Guest Posted August 6, 2015 Posted August 6, 2015 Dear Early Years Practitioners, There is currently a petition on www.change.org called "Fairer funding for Early Years, fairer services for children" which gets signatures surprisingly slowly. I checked it yesterday and it had only 666 signatures so far. It will be sent off as evidence to the DfE by next week, so we have only a few days to go to boost the number of signatures. Would you all be so kind to sign it, if you have not done so, and if you have a Facebook page, a Twitter page or a member of any other social media groups, please ask your followers to sign it. Remember that the petition can be signed by anyone, not only by EY practitioners. https://www.change.org/p/sam-gyimah-mp-nicky-morgan-mp-priti-patel-mp-rt-hon-david-cameron-mp-fairer-funding-for-early-years-fairer-services-for-children
Guest Posted August 6, 2015 Posted August 6, 2015 Data taken from the Early Years DSG Guaranteed Units of Funding (2015-16), a version of which containing a full breakdown of the funding provided to all local authorities is available http://www.mbktraining.co.uk/dsg-gur-data/ If you know your PVI figure from your authority please email it to to tricia@mbktraining.co.uk Thanks!
sunnyday Posted August 6, 2015 Posted August 6, 2015 Data taken from the Early Years DSG Guaranteed Units of Funding (2015-16), a version of which containing a full breakdown of the funding provided to all local authorities is available http://www.mbktraining.co.uk/dsg-gur-data/ If you know your PVI figure from your authority please email it to to tricia@mbktraining.co.uk Thanks! ooooh - thanks for this info - so Kent are getting £4.53 and paying us £3.91 :angry:
Guest Posted August 6, 2015 Posted August 6, 2015 ooooh - thanks for this info - so Kent are getting £4.53 and paying us £3.91 :angry: lol I am not sure if LA are getting money for both 2y.o. and 3&4y.o. funding or this info related just 3&4. If they get for both schemes then it is understandable as they pay £4.85 for 2 year olds. However, if this figure is indeed related only to 3&4y.o. funding then it is raising a concern.
sunnyday Posted August 6, 2015 Posted August 6, 2015 lol I am not sure if LA are getting money for both 2y.o. and 3&4y.o. funding or this info related just 3&4. If they get for both schemes then it is understandable as they pay £4.85 for 2 year olds. However, if this figure is indeed related only to 3&4y.o. funding then it is raising a concern. Ah right - yes good point - I might have to stop seething then! :1b Because I don't/won't get involved with the 'free for twos' I tend to forget about that.......
Guest Posted August 6, 2015 Posted August 6, 2015 (edited) I do not want to create another thread to alert the members of this forum about other petitions currently circulating to sign, so will add them here. Stop the needless paperwork for Early Years teachers (click) Department for Education: Please address the inequality between Early Years Teachers (EYPs or EYTs) and teachers with QTS (click) Please take a moment and sign them too! Edited August 6, 2015 by Oksana1975
Helen Posted August 6, 2015 Posted August 6, 2015 The second petition is closed now, Oksana. The first one is interesting though. With the specific references in the EYFS for reduced paperwork, and Ofsted not being able to demand certain things written down (eg planning) - are people still finding that too much documentation is required? From whom? 2
sunnyday Posted August 6, 2015 Posted August 6, 2015 (edited) Helen - we were inspected in March - Ofsted are still very much looking for planning etc Edit to say.......that was fine for me - I plan daily and evaluate daily - this is just a habit that I got into years back and as I only work mornings I don't find it too much of a 'stretch' and consider it useful for myself..... Edited August 6, 2015 by sunnyday 2
Mouseketeer Posted August 6, 2015 Posted August 6, 2015 Yes Helen...was ofsteded under new framework and a lot of time was spent on wanting to know how we planned, evaluated, tracked...scrutinising paperwork and telling me it could be 'more comprehensive' ..and there was me thinking we needed to scale back :huh: Our county also expects it and advisers check it quite thoroughly on the rare occasions we see one, and also expect us to forward Development Matters statement sheets with achieved 'ticked' off as part of the transition paperwork to school, this increased our workload as we weren't doing this already. 2
Helen Posted August 7, 2015 Posted August 7, 2015 Aaaaagh! I hate to hear that. How can we follow best practice ie not using those statements as the 'be all and end all' of assessment when there are LA advisors insisting on it? 4
sunnyday Posted August 7, 2015 Posted August 7, 2015 Aaaaagh! I hate to hear that. How can we follow best practice ie not using those statements as the 'be all and end all' of assessment when there are LA advisors insisting on it? Don't forget Ofsted too! 2
Rafa Posted August 7, 2015 Posted August 7, 2015 Unfortunately, yes, early years has been flooded with so much paperwork, initiatives and best practice ideas that no-one, not great practititoners, or advisors alike, really know what is expected of them. I have read on here practitioners who have received an Oustanding grade but are still doubting 'they've got the planning right'! Really? Please dont't tell me its all about continual development........ I have met Advisors who 'suggest' all manner of ways of - going around in circles, ticking boxes, adding more next steps etc etc - much to our frustration - but I honestly think they are as much in the dark as we are and end up doing 'a covering my back' excercise!! It all comes down to achieving the Holy Grail of Early Years - The Outstanding! However, with all respect to those that have achieved this judgement, Ofsted Inspections are still so "Woolly" that many practitioners are still spinning on the spot trying to work out exactly what Outstanding Practice - the kind that appeases Ofsted - is! Frustrating - pleeease sign the petition - our sector does need help. 4
mundia Posted August 7, 2015 Posted August 7, 2015 I do find this quite interesting because I've lost count of how many conversations I have had about not using ticklists, trimming back paperwork, using paperwork to support thinking etc, only to be told that settings feel they need to, they like to, it helps them feel more confident about what they are doing next and so on. They do report how they feel OFSTED requires or expects it, even though this technically isn't true, but perhaps not everyone has the confidence to challenge? So where is the pressure really coming from? LAs cannot insist settings do anything in particular, and it cannot be linked to funding. (Therefore you can challenge if this is happening). OFSTED cannot insist on this or that beyond statutory duties ( eg 2 year progress check) but you would have to demonstrate how you meet the descriptors laid out in the inspection handbook if you don't have any paperwork. I do wonder as well what happens on a local level. Sometimes if you have an outstanding setting that has masses of paperwork, people do talk about it, and it becomes a conversation "so and so do this and they got outstanding, does that mean we should do that?" Does that then influence what happens in your area? Likewise if the setting down the road gets outstanding and doesn't really have much paperwork, would that encourage you to trim back? 4
sunnyday Posted August 7, 2015 Posted August 7, 2015 ( eg 2 year progress check) but you would have to demonstrate how you meet the descriptors laid out in the inspection handbook if you don't have any paperwork. mundia - I think you have 'hit the nail' on the head there -for me it feels 'easier' to you have the paperwork.......
Rafa Posted August 7, 2015 Posted August 7, 2015 I agree Mundia, I do think its about confidence. Maybe the next layer of training should be just about that!
Mouseketeer Posted August 7, 2015 Posted August 7, 2015 'It all comes down to achieving the Holy Grail of Early Years - The Outstanding! However, with all respect to those that have achieved this judgement, Ofsted Inspections are still so "Woolly" that many practitioners are still spinning on the spot trying to work out exactly what Outstanding Practice - the kind that appeases Ofsted - is!' This is from an outstanding report I read this week: What the setting needs to do to improve further: To further improve the quality of the early years provision the provider should: strengthen further children's understanding of number by including more opportunities for them to count in their play. And this was another: It is not yet outstanding because Some opportunities are missed in fully supporting children's understanding of early mathematical concepts. 1
Helen Posted August 7, 2015 Posted August 7, 2015 Mouseketeer- not sure I understand what you're getting at- is it that these recommendations should be a given if the setting is good or outstanding?
Mouseketeer Posted August 7, 2015 Posted August 7, 2015 (edited) Hi, the top one was given outstanding with the recommendation, the bottom one wasn't outstanding because of the recommendation.(they were the only recommendations on both) I'm not sure I agree that the top one should have received outstanding with the recommendation, and then you see settings not given outstanding for less....I just think to much is dependent on who shows up on the day, reading the reports from my area show which inspectors are easier to please than others and hand out more outstandings or inadequates (we don't have that many, the same names come up regularly) Edited August 7, 2015 by Mouseketeer 1
Rafa Posted August 7, 2015 Posted August 7, 2015 (edited) Hi, the top one was given outstanding with the recommendation, the bottom one wasn't outstanding because of the recommendation.(they were the only recommendations on both) I'm not sure I agree that the top one should have received outstanding with the recommendation, and then you see settings not given outstanding for less....I just think to much is dependent on who shows up on the day, reading the reports from my area show which inspectors are easier to please than others and hand out more outstandings or inadequates (we don't have that many, the same names come up regularly) Yes I agree Mouseketeer and this is exactly what makes settings lose confidence in themselves. It all comes down to choice really. "I like this one....but I like this one better"! Maybe Ofsted should revert to a 'tick box' method - a bit like the driving test - passed with flying colours on all the Majors, with a few Miniors to improve on! - Nobodys Perfect! Come on give us a break - confidence in Early Years would then be flying - and maybe there would be less moaning on here and we could enjoy the job again! Edited August 7, 2015 by Rafa 1
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