this is what is meant by the new framework......just spending long periods of time "observing" (generally wandering around with post its is what I tend to see) with no meaningful interactions does waste children's precious time.

 

Of course we do need to use different observation techniques and a narrative observation would require some stepping back but only for a very short period of time, not hours on end.

 

We don't stop observing - if we look and hear children and really tune into what they are about we will make an observations about them. It's whether we choose to add it to the sum of our knowledge because it takes us forward in our understanding of their capabilities or whether we don't because we already know they can do that. It's the choice to write it down, photograph it, etc etc because we can't remember everything for upto 30+ children!! Learning journals, records of assessment etc will not disappear whatever the TV reporters say. Professionals in EYFS will not be tearing up the records and doing no paperwork, because they know that this is an important record for their work and how they share their knowledge with others who need to know. However I do think "observing" has become a daily industry in some settings and to focus more on what comes out of sustained shared thinking would create a better quality of recorded observation in my estimation!

 

PS I have also been moderating so am rather exercised about what people choose to write down at the moment!!

 

Cx

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