Guest Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 Dear all! We will be inspected on Monday, and we were told that one of the inspectors will be focusing on the foundation stage, which is made up of a nursery and a reception class. Does anyone know which areas the inspector will be focusing on? Our topic this half term is transport and I am supposed to be teaching measure in mathematical development (heavier and lighter) any practical ideas on this matter will save my life!!!! Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hali Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 good luck, hope it goes well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 This is going to sound very cynical, but we had OFSTED last month, & they spent a grand total of 15 minutes in my nursery class; the resulting report made no reference to nursery or reception or FS at all - it was all 'nursery to year 2' (we're an infant school). Admittedly, the focus was not on the FS, but we got the distinct impression their minds were made up before they came &, within reason, nothing we did was going to change that. The whole school was very down following our inspection, as we only got 'satisfactory', which we feel is largely down to the fact that the inspectors did not take in to consideration that our school is in a very deprived area where children come in with lower than average abilities; so whilst they were making good progress, considering their backgrounds, nationally they were only seen to be making 'satisfactory' progress. As you can probably tell, I'm still a little bitter about this! As far as your inspection goes, their focus should be almost pre-determined, based on previous inspections, & on their pre-inspection report, which should've been made available to you. (I'm assuming you're part of a school, as this is the only experience I have - if it's anything else, then I really don't know how the system works.) I can't even offer any words of wisdom as to what they thought was good or bad in the FS as nothing specific was mentioned. Sorry this probably hasn't been much use at all! All the best with it. Hope it goes well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 13, 2005 Share Posted November 13, 2005 Hi Zouzou Do hope Ofsted goes well on Monday - wish you all the best. From the little bit I know about the new Ofsted arrangements Chocolate girl is right when she says that they will have effectively made up their minds before they come in. Ofsted will have read your school's Self Evaluation Form (SEF) and your management team should have shared this with all staff - there is a section on the FS. Apart from that all FS staff should know what the areas for development are in the FS in your school i.e. what is on the school development plan? What are the changes/developments for the FS that you have shared with the SMT or they have shared with you? And in case they do appear in your room (this might not happen at all) just show them what a good FS practitioner you are and don't panic. If you are doing whole class teaching - go for the visual, auditory and kinaesthetic by making it as practical as you can (you know about this anyway). It is very early in the morning so all I can come up with is something on the lines of putting toy vehicles in balance scales to see which is heavier and which is lighter and asking the children to find something in the room that is heavier (or lighter) than the car you are holding. Have several sets of balances round the room for them to go and check. Do hope it goes well - let us know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 13, 2005 Share Posted November 13, 2005 Good Luck with OFSTED! How about weighing with conkers! We did it last week and the children really enjoyed it, lots of language and prediction skills. A couple of years ago i got 5/6 boxes i filled them with different quantities of dried peas, i made sure that the size of the box was not a clue e.g. a very small box was heavy, the children really enjoyed guessing which box was the heaviest/lightest and ordering the boxes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 13, 2005 Share Posted November 13, 2005 Dear all! We will be inspected on Monday, and we were told that one of the inspectors will be focusing on the foundation stage, which is made up of a nursery and a reception class. Does anyone know which areas the inspector will be focusing on? Our topic this half term is transport and I am supposed to be teaching measure in mathematical development (heavier and lighter) any practical ideas on this matter will save my life!!!! Thanks 42873[/snapback] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfer Posted November 13, 2005 Share Posted November 13, 2005 Good luck for tomorrow! I know that some people who have had ofsted recently said that they looked at arrangements for transition from fs to ks1 closely. All the advice above seems good. Also showing that you have a system for knowing where your childdren are now and that your planning (in any form) is adapted to the children's changing needs. All things you know already I am sure! Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magenta Posted November 13, 2005 Share Posted November 13, 2005 We're in a very deptived area too - 2/3 of the schools in our borough have had a 'notice to improve' - basically if standards are low or are not as high as they should be you'll get a notice - epxecting to get one next term!! (A notice that is!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 13, 2005 Share Posted November 13, 2005 hi there how about linking it with cooking - measuring different amounts, even weighing ingredients just for the sake of it .... salt, tea leaves, sugar, etc. the very best of luck for tomorrow. just keep on smiling throughout if the inspectors are in. easy to say I know but this time next week, it'll all be over. We're all with you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie A. Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 (edited) I find that Nursery children find the term "lighter / lightest" very difficult as they mix the term with light / dark. So I always do lots of work with modelling the language. I often use fruit and vegetables for them to weigh in the balance scales. We do lots of "the banana is heavier than the apple", "the onion is lighter than the potato" and then move on to finding the heaviest and lightest of maybe three of the objects. This becomes a real problem-solving task for some as of course there are only two buckets or dishes on the balance scales, but it's amazing how they find ways to come up the solution. I'm not sure how to link it in with your transport topic unless they were to weigh with toy cars, lorries, vehicles, etc. P.S. I realise that this post may be too late for you now. Good luck with the OFSTED. Edited November 14, 2005 by Jackie A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 Hope your inspection went well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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