Guest Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 HI all, I'm new to this site but following guidance from Norfolk County Council have signed up and can i say 'wow' and thankyou for allowing me to be part of it. We have sorted out a new style observation sheet and next steps planner, however we are struggling with what format to use for the starting point observation. If anyone has a template that they are going to be using that they would be happy to share i would be v grateful.. Many Thanks Sara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cait Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Good morning to you! Welcome. Firstly I would think a little about why you are doing an observation. What are you recording and why? Are you just observing for the sake of having something on paper for a particular child, or iss there some learning going on that you feel you want to record? We generally start with a timed observation. So we see what a child is doing at, say, ten o'clock and just jot down where he is, what he's doing, whether he is solo, whether he is verbal or non verbal. Then about five minutes later we do it again, and carry on for about half an hour. This gives us an idea of interests, attention span, sociability and speech. Then we just go from there. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouseketeer Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 hi Sara, and welcome to the forum, I'm sure you'll find lots of useful formats, ideas and information on the forum (I know I have) we tend to use tracker sheets (spider diagrams) during first week or two just to show us what the child enjoys/chooses to do, if they gravitate towards particular adult or children, even though we do allocate key workers before our joining visits so that parents can meet kw's we have been known to change them if a child constantly looks to a different adult for support, my sheets are a plan of our settings areas so wouldn't be much use to anyone else but I'm sure someone will have something they will be able share, would also be interested in these Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zigzag Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Hi and welcome to the forum and yes it is 'wow'!! We use a very basic one at my setting that is part of our admission forms that the parents fill in. It then forms the very first page of the childs learning journey. My copy is at school but if you still need ideas I will get it for you when I go in next week. Basically it is a clip art picture of a child with lost of speech bubbles around them, asking questions such as, Pets names, siblings/friends names, favourite toys, book, food, what they enjoy playing outside etc. This just gives us a very basic starting point. We then just continue with our normal spontaneous observations throughout the morning. I am sure someone else will be along soon and probably have a more impressive way of doing this but at the moment this works for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 we use a plods form! (PLOD - possible lines of development) Just a box for each area of learning and we note anything about the child and his interests abilities etc in this during the first few weeks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Hi and welcome. I can't help with your question but this is addictive! You have been warned. :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnyday Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Hi and a very warm welcome from me too! :1b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Thanks lots of food for thought.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiles Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 we use a plods form! (PLOD - possible lines of development) Just a box for each area of learning and we note anything about the child and his interests abilities etc in this during the first few weeks I like this idea for recording the first few weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buttercup Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 do you have an example please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts