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Help! Again.....


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So earlier this week I posted a query (or last week it's all a bit of a blur to be honest)!

 

I am focusing on the Farm topic for inspection and I got some wonderful ideas for focused lessons primarily from this website but I wondered if I could pick anyone's brains for some thoughts/ideas.

 

I am using these activities for my teacher led activities but I am roughly one activity short for the days they are coming in.

  • Patterns (linked to fields)
  • Vegetable sorting box
  • Farmer Duck Storysack
  • Baking
  • Wool and Weaving

 

This means that I ideally need another teacher led activity my brain has reached shut down mode.

 

HELP!!!

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Thanks Sue, I like the idea of the Tractor with paint.

 

I have ordered a load of books from Amazon to collect when I come home for Christmas, still not enough but will help the cause.

 

I have got some of your ideas already in my plans but not as focused and in as much detail.

 

I'm going to attempt a link to a copy of the rough draft one of the girls completed for a focused activity today. I'd love some feedback if you have time!

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Ok just occurred to me before I look at the planning.....you are in Dubai.....presumably teaching in an international school? Have these children ever lived in the UK where they may have experienced a farm as I imagine farming in Dubai looks a little different from say here in Sussex where I am?

 

If there is a chance some of them have no concept of farming then before you start the actual topic spend some time introducing the idea of farms....story books, songs such as Old MacDonald had a farm, small world toys including farm animals (you can always just put them on green paper for grass and make barns from boxes etc)

 

If they are all ex-pat children who have knowledge then let me know and I will happily look at the planning :D

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You make a good point, we are International but with a wide range of nationalities. We have a local farm that we are going to visit and it has regular farm animals like cows, sheep, goats etc but we will also link to the local area by discussing camel famrming.

 

Today I managed to source farm animal toys. They named them all, I was rather surprised. The only animal we don't discuss is pigs.

 

Hope that helps!

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Well planning looks ok and for your first attempt well done. You may need to explain to the children that fields different colours as growing different things and that can be a really nice discussion about what grows in fields. What does the farmer grow for the animals to eat? Do the animals live outside all the time etc.

 

Having no knowledge of camel farming I can't begin to comment but your post did make me smile :D

 

As for the display once you have done the grid as you describe you could add animals to it a bit like this I found in the gallery

 

You said you are going on a visit to the farm so you could take pictures to help the children to work from when back in the setting.

 

Use your planning as a guide but in my humble opinion don't be afraid to let the children take the topic off on a tangent, child learn best when it is child initiated after all but it is good for them to have a starting point of course. We have to remember what we think is exciting may not be to them......I spent ages cutting bits out to put together to make little skeletons with movable parts and when I asked my little friend George if he would like to make one he just rolled his eyes and said 'I suppose that's another one of your silly ideas!!!'

 

Also make some notes at the end of the day/topic so you know what things worked really well and what didn't for future reference.

 

Good luck with it all, sounds like it is going to be fun :D

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I have to share with you about our Outdoor Learning Areas. The team went out today to plan the layout and it's pretty amazing.

 

The pirate ship has been turned around and will hopefully be painted in barn colours.

 

The shop is being tranformed into the farm shop and the checkout is a short walk away. The farmer's house is just next door. I think it is absolutely wonderful and now if we can all just live past inspection we'll be great.

 

We do base everything on child initiated learning however for inspection we have to be seen to provide detailed lesson plans which we have managed to compromise on by having the rest of the class on freeflow during this time. Last year we had to do chalk and talk with 3/4 year olds. As you can imagine it has been a tough year getting rid of all the bad habits and worksheets and trying to convince everyone that learning through play really works. Mostly with the parents!

 

Thanks again for your help. Very much appreciated.

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Just thought of a new question, when planning for an Ofsted for Nursery/Reception what do you do it like?

 

We have got a daily plan format but are attaching a focus plan for the teacher/adult led activities. How much detail do we go into?

 

With HMIE at home we would never dream of providing a lesson plan so I am more than a bit bamboozled.

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Hi

 

In terms of preparing for an Ofsted inspection this recent article gives you a good view of what the inspectors are looking fo so you can have a think about how your provision would fair if you were inspected.

 

The New Ofsted Inspection Framework

 

Your outdoor area sounds brilliant and I think your little ones are going to have a ball in the New Year.

 

As you can imagine it has been a tough year getting rid of all the bad habits and worksheets and trying to convince everyone that learning through play really works. Mostly with the parents!

You are not the first person to get parents to understand that children learn better when they are having fun xD I have found a few previous topics that have nice quotes/poems that you might like to print off and laminate and put up in the setting or add one to your newsletters to parents.

 

In one of the posts it explains how you could invite parents in and give them an activity to play with and afterwards explain all the learning that was covered during the time they played

Learning through play.

 

Inspiring Quotes

 

Messy Play

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Thanks again!

 

I am attaching a first draft of a daily plan that I have asked one of the other teachers to do.

 

The idea is that along with the daily plan there will be a lesson plan which details what the teacher is doing, what the activity is, differentiation and resources etc.

 

Again I would appreciate any one appraising this for me.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

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