sunnyday Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 Purple! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouseketeer Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 ours have a burgundy cover, but have seen them in green also. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
green hippo Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 It's the pink cover for Nursery. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnyday Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 Purple! ours have a burgundy cover, but have seen them in green also. It's the pink cover for Nursery. Purple, burgundy, pink - and to think we are meant to 'know our colours' :lol: 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouseketeer Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 Ok I concede it probably is more pinky-purple than burgundy lol 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cait Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 When it says 'Nursery', does it mainly apply to pre-reception children, or does it cover working with two-year-olds as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouseketeer Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 The book is nursery/reception children, we have 2 year olds, it does seem to be our school year/almost 3's being included more on the retrospective 'in the moment' planning sheet, we run a scaled down adult initiated sheet alongside which is where we add a focus activities for the 2yr olds mainly differentiating large group and sensory resources, I guess if you went with the weekly focus children (as book) the 2yr olds would be observed/assessed as all the others, but they don't seem to become engaged in groups like the older children to scaffold/extend the learning, would be interesting to hear how others are finding it works with 2 year olds... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thumperrabbit Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 would be interesting to hear how others are finding it works with 2 year olds... I would be interested in Anything that works in a mixed aged setting (2-4yrs) in one room for the very young 2yr olds :-) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skippy Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 I'm trying to find a starting point for January to make the change to not having such ridged plans. Please can anyone share how to get started that's the bit I can't do. I don't mean the starting point for the children as I know I need to see where their interests lie and then go from there. Do you have a set continuous provision plan or retrospective? Do you still run adult led activities to 'teach' from? How do you record and what? I need to get the system in mind to know what I need to do and what I need to create! I really want to do this but struggling as I'm confusing myself!! (By the way that's not hard to do !!) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foreveryoung Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Well I am trying to move towards in the moment paperless planning, which in essence is going well but as some staff don't 'have' to submit a written sheet of ideas now they have stopped altogether in some cases in providing for children and their interests. They Seem to do the same children and those that go under the radar, you know the quiet get on with it type they are not doing. It's driving me insane! I had a quick check with each member end of last half term we spoke about why some children had not been covered / idenified and spoke of the reasons for this. One week to go and one KW has 4 children that she hasn't identified/planned etc for. I'm going to need a lot of patience for the upcoming talks. Sometimes I feel the less paperwork the easier it is for children to be missed ! Yet some staff have flown with the new planning system, I want to get completely into in the moment but I'm hitting brick walls. I need an army of Anna's to come and work for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouseketeer Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Are you doing the weekly focus children as in the NYIA, they would all be covered then, we are still looking at 2 focus NS over each half term per child, but not actually planning specific activities just taking opportunities as they arise and then recording, it's seems to be working well :-) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foreveryoung Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 im doing it in stages, (thought it might be easier but might not be lol) each child has two box's on wall (literally tiny) one for ns one for interests. Their meant to space out their children over half term and when they plan in moment from interests or if next step apparent then write it on this sheet. So they are in charge of deciding which focus children they do, but each child over half term should have been supported in terms of interest and link there ns to it. bit worried about coming away completely from ns so tried to encompass them still. As staff are spread over 3 rooms they often say I didn't see them, and then you get staff who observe mainly their own children (annoying playground stuff) some are great and obs whoever. Most staff are doing ok but 2 staff in particular are not, I want to get there in end but moving a team across to it is hard work. There are 4 key workers with over 40 between them in one area and then 3 key workers with over 20 between them.... How many focus children so you have per week? some of our children only attend one day a week too, how do you get around this if you have any like that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rafa Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 I'm trying to find a starting point for January to make the change to not having such ridged plans. Please can anyone share how to get started that's the bit I can't do. I don't mean the starting point for the children as I know I need to see where their interests lie and then go from there. Do you have a set continuous provision plan or retrospective? Do you still run adult led activities to 'teach' from? How do you record and what? I need to get the system in mind to know what I need to do and what I need to create! I really want to do this but struggling as I'm confusing myself!! (By the way that's not hard to do !!) Hi Skippy - we have been 'In The Moment' all this term. So Im happy to share what we have done so far...... Getting Started - Focus children. - we have 3 a week, we use the recording sheets from AEs book. we have 2or 3 ideas to focus on (info from keyperson) and then just all try to spend some time with those children throughout the week - may be as simple as supporting them in putting on a paint apron etc - and then its put on the record sheet highlighting 'teaching' that took place. At the end of the week we can see where the 'next focus steps' will be for their next Focus Week. Outcome.- We all found it very achievable - amazed to see just how many 'teachable moments' we do in a session. found we really got to know the childs likes, interests, etc and what may be missing from their play eg never attempts construction.... Continuous Provision - this is covered with our usual eg book corner, creation station, role play, small world etc etc As we do not have the splendid environment showcased in the book that ensures children have access to every area of learning we feel we do need to add Objective led planning each week to ensure all bases are covered eg we have small learning groups to ensure all children receive Letters and Sounds Phase 1 or we do something else that is not necessarily in CP that we would like them to experience. So far, so good..... Have had to keep reminding staff to look for teachable moments and to ensure the environment is one that promotes opportunities to extend and consolidate their learning. (not always easy!). However we have observed lots of lovely independent learning, busy children and lots of resources all ocer the setting! ha ha - thats my next step - keeping order! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicola531 Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 (edited) The copy I have is a purple cover 'The Nursery Year in action' Edited December 11, 2015 by nicola531 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouseketeer Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 'How many focus children so you have per week? some of our children only attend one day a week too, how do you get around this if you have any like that?' The book suggests 10%, but as you say if a child only comes for 1 session a week how much would you actually get ? So we stuck with the 2 next steps across the half term for all with a 3rd if parents want to add one, we aren't pre-planning anything to meet them just observing and assessing through play and by becoming engaged in that play, staff have much more time for this now as they aren't having to set up activities and then trying to find Windows to fit them in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharonash Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Can I ask are you still planning enhancements to continuous provision to support next steps? or ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
green hippo Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Mouseketeer - we do 3 (10% that is recommended) however we have the same children in every morning. In your case I would suggest that you just have the children for their focus week for the amount of time they are in each week, apart from your 1-day-per-week children who I would have as focus children for 2 weeks. I think what we have to remember (and I have to remind myself of this) is that we can only impact on the children for the time we are with us. So for a child who is only in once a week, we would expect that their progress may not be as rapid as those in for 15 + hours. It's a bit the same with next steps - if each child has 2 next steps per half term - those children who only come once a week may struggle to achieve these (unless there's lots of support from home) or will need more adult time (disproportionate to the time they are in). Not criticising at all for you doing 2 next steps just had a thought about time children are in and adult time with them. Sharonash - having met Anna, she would say NO! apart from what you do 'in the moment' e.g. those children are playing police officers = provide them with a notebook/police paper. I emailed her recently as I was having a bit of a wobble over not having next steps - she replied that it's just not needed! Enhancements often work better in the moment anyway as you know the child is interested in it! I've spent hours at a weekend, trying to come up with enhancements to support individual next steps to find them not interested at all in what I have planned! Green Hippo x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharonash Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 I love the sound of in the moment planning, I too have the book! I 100% agree with you that we spend so long planning activities for the children to not be interested in them! I am a great believer that I do not need a bit of paper to support children's learning and development and to go with the flow! But I am battling with staff over this- these are their "points of view" which are ...... If we don't write things done some staff wont do them- (I presume they are referring to less experienced staff" If we don't have a loose theme the environment will be boring and nothing new and exciting will be planned to introduce new skills and learning. How can we just play when we have children who are potty training some free flowing inside and outside, another group being creative in the messy area Some staff expressed their views on wanting activities to cover next steps to ensure all children are covered and not missed! Can I ask so do you plan for group times ie circle, a focused activity or similar? Oh why is there always a constant battle over planning! :huh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rafa Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 I love the sound of in the moment planning, I too have the book! I 100% agree with you that we spend so long planning activities for the children to not be interested in them! I am a great believer that I do not need a bit of paper to support children's learning and development and to go with the flow! But I am battling with staff over this- these are their "points of view" which are ...... If we don't write things done some staff wont do them- (I presume they are referring to less experienced staff" In my experience staff rarely read planning or put into action unless prompted - so saves me a job of writing it - I just prompt!! If we don't have a loose theme the environment will be boring and nothing new and exciting will be planned to introduce new skills and learning. Well this can happen if you let it - but enhance CP each week - if you go with whats happened this week, what the children enjoyed, what are their interests, it only takes a pen on a whiteboard to add an enhancement - eg boys involved in mark making this week - lets put large paper rolls on the floor - add characters or a castle, for ideas....... How can we just play when we have children who are potty training some free flowing inside and outside, another group being creative in the messy area Well staff deployment can often be tricky, especially with PLANNED activity. In the moment planning means Every interaction can become a teaching one! eg singing a rhyme with the child your potty training......make a stop at the creation station, ask them to tell tou about their creation - listen - add comment - suggest. Freee flow is what its all about, just ensure staff are on hand to 'teach in the moment' Some staff expressed their views on wanting activities to cover next steps to ensure all children are covered and not missed! Can they not create their own next steps? - eg if they know a child needs support with scissors, make sure they're out and find a moment to help them SNIP! Alltnhese can be verbally planned for in your CP enhancements. Can I ask so do you plan for group times ie circle, a focused activity or similar? Oh why is there always a constant battle over planning! :huh: Yes we do have a few 'planned for' circle time enhancements - mostly its done on the hoof - going where the children go.... and we have a terms programme to teach Sounds and Letters, and small communication groups etc. By the way - have your staff read the book?! Change is always difficult - especially when others are'nt on board. My advice tell them your going to give it a go for a term, then you can have a meeting at the end to evaluate the changes. Nothing ventured, nothing gained I say........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rafa Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Ooo that didnt print as I 'planned' Sharonash - hope you can make sense if it!! Thats what comes from writing everything down.!! haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
green hippo Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 We do have small group activities, phonics and finger-gym everyday. The small group activities cover needs of the cohort. We also have to Objective Led Plans per week. I don't think I would do small group activities in the same way if I was not in a school with the same children coming each session. Anna Ephgrave believes that the environment DOES NOT need to change in terms of topics and enhancements. Of course, she believes in 'planning in the moment' - responding as immediately as possible to needs and interests. She also spoke about evaluating the environment in terms of involvement - i.e. there isn't a 'set' environment which would suit everyone. You have to consider how the children are engaging with the resources you have. For example, I asked her about small world (it is the area that I think about most) - should we have it all out? should we 'set' up things? etc and the basically said - see how things go. If you decide to set up a dinosaur habitat and it's trashed every session then don't continue with it! For me it's about moving away from 'we always have...' which puts a lot of unnecessary pressure on ourselves but to add/change provision as it naturally occurs. I remember going on a Early Excellence course where the lady said that if you can't think of an obvious enhancement for an area, then it doesn't need one! What is different is that you don't have a list of enhancements that you intend to put out but add them as they are needed - if you write down any changes to provision that you make then you will be doing at least the same. You will naturally know whether to continue with an enhancement (due to involvement) or to take it away or not replace it if it's something that runs out. I do struggle a bit with not having a list of enhancements with children's names next to it at the end of my plans but I am still doing it - and what I am doing is having a bigger impact as it's immediate or next day. I have made the boxes on her 'in the moment' planning sheet bigger and put them at the bottom - I record any changes that have been made - and it's obvious who it's for because it's recorded higher up on the sheet. Maybe try having pure child-initiated sessions where you can work like Anna and then times when you do activities - it might help get your staff on board?! Green Hippo x 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foreveryoung Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Do any of you use in the moment planning with tapestry? I'm Thinking of obs coverage for the children and writing the obs as staff do not have time to write them up after, so then the interaction is compromised if they do the obs during the moment. Think I'm confudled....... Looking in every direction in which way to go and feel like I could be in a maze lol x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
green hippo Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Hi Foreveryoung, we use Tapestry and have worked in this way with Tapestry for 3 years now. On the Anna Ephgrave course (and I think it's in the book as well) that EY practitioners have up to 1000 interactions per day and if we try to write them all down - it's down to 100 interactions. However, we have continued to write down what is significant as well as doing focus children each week who we try to write down longer observations including our teaching part. Could your staff take a pic, write a quick note, then you write it up afterwards? We don't aim to have loads of observations each term - as long as each child has an obs for each aspect we are happy to use this evidence alongside our own knowledge. I use the analysis to inform me of any obs we need and to consider whether we need any further info on a particular child. When it is a child's focus week we will highlight areas where we need more info as well as those that need supporting most. As long as you don't try to write everything down, your interactions will not be compromised. I don't like setting observations 'quota' but as a rule if we all (3 of us) do 2-3 observations per day - that's 30-45 observations per week and therefore for a class of 24 - every child will have at least 1 observation each week (and these will often cover more than 1 aspect). Some days, of course, we do more, some days less but it just means that we don't feel pressured to write everything down! Green Hippo x Green Hippo x 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
standrewsnursery Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 I have been in childcare for such a long time and as a manager the thought of 'that inspection' would keep my mind reeling with all the constant updates and legislation which is being thrown at us all the time. But I feel I have now come full circle....What are my interests? who matters most to me? so we have come to the conclusion that the children and their families are our priority not what an inspector may say.....So we have decided as a team that this is who we want to be and if it means we lose our outstanding then so be it....or we may get a wonderful inspector who totally gets us but we feel we are ready to take the risk. I read a snippet of Anna Ephgrave's book, she really struck me as my kind of thinker. So i brought the book and couldn't put it down! We will be introducing the no forward planning system in January after our Christmas break and I am too am slightly dubious about a couple of my team who may use this as an excuse to have a little rest! My concern is whether we are well resourced enough, dont get me wrong, we have a lot of lovely equipment particularly loose play parts which build on the child's imagination and curiosity but are we ready to 'step back' and let the children lead the way? is there enough to ensure that their brains are working at a higher level function. It may not be a justified fear but its one i have nonetheless, we are so used to following child led activities so I dont know why I feel its such a big jump. I think my worry is having to chase the staff around, seeing big gaps where a child's development should have been recorded, as some staff need a little support with initiative or seeing the bigger picture, :blink: at least with our current planning it clearly shows what effort the staff are making to development and support their key children and as a manager, this helps me to track their understanding- with the no forward planning, I am worried that they may miss too many wonderful opportunities. I am thinking of using the weekly evaluation sheet as the development record for each child and one 'formal' observation on the online journal (starting after Christmas) all this information will then be collected add fed into their personal trackers. The online journals will mainly be for parent participation, to share ideas for home, what happening at home etc as paper forms dont seem to be returned as often as we would like and parent feedback is essential for our SEF etc. I am currently updating my SEF and thinking of putting our new planning concept in......do you think I should include it and explain my reasons why or wait until the day itself to show them in person how we are supporting the individual? I want to show we are a reflective practice but I'm not sure on including this one until we have had a good go at it. And also...random thought.... we unfortunately do not have free flow for indoor and outdoor play for our younger children....Do you think this means we can truly allow the child to develop interests as they think it? I would welcome your feedback guys...thank you for taking the time to read my ramblings! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaMum Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 (edited) I've almost finished the book...... Wouldn't I like her budget for resources!!!!! It has made me want to change our environment completely, but sadly alas, budget as it is this just is not doable. Having just read this thread again, it seems a lot of you are still adding to her concept of planning in the moment, which doesn't seem her way? I think this is the confusing part for staff. I am going to give this a whirl in January and as when any changes occur, it will be a working document, so with that will come a few tweaks. What I don't want to end up with, is a sheet for this, a sheet for that. I like the one sheet planning document and can see how it works. (fingers crossed it does when we implement it) The only thing I don't seem to have grasped, is what planning is she doing for the 2 year olds? Have I missed something? Edited January 3, 2016 by MegaMum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouseketeer Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 I don't think they have 2yr olds and admittedly very little of what is retrospectively being added to our 'in the moment' sheet includes 2 yr olds, I need to speak to staff about this, my thinking is that the 2yr olds function more as individuals rather than in the group play that you can easily scaffold and what the in the moment recording is about maybe ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foreveryoung Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 Oh gosh worried now! I'm all ready to go on Monday with phase 2 of in the moment and in my head our 2 area already plans quite well at in the moment as they have things added, supported, altered that moment, day, next session as there learning I felt needed to be impulsive and well tuned environment, so I felt that it would work just as well for the 2's as in the moment does for the 3's. I'm worried now I've missed something or not understood and it's not as easy to suit that age? Eeekkk I'm going to be loved in morning by all 'happy new year and here's phase 2'!!! Lol 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trekker Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 I use it with twos...I just use Anna's retrospective obs format to record how individuals have been supported as well as the small group activities that emerge. I still generate quite a few records on the group sheet as wherever an adult is there's usually a group of children keen to join them. I record what Ive done to enhance that activity / experience eg adding something new, modelling vocab, supporting turn taking... Individual obs that are recorded go into each childs learning journey just as the focus obs ones do. all I know is that adult interaction at this age is key to their development and the children need to be free to do what they need to do...not what an adult thinks they should do - so being 'in the moment' is a necessity...to me Anna's planning approach seems perfectly suited for this age. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouseketeer Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 'so I felt that it would work just as well for the 2's as in the moment does for the 3's' I think it should foreveryoung. how many sheets do staff end up completing a week if recording individual 'teaching' moments as well ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaMum Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 Thanks... I'm going to use it with the two's. There is enough going on with them such as supporting seperation, toilet training, learning to put on an apron etc., etc. In Anna's setting it seems they only have one intake a year, so I get the concept of behavioural expectations being learnt and followed, whereas we take children in all year long, so lots going on.... In fact we have 3 new 2's starting this week! We use tapestry, so with the focus sheets for the week, would you photograph them adding to the children's LJ's and add links to areas of learning? Finally, I know other ob's transpire over the weeks, but do you find focusing on a child every 6-7 weeks informative enough? Thanks! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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