Guest Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 We have currently been looking at our planning format and routine and the more i look the more confused I get. At the moment we have fortnightly planning which includes the 7 areas, in each area we plan a skill we would like to cover, possible activities and differentiation and then we ideally evaluate anything which has taken place (although we struggle to look at and use this even if we have filled the boxes in. We then have group time planning - at the moment we split the older and younger children and have a specific focus each week e.g. letter sounds, countiung etc and we do this for 10-15 mins daily. As of September each key person plans next steps for their own children and we then use an individual planning sheet to put on the next step, the child's current interests and how we are going to achieve them - these are displayed on the wall for all staff to see. We try to adapt these skills onto the fortnightly planning but its easier in week 1 than week 2 as the keypeople havnt had the parent meeting yet to plan the next steps for children in week 2 but at present we have fortnightly staff meetings where we plan as a team hence the fortnightly basis.(that may not make sense) Anyway our current routine is that we do freeflow most of the day and freeflow snack and then have group time just before lunch - our planned activities tend to happen as and when throughout the fortnight but this doesnt always work. we are a private day nursery and have different children in everyday doing a variety of sessions. do other day nurseries have specific adult led activities during their freeflow each day and if so how do you staff these. Ideally we should be meeting children's individual needs throughout the day but also having adult led experiences. the practitioners do a really good job of interacting with children throughout the day but we dont necessarily have set activities out which have been planned for each day! is this right or wrong? the children have access to everything throughout the day. I know there are lots of examples of planning on here but moist seem to be from school nurseries or nurseries who have the same children in/set sessions each day, whereas our children do different days and different sessions e.g 8-6, 9-3, 8-1 and 1-6. sorry for any repetition. many thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Hi Pinkcottage and welcome. Never be sorry. We all need help and clarification at times and that is the marvellous thing about this forum, there is always someone who can help as they will be experiencing/ have experienced the same as you. However, as I was in school, you will have to wait for someone else's words of wisdom. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoolahoney Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Hi, I am same as you, a sessional setting with different children on different days/sessions. We plan a rough plan weekly of what we will have out each day/session to meet children's needs, this is flexible and open to change. We then have a focus activity each session that is planned at the weekly meeting that has been specifically designed by a keyworker for a child or group of children in that session though it is open to all children to participate e.g a listening activity game. We have a rota for who is to lead this each day so there is no confusion and take obs on the children participating in case the keyperson is not present. We find that our planning sheets change by child interests over the week and a planned listening game may develop into a woodland walk the next session for example and then you end up igniting other interests for the next planning meeting. Our planning is often covered in scribbled out ideas and new ones. Best thing is to be flexible and not precious about paperwork and find a way that suits your setting/children. Hope that helps, just shout if you want more info and I'll do my best to help 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 That's great thanks! I think our biggest challenge is the updating and changing! Do you scribble throughout the day or at the end- finding a time when all the room staff are together is really tricky when everyone does different shifts etc! We find we plan at the beginning of the week and set of with good intentions and then the children change things which is great but we forget to/dont find time to change it on the sheets etc! I know the children are happy and sociable and learning which I'd love to be enough- we do development checks every 11 weeks on each child so can tell if they are behind etc so its just the formaility of making sure activities are always taking place and recording these etc! :~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 3, 2013 Share Posted January 3, 2013 I am stuck too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 If we come up with anything I will let you know 'areyouhappy' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 Your setting sounds very similar to mine and I too am wanting to change our planning. We base our plans around the individual child and next steps but I can not find a way to document this that works. If anyone would care to share any planning formats I would be very grateful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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